From an Idea to a Metal Part: Design, Quote, and Order with AI and Ahner Industrial

You have an idea for a mounting plate, a sketch of a bracket, or a folder of finished CAD files. Now you can work with a compatible AI assistant to prepare the files, get Ahner Industrial pricing, compare quantities, and save the quote you choose—all within the same conversation. When you are ready to order, you review the details and approve the submission.

The starting point can be a drawing or a description. What matters is turning it into a clearly defined part, checking the geometry, and using actual Ahner pricing before making a purchasing decision.

Ready to try it? Follow the Ahner AI assistant setup guide. No Ahner account, sign-in, email verification, or customer API key is required. Your AI application may have its own account or subscription requirements.

What does your AI assistant do—and what does Ahner do?

An assistant equipped with CAD or file-generation tools can help turn your instructions into a downloadable DXF or STEP file. It can ask for missing dimensions, make revisions, and show you a preview to check. These abilities depend on the assistant and the tools available to it; connecting to Ahner does not turn every chat application into a CAD system.

Ahner's connected tools handle the quoting workflow: accepting the CAD file, analyzing the part, calculating prices through Ahner's pricing engine, saving quotes, and submitting orders you have approved. You can also start with existing CAD and use the connection just for quoting.

Codex or another compatible assistant can connect through MCP over Streamable HTTP or through the REST API. Use the customer setup guide for the current connection instructions.

From your first file to a saved quote

Connect your assistant. Follow Ahner's setup guide so the assistant can access the current quoting tools.

Attach CAD or describe the part. Upload an existing DXF, STEP, or STP file, or ask an assistant with the right design tools to create one from your dimensions or sketch.

State the manufacturing requirements. Include material, thickness, quantities, and any bending, finishing, hardware, or other work you need.

Review the design. Check the outside dimensions, hole sizes and locations, units, and formed geometry before asking for a quote. Resolve missing dimensions instead of having the assistant guess.

Upload and wait for analysis. Have the assistant send the approved CAD file to Ahner, wait for processing to finish, and check the detected dimensions and any review notes.

Compare your options. Ask for pricing at different quantities or for design alternatives you have already reviewed. Compare the returned unit prices and totals.

Save your selected configuration. Provide your name and email address; company and phone are optional. Your assistant gives you the saved quote link for review and checkout. A saved quote can contain up to 25 part rows.

Approve an order when ready. Review the exact parts, quantities, total, fulfillment details, and submission method before authorizing the assistant to submit it.

Saving a quote gives you a place to review the selected work; it is a separate step from submitting an order. Keep the quote link handy and private. See the setup guide and public API specification for the current workflow.

Prepare the CAD file so it describes the part you want

The file should represent one part clearly. Choose the format that fits the work:

File type What to provide DXF One flat part at full scale, with a closed outside profile and closed holes. Remove duplicate lines, construction geometry, dimensions, and reference marks from the cutting geometry. Keep a dimensioned preview separate from the cutting file. STEP / STP One finished solid part with consistent material thickness. If the part needs bending, provide the formed shape with the required bends. A flat STEP model represents a flat part.

Each upload becomes a separate part. Choose the appropriate CAD representation instead of uploading both a DXF and a STEP of the same item expecting them to become one quoted part. Check the displayed dimensions after upload, especially when converting between inches and millimeters.

For an AI-created design, specify overall dimensions, hole diameters and locations, slots, thickness, and tolerances. For formed parts, also specify bend angles, inside bend radii, and whether the dimensions refer to inside or outside surfaces. Ask the assistant to stop and ask you about missing information, then show a dimensioned preview before you approve the file.

The current upload limit is 10 MiB per DXF, STEP, or STP file. API dimensions and thickness values use inches. Use the DXF preparation guide, STEP preparation guide, and live capabilities when preparing files.

Check materials and operations before comparing prices

Have the assistant ask Ahner for the current supported materials and thicknesses before pricing. As of September 17, 2026, the public material names include A1011 CS Type B, 3003 Aluminum, and 304 2B Stainless Steel. The live material list governs which combinations can be priced.

Keep your specified grade and gauge in the request. If the available pricing basis differs, ask the assistant to explain the difference and identify what needs shop review. A price based on an available material should not silently replace the material you actually need.

Describe additional work explicitly—for example, deburring the cut edges, tapping particular holes, countersinking fastener locations, adding hardware, etching, painting, or sandblasting. Those options appear in the public request schema; availability and any review requirements still need to be checked for your part. For formed work, review Ahner's sheet metal forming capabilities.

