What Is Estimate Job?
Also known as: estimating job, SyteLine estimate, quote job
Definition
An estimate job in SyteLine is a non-production job used to cost a potential order. It carries materials and routing operations like a real job so SyteLine can calculate a full cost, but it creates no demand, consumes no inventory, and is ignored by planning.
Estimate Job Explained
Make-to-order manufacturers quote parts that do not yet have a bill of material or routing. The estimate job solves that. An estimator builds a job structured exactly like a production job - components with quantities, operations with setup and run times, outside service steps, and any special tooling - and SyteLine costs it using current material costs and work center rates. The result is a defensible cost roll rather than an experienced guess on a spreadsheet.
Crucially, an estimate job is excluded from planning. It generates no gross requirement, so MRP and APS will not order material against it, and it does not appear as supply for any demand. That is the whole point: you can build fifty speculative estimates for a large RFQ package without polluting the plan. It also means an estimate job never posts inventory or cost transactions, so it has no general ledger effect.
When a quote converts to an order, the estimate becomes the seed for the real work. SyteLine supports copying the estimate structure into a production job and, in most implementations, into a permanent bill of material and routing for the newly created item. This is where estimating discipline pays back: an estimate built with realistic operations and accurate times becomes an accurate production standard on day one, rather than something the shop discovers is wrong on the first run.
The common gotcha is stale rates. An estimate job costs at the material costs and work center rates in effect when it is costed, and estimates prepared months before an order lands can be materially wrong after a raw material move or a labor rate change. Disciplined shops re-cost open estimates on a schedule and flag any whose cost has moved beyond a tolerance before the quote is honoured.
Why It Matters
- Estimating inside the ERP produces quotes traceable to real material costs and work center rates rather than spreadsheet assumptions.
- Because estimates generate no demand, sales can quote aggressively without distorting the material plan.
- Converting a good estimate into a production BOM and routing gives accurate standards from the first job.
- Quote-to-actual variance analysis, comparing estimate jobs to the resulting production jobs, is the fastest route to better pricing.
In Practice
Build a recurring comparison of estimate job cost against the actual cost of the production job that resulted from it, grouped by part family. Most job shops discover a consistent under-estimate on a particular operation type - typically setup on low-volume work - and can correct pricing across an entire product line from that single finding.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does an estimate job affect MRP or inventory in SyteLine?
No. Estimate jobs are deliberately excluded from planning, so they create no gross requirements and are not treated as supply. They also post no inventory or cost transactions, meaning they have no general ledger impact. This lets estimators build as many speculative structures as a quote package needs without distorting the material plan or the books.
How do I turn a SyteLine estimate into a real job?
Once the quote is won, copy the estimate structure into a production job so the materials and operations carry across. Most implementations also promote the estimate into a permanent bill of material and routing for the item, so future orders plan and cost correctly. Review material costs and work center rates at conversion, since they may have moved since the estimate was prepared.
Related Terms
Job Order
A job order in SyteLine is the production work order that authorises manufacturing a quantity of an item. It carries its own copy of the bill of material and routing, collects material, labor, and overhead costs, and moves through a defined status life cycle.
Item Master
The item master in SyteLine is the central record that defines every part the business buys, makes, stocks, or sells - carrying identity, units of measure, planning parameters, costing method, product code, and quality attributes that drive nearly every downstream transaction.
Work Center
A work center in SyteLine is the production location where a routing operation is performed. It carries the labor, machine, and overhead rates used to cost that operation and links to the resource group that APS uses for finite capacity scheduling.
Go Deeper
SyteLine Implementation Cost Calculator
Estimate the full first-year cost of an Infor SyteLine implementation, including licensing, services, data migration, and internal effort.
SyteLine Implementation Cost: 2026 Pricing Guide
SyteLine implementation cost ranges from $150K to $1.5M+. See 2026 pricing by company size, phase-by-phase budgets, and the hidden costs to plan for.
SyteLine APS: Advanced Planning & Scheduling Explained
How SyteLine APS advanced planning and scheduling works: CTP order promising, resource groups, APS vs MRP mode, and tuning tips for discrete manufacturers.
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SyteLine Job Cost Estimate Calculator
Estimate the unit cost of a job from setup hours, run time, labor and machine rates, material and scrap, and see how batch size moves cost per piece.
New to Infor SyteLine? Start with the Infor SyteLine guide and toolkit, or plan with Training Path Builder, ERP Certification Study Planner, Upgrade Path Planner.
Keep exploring
Free tools
- SyteLine Job Cost Estimate CalculatorEstimate the unit cost of a job from setup hours, run time, labor and machine rates, material and scrap, and see how batch size moves cost per piece.
- SyteLine Job Lead Time CalculatorEstimate how many days a job spends in the shop from setup, run time, efficiency, queue and move time, and see how lot size changes the lead time.
- Maintenance Job Plan Labor and Cost Estimate WorksheetBuild a task-level job plan with crew size, hours, rates and parts, and export total man-hours and cost to Excel.
ERP fixes and how-tos
- Work order (job) item, status and routing tables in SyteLineWhere SyteLine stores work orders (jobs), routings, operations and materials: job, jobroute, jobmatl, jobtran tables, status values and sample SQL queries.
- How to Maintain the BOM and Routing in SyteLineHow to add components, operations and effectivity dates to a SyteLine bill of material and routing, and why edits do not reach jobs that already exist.
- How to Close a Job Order in SyteLineClose a SyteLine job order the right way: finish routings, issue material, receive finished goods, then run Close Jobs to post WIP to variance accounts.
Guides
- ERP for Job Shops and Custom FabricatorsERP for job shops and custom fabricators: fast quoting, estimating accuracy, shop floor data collection, nesting and real-time job costing that protects margin.
- Configuring SyteLine for Engineer-to-Order ManufacturingConfigure SyteLine for engineer-to-order manufacturing with estimate-to-job conversion, project-linked BOMs, and configurable routing workflows for custom products.
- Machine Shop Quoting Software: What CNC Job Shops Should Look ForMachine shop quoting software compared by approach: ERP estimating modules, standalone quoting tools and AI drafting, with what each does for CNC job shops.
AI on your ERP
- AI for SyteLine Sales Quoting and Estimating That Learns From Your Own Won and Lost JobsAI for SyteLine quoting and estimating: find comparable past jobs, check margin and lead time, and keep customer data on your own servers. On-prem option.
- AI on Infor SyteLine for Metal Fabricators: Quotes, Heat Lots, Routings and Job CostAI on Infor SyteLine for metal fabricators: quote and routing history, remnant and heat-lot traceability, outside processing, and job costing, kept private.