CAD · 3D configuration · Quoting
Build a Spokbee configurator from your CAD model
Build a Spokbee configurator from your CAD model: engineering-grade 3D in the browser, rules that keep every order buildable, live pricing, quotes and STEP downloads.
You build a Spokbee configurator from your CAD model in five moves: hand Spokbee the product data you already have, let it generate engineering-grade 3D, turn the model's dimensions and options into buyer-facing controls, add the rules and prices your team already knows, and click Publish. From that moment, buyers configure your product in live 3D on your website, see a price with every change, request a quote in minutes and, where you enable it, download the configured model as a STEP file. Nobody on your team opens a CAD seat to make a sale.
This guide walks through each step with the Spokbee documentation as the source of truth: what to start from, how Spokbee builds the 3D, how dimensions become controls, how rules and pricing work, and what happens when you publish.
What is a configurator built from your CAD model?
A configurator built from your CAD model is a web page where buyers change the dimensions and options of your real product and watch accurate 3D geometry update, while engineering rules keep every combination buildable and a live price follows every change. Spokbee supplies all of it: the 3D, the rules engine, the pricing engine, quotes, checkout and CAD export.
Compare that with how most engineered products are still sold. The buyer reads a static PDF, fills in a form and waits while an engineer opens the model, edits the dimensions, exports a drawing and emails a price. Every change restarts the loop. With a Spokbee configurator the buyer does the exploring, the model answers with accurate geometry, and the rules you wrote once keep every answer buildable. Stor-Loc replaced manual calculations and 2D drawings with exactly this kind of visual configuration and automated quoting, and routine quotes now take half the time.
Here is the whole build at a glance.
| Step | What you do | What Spokbee gives you |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Start | Upload the CAD files, drawings or spec sheet you already have | A parametric, engineering-grade 3D model of your product |
| 2. Shape | Decide which dimensions and options buyers may change | A control with the right type and bounds for each one |
| 3. Protect | Add constraints and visibility rules | Only buildable combinations can be ordered |
| 4. Price | Set a base price, surcharges, formulas and tiers | A live price on every change |
| 5. Publish | Click Publish | A shareable URL, an embed for your site, quotes and CAD export |
Which CAD files can you start from?
Any engineering file format works, and STEP, IGES and Parasolid are ideal. When the native CAD does not exist, Spokbee reverse-engineers the product from DXF, DWG or PDF drawings, and it can start from photos, dimensions, a written description or models from an earlier catalog. You never rebuild your catalog in a new tool first.
| What you have | What Spokbee does with it |
|---|---|
| STEP, IGES or Parasolid files | Uses them directly as the engineering source for the configurable model |
| Other engineering formats | Brings any engineering file format into the same process |
| DXF, DWG or PDF drawings | Reverse-engineers the product into a parametric 3D model |
| Spec sheets, catalogs, spreadsheets | Extracts parameters, options, pricing and constraints from the document |
| Photos, dimensions, written descriptions | Builds a valid 3D model from the information, then refines it with you |
| Models from a previous configurator | Converts them into engineering-grade geometry you can configure |
This matters most for manufacturers whose catalog grew over decades. One product line might be half STEP files, half scanned drawings, and a few items that exist only in a senior engineer's head. Spokbee takes all of it. The quickstart shows the same flexibility for the product information around the model: describe the product in chat, upload photos, paste a product page URL, or drop in a PDF or data file, and Spokbee extracts the parameters, pricing and constraints it finds. The input modes guide covers each path.
How does Spokbee turn a CAD model into live 3D?
Spokbee generates the 3D itself, with a proprietary hybrid modeling approach that combines AI-driven, agentic modeling with parametric, cloud-based CAD. One process produces both the interactive model in the browser and the STEP file a buyer downloads, so what the buyer sees is engineering-grade geometry, not a lightweight stand-in that someone remodels after the sale.
This is the difference between a configurator that looks right and one that is right. When a buyer sets a cabinet to 42 inches wide, Spokbee builds the cabinet at 42 inches: the panels, the hardware positions, the shelf spacing. The same model carries through to the quote and to the STEP file engineering receives. For PL Custom, each configuration also delivers the 2D drawings the shop floor works from.
In the configurator, the model renders in Spokbee's 3D viewer. Buyers rotate, zoom and pan. Surfaces carry physically based materials, so brushed aluminium reads as brushed aluminium and powder coat reads as powder coat, and you pick the lighting preset that matches your product photography. Only the choices that change shape, size or features touch the geometry; a colour or finish swaps instantly without rebuilding the model, which keeps the experience fast on every device.
Because Spokbee does the modeling, your product knowledge can live wherever it lives today. Spokbee connects to several CAD and commerce integrations, and they feed the process rather than define it.
How do CAD dimensions become buyer controls?
