AI for building materials distributors
Sell more of your line and keep more from each order
Proton helps you grow lumberyard, home center and manufacturing accounts while reducing the catalog work, quote entry and follow-up that raise your cost to serve.
Customer story
BPI puts the next sale into the conversation
Building Products Inc. supplies building materials and millwork to retail lumberyards. Its reps use purchase history and reorder prompts to start more specific conversations, with quote activity available for follow-up. BPI reports a 27% conversion rate on Proton’s AI recommendations.
“The ‘due to reorder’ feature has made our sales team much more proactive in discussing new sales opportunities with customers, rather than just reacting to incoming orders. This has helped us increase the order size per invoice.”
Kyle Schull · President & Owner, BPI
What Proton does here
Help each sale carry less manual work
Develop the account through every buying channel
A lumberyard buys your doors but no trim. A home center’s siding orders have slowed. Proton brings purchase changes, category gaps, likely reorders and quotes into one account view, so reps can make a useful offer and follow through. The gap starts a question about stocking plans or a finished job; shared notes carry the answer to the next person.
Your storefront can develop the account, too. eCommerce AI uses connected order history to recommend relevant products and familiar reorders without a rep having to make each sale. A lumberyard can explore another line; a cabinet manufacturer can revisit the sheet goods it buys. Buyers see your storefront’s current prices and availability as they build the order.
Rep asks about the gap · buyer can order directly
Prepare a new line without copying every field by hand
Every missing profile, grade or finish sends someone back to a vendor file. Proton PIM organizes category attributes and proposes missing details and descriptions from manufacturer and supplier content, with sources for your team to review.
Publish approved records to connected catalogs and channels, giving product and merchandising teams less work to repeat and buyers more to go on. Pronto helps staff find answers in connected records and uploaded literature. BPI uses searchable vendor literature to help newer reps learn the lines they sell.
3/4" sanded plywood 4×8BC gradeMill information to review
3-1/4" colonial casingPrimed FJ16 ft · source attached
Exterior fiberglass door36×80LH inswing
Engineered flooring, oak2 mm wear layer5 inEarly access: more informed price and stock decisions
Pricing AI + Inventory AI · Early access
Pricing AI will recommend prices by customer and SKU within your margin floors and rules. Inventory AI will forecast demand by product, location and season, flag low or slow stock, and suggest replenishment quantities and timing. Your team will decide prices and approve purchases.
Register interest in early access for Pricing AI, Inventory AI or both.
Planned workflows · Early access
Cut the manual work each order brings with it
Rekeying a material list costs time on every order it touches. Proton prepares editable quote or order drafts from emails, PDFs and spreadsheets, with proposed catalog matches and connected account prices. Your team checks the draft and resolves flagged details, such as a missing casing width or a nonstock price. Quote activity stays with the account for follow-up.
Pronto answers questions from connected business records and drafts work on request. Agents can run configured jobs on a schedule or trigger: drafting supplier ship-date requests, flagging invoice/PO mismatches or preparing late-order updates for review. Fewer lookups, rekeyed lines and routine chasers leave more capacity for the next customer.
“Updated trim list attached. Missed one width on the casing, sorry.”
Open supplier PO has no ship date · request drafted for review
BPI, from leadership to the sales desk
“They need to understand this is not just an info repository for management, but a tool that will give live recommendations to help increase sales, commissions, and ultimately paychecks.”
“Pronto saves me 2 hours a day, easily. It’s very user-friendly, even for guys who don’t love tech.”
“If you’ve stumped yourself on what to sell, you can reach in and grab Pronto to take you to another level.”
Questions from building materials distributors
Proton helps you grow sales and reduce the work of serving them. Reps get account opportunities, buyers get relevant recommendations online, and product teams get sourced content to review. Quote drafts and configured agents reduce entry and follow-up work across lumberyard, home center and manufacturing accounts.
It gives reps a shared view of purchases, quotes and conversations, with signals for the next useful call. If a lumberyard buys doors but no trim, a rep can ask about stocking plans. Inside and outside sales can see the answer and agree on the next step.
Yes. PIM organizes category attributes and proposes missing details and descriptions from manufacturer and supplier content, with sources attached. Your team reviews the additions and publishes approved records to connected channels. Dimensions, grades, profiles and finishes become information buyers can use, with less research and copying for your team.
It suggests relevant products and familiar reorders from each account’s connected purchase history, including phone and email orders. A lumberyard can consider another line; a manufacturer can revisit materials it has bought before. Recommendations appear in your storefront, where buyers see your current prices and availability and place the order themselves.
Not yet. Both are coming to the platform soon. Register interest in early access for Pricing AI, Inventory AI or both. Pricing AI will recommend prices within your rules; Inventory AI will help forecast demand and plan replenishment. Your team will make the final decisions.
Proton prepares quote or order drafts from material lists for your team to check. Pronto answers questions from connected business records and drafts work on request. You can configure agents to prepare supplier follow-ups, flag invoice/PO differences and draft late-order updates on a schedule or trigger, with your team reviewing the results.
