The Challenge

Every new supermarket store demanded a new rack layout.
Every layout demanded redesign.
Every redesign meant recalculating BOMs, BOQs, and pricing manually.

For one of the region’s leading supermarket storage system manufacturers, growth itself had become a bottleneck.

Their design and sales teams were spending days sometimes weeks producing customized rack designs, validating layouts, preparing cost estimates, and generating quotations. By the time proposals reached customers, opportunities were already moving forward with faster competitors.

Customization was their strength.
But manual workflows were slowing them down.

The business needed speed, accuracy, and scalability without sacrificing customization.

Client’s Initial Hurdles

Before transformation began, the client faced multiple operational roadblocks:

• Manual CAD modeling for every rack configuration
• Spreadsheet-based BOM and BOQ calculations
• No connection between layout, cost, and quotation
• Frequent design changes requiring full rework
• Errors discovered only during installation
• Limited visualization for customer approvals

What should have been a streamlined design-to-order process had become fragmented and slow.

Why This Was Critical

1. Why did speed matter?
Retail expansion cycles were shrinking. The client needed to deliver layouts and quotations in hours not days.

2. Why did accuracy matter?
Incorrect BOMs or layout mismatches led to installation delays, rework, and cost overruns.

3. Why did visualization matter?
Without immersive previews, customers struggled to approve designs confidently, slowing decision-making.

4. Why did integration matter?
Disconnected tools meant design, costing, and sales teams worked in silos reducing efficiency.

5. Why did automation matter for growth?
To scale across multiple store projects simultaneously, the client needed a repeatable, intelligent system not manual effort.

Gaps in Existing Information

The existing workflow lacked:

• A standardized component library
• Direct linkage between layouts and pricing
• Real-time BOM/BOQ generation
• Centralized design rules
• Visualization-driven validation

Most critically, there was no single source of truth connecting design, cost, and quotation.

Why Specific Requirements Mattered

This transformation required more than faster modeling.

The solution needed to:

• Support full customization across store layouts
• Maintain strict cost and quantity accuracy
• Enable rapid proposal generation
• Provide immersive client visualization
• Scale across multiple retail projects

Accuracy, speed, and visualization had to work together not separately.

The Desapex Solution

Desapex engineered a comprehensive design automation ecosystem combining parametric modeling, rule-based intelligence, and real-time data integration.

1. Component Standardization

The client’s entire rack portfolio was simplified into 13 core parametric components, enabling unlimited configurations while maintaining consistency.

2. Intelligent Rule-Based Automation

Using Autodesk Inventor and iLogic:

• Rack parameters updated automatically
• Assemblies regenerated instantly
• Compatibility and safety checks embedded
• Invalid configurations prevented

3. Layout-Driven Design

Configured racks were placed directly into full 3D store layouts:

• Aisle spacing and clearance validated
• Fitment errors eliminated early
• Real store environments simulated

4. Automated BOM, BOQ & Pricing

Every design automatically generated:

• Rack-level BOMs
• Full-store BOQs
• Split material BOQs
• Real-time pricing updates via Excel integration

Any change in design instantly updated cost and quantities.

5. Layout-to-Quotation Mapping

Each rack in the layout linked directly to cost and specification data enabling seamless transition from design to quotation.

6. Visualization & Client Experience

• Real-time 3D layouts in Inventor
• Immersive walkthroughs in Twinmotion
• Faster client approvals with visual confidence

The system didn’t just automate design it transformed the entire sales and delivery workflow.

Project Timeline and Milestones

Duration: ~6–8 weeks from discovery to deployment

Key milestones:

• Workflow analysis and requirement mapping
• Component standardization
• iLogic automation development
• 3D layout and visualization integration
• BOM/BOQ and pricing automation
• Testing with real store scenarios
• Training and deployment

Software and Technology Used

• Autodesk Inventor (parametric modeling & automation)
• iLogic (rule-based configuration)
• Microsoft Excel (dynamic pricing & BOQ integration)
• Twinmotion (immersive visualization)
• Custom automation logic and interfaces

The Real Business Value Delivered

The transformation created measurable impact across operations and sales.

Efficiency

• 45% reduction in design and order processing time
• Designs generated in minutes instead of days

Accuracy

• Error-free BOM and BOQ generation
• Pre-validated layouts eliminating installation issues

Sales Growth

• 25% increase in sales within the first year
• Faster proposals and better visual presentations
• Improved customer confidence and faster approvals

Operational Excellence

• Standardized component library
• Real-time pricing updates
• Seamless design-to-quotation workflow

The client moved from reactive manual design to a scalable, automated system ready for growth.

What This Means for Future Projects

For the client, this was more than automation.
It was a shift from manual engineering to intelligent manufacturing.

For Desapex, it demonstrated how design automation can directly influence revenue, speed, and customer experience not just engineering efficiency.

For the industry, it set a new benchmark:
Retail fixture design is no longer just about CAD models and spreadsheets.
It is about connected data, intelligent automation, and immersive visualization.

What once took days now takes minutes.
What once required multiple teams now happens in one unified workflow.
What once slowed growth now accelerates it.

And this is just the beginning.