Every dimension and option you expose becomes a Spokbee parameter of the matching type: lengths and angles become sliders or number inputs with the bounds you set, feature flags become toggles, option lists become select or radio controls, and free text becomes a text field. You decide which parameters buyers see. The rest stays fixed.
| In your CAD model | In the Spokbee configurator | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| A length, width or angle | Slider or number input | You set the minimum, maximum and step |
| A feature that is on or off | Toggle | Rebuilds the geometry when it affects the model |
| A finish, material or mounting style | Select or radio control | One option per value, with swatches or option images |
| Engraving text or a label | Text input | Free text that appears on the quote |
| A dimension that changes the shape | Parameter marked geometry_impact | Tells Spokbee to rebuild the 3D when it changes |
Spokbee supports seven parameter types, documented in the parameters guide. Rename labels into buyer language, reorder them, and drag them into named groups that render as collapsible sections: Dimensions, Materials, Accessories. Add parameters the CAD model never knew about, such as quantity or an installation add-on, and insert content blocks between parameters to guide the buyer, for example a heading that reads "Step 2: choose your finish".
How do you keep every configuration buildable?
Add constraints so the configurator refuses combinations that cannot be manufactured, shipped or priced, and add visibility rules so buyers only see the controls that apply to their earlier choices. When a buyer breaks a rule, the configurator explains why inline and steers them to a valid choice. An invalid order never reaches engineering.
The constraints guide documents six rule types. Together they capture the knowledge that normally lives in an engineer's head or in a spreadsheet nobody else can read.
| Rule type | Logic | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Requires | If A then must B | An outdoor finish requires aluminium or stainless steel |
| Excludes | If A then cannot B | Glass excludes the largest size |
| Conditional range | If A then B within a range | Glass limits width to 20 to 80 cm instead of 20 to 200 cm |
| Arithmetic | Expression must be true | width * height < 10000 keeps the panel within machine capacity |
| Count limit | Max N selections of a type | At most two premium add-ons |
| Combination | Forbid or require exact combinations | White plus fabric plus outdoor is forbidden |
Start with requires and excludes. They cover most real-world needs. Add arithmetic constraints when the product has dimensional or area limits.
Visibility rules handle the other half of the job. Show "Engraving text" only when the "Add engraving" toggle is on. Show "Leg style" only when the product type is "Table". A hidden parameter drops out of pricing and constraints, so a buyer never pays for an option they could not see. The visibility rules guide covers the operators.
How do you price a configuration driven by dimensions?
Set a base price and currency, attach fixed or percentage surcharges to specific options, and write a formula for anything that scales with a dimension, such as width * height * 0.05 + 20 for area-based pricing. Spokbee recalculates the total the moment a buyer moves a slider or picks a finish.
Because sliders carry the bounds you set and formulas reference parameters by their ID, dimension-based pricing is one line. For a 100 by 200 product the example formula gives 100 times 200 times 0.05 plus 20, which is 1,020 in your configured currency. Spokbee supports USD, EUR, GBP and more than twenty other currencies.
The pricing engine evaluates every rule in a fixed order, which is what makes the result predictable enough to put on a quote.
| Order | Stage | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Base price | Start from the base price, or a matrix lookup if one is configured |
| 2 | Surcharges | Add every applicable fixed and percentage surcharge |
| 3 | Discounts | Subtract every applicable fixed and percentage discount |
| 4 | Formulas | Evaluate formula-based pricing |
| 5 | Volume tiers | Apply per-unit pricing by quantity, in marginal or flat mode |
| 6 | Floor and ceiling | Clamp the total between a minimum and a maximum |
A matrix lookup is the right tool when price depends on two choices at once: material on the rows, size on the columns. Volume tiers suit quantity products: in marginal mode units 1 to 10 cost 100 each and units 11 to 50 cost 80 each, so an order of 25 costs 2,200. The price floor keeps the total above your manufacturing cost no matter which discounts stack. The pricing guide walks through each mechanism with worked numbers.
What happens when you publish?
Click Publish and Spokbee generates a shareable URL for the configurator. Embed it on your own website with a single script tag or iframe, and every parameter, price, quote, checkout and AI chat works inside the embed. Changes you save afterwards stay hidden until you publish again, so you can refine in the open.
The published page gives a buyer three things the quote-by-email process never could.
- The real product in live 3D. Every geometry-affecting choice rebuilds the model, so the buyer is looking at the exact part they are about to order.
- A quote in minutes. The buyer clicks Request Quote, fills in a short form and can sign on a signature pad. Spokbee generates a branded PDF with every parameter and its selected value, a line-item price breakdown and the product image captured at that moment, emails it to the buyer and stores a copy in your Quotes dashboard. Approval rules hold the deals that need a human decision; everything else goes out instantly. The quotes guide covers templates and signatures.
- The configured CAD. Where you enable it for the product, the buyer or your sales team exports the