How the AI price calculator works

PlotonIQ's AI calculator isn't a simple markup tool. It combines three data sources: distributor prices for materials, regional economic data for location factors, and industry benchmarks for labour time.

10 product categories

Every calculation starts with a category, each with a specialised prompt:

Vehicle: Partial wraps to full lorry wraps. Knows vehicle surface areas, typical waste factors (1.15 for flat surfaces, 1.35 for curves), and distinguishes between printed wrap and colour-change film.

Window/Glass: Frosted film, privacy film, window graphics. Priced per m² including wet-application surcharge and cleaning time.

Sign: Aluminium composite, acrylic, Forex, stainless steel. Material per m² plus contour cutting or routing. For illuminated signs: LED modules and power supply separately.

Banner: Mesh, PVC, textile. Calculates eyelets, hems, pole pockets. Directpricing when available.

Channel letters: Most complex category. Material + electronics + installation + potentially planning permission.

Pylon/Totem: Foundations, structural calculations, crane installation.

Facade: Building wraps, murals. Automatically adds scaffolding costs above 3m height.

Exhibition: Display walls, roll-ups, pop-ups. Distinguishes purchase from hire.

Textile: Flags, feather flags, tension frames. Fabric printing per m² plus finishing.

Engraving: Plaques, door signs. Priced per character count or area.

Algorithm

The calculation uses Language AI with an industry-specific system prompt containing: category, regional index, current material prices from the 6-month cache, and job description. Flow: (1) Flexible text → structured positions. (2) Per position: material + labour + installation. (3) Apply regional index. (4) Generate price justification. (5) Summary with VAT. A Fast Inference Provider serves as automatic fallback if the primary Language AI is unavailable.

Credits

Each AI calculation uses 13 credits. Identical descriptions are served from cache (0 credits). During beta there is no monthly cap — you buy credits as needed (entry point: 1,000 credits for €20).