Use the prices returned by Ahner for every comparison. A different quantity or revised design needs fresh pricing; an assistant should not fill in a price, delivery date, or promised savings on its own.

Four prompts you can copy and adapt

Replace the dimensions, quantities, and materials below with your requirements. The first, second, and fourth examples require an assistant with CAD creation or editing tools.

Create a flat plate and compare quantities

Create a DXF for a rectangular plate measuring 6 × 4 inches in 1/8-inch carbon steel. Add four 3/8-inch holes, one near each corner, with each hole center 1/2 inch from both adjacent edges. Export one full-scale part with closed cutting profiles and no duplicate geometry. Show me a separate dimensioned preview. After I approve the drawing, use Ahner to check the supported material and quote 5, 10, and 25 pieces. Show the unit price and total at each quantity. Save the quote I choose and ask before submitting an order.

Turn a sketch into a formed part

Help turn this attached sketch into a STEP model of a sheet-metal bracket in 11-gauge hot-rolled steel. Ask me for missing dimensions, bend angles, inside bend radii, hole locations, and tolerances. Confirm whether my dimensions are inside or outside measurements. Show me the finished model and dimensions before quoting. After I approve it, use Ahner to quote 10 pieces with laser cutting and bending. Preserve my requested gauge and explain any pricing-basis differences or shop-review requirements. Ask before submitting an order.

Quote existing files as a package

Use Ahner to quote these three CAD files. I need 4 of Part A, 8 of Part B, and 2 of Part C, all in 1/8-inch carbon steel. Check the material selection and detected dimensions, and flag anything that needs review. Show each line's quantity, unit price, and extended total, followed by the combined quote total. Ask for my name and email when needed to save the quote. Do not submit an order until I approve.

Revise a design and compare the results

Make a second version of this plate with the four hole diameters changed from 3/8 inch to 7/16 inch. Keep the hole centers, outside dimensions, material, and thickness unchanged. Give the versions clear filenames and show me the changes. After I approve the revised drawing, get fresh Ahner pricing for 25 pieces of each version. Present them as alternatives, and save only the version I select.

What happens when you approve an order?

Agent submissions currently support pickup. Use the saved quote's checkout link if you need delivery or online payment. The available agent submission methods are:

Purchase order: submit using a PO. This does not collect payment.

Invoice request: request invoicing for the selected quote. This does not collect payment.

Shop-review request: send the work for review. This still requires the shop's review and is not an accepted production order.

Before submission, the assistant should show you the exact quantities, total, fulfillment details, and submission method and ask for your approval. Order confirmations expire after 30 minutes. Changed terms or an expired confirmation require a fresh quote and fresh approval. The ordering guide explains these steps.

Connection details for technical readers

Most customers can follow the setup guide and let their assistant handle the tool calls. If you are configuring a compatible assistant or building an integration, use these public addresses:

MCP endpoint: https://pricing.ahner-industrial.com/api/agent/mcp

REST base: https://pricing.ahner-industrial.com/api/agent/v1

Schema: OpenAPI specification

The normal tool sequence is:

Stage Tool Discover supported options ahnercapabilities Start a private quote workspace ahnerstartquote Upload and check CAD analysis ahneruploadpart, ahnerpartstatus Calculate prices ahnerpricepart Save and retrieve a quote ahnercreatequote, ahnergetquote Submit an approved order and retrieve it ahnerplaceorder, ahnergetorder

The assistant retains the returned workspaceid and passes it with subsequent requests. You do not need to create or configure that identifier. Keep workspace identifiers and quote links private, and continue in the same conversation when possible.

Upload requests include the filename and base64-encoded file contents. After analysis completes and the material and thickness are confirmed as supported, an example pricing request to POST /prices is:

{ "workspace_id": "<returned workspace ID>", "part_id": "<returned part ID>", "material": "A1011 CS Type B", "thickness": 0.125, "quantity": 10 }

Use the current schemas and server-calculated totals throughout. For custom integrations, retry an unchanged order submission with the same idempotency key to prevent duplicate orders. Creating the quote returns its order confirmation token; if that token is lost, create a fresh quote and obtain approval again. Refer to the API specification for the complete request and response fields.

Start with the information you have

For a supported sheet metal part, the connected workflow brings design review and quoting into one conversation. If your project needs welding, assembly, a material outside the live list, or help defining the work, send Ahner your file or a short project description for manufacturing review. You can also explore our laser cutting capabilities before deciding how to proceed.

Have a drawing—or an idea for a part? Connect your AI assistant to Ahner and get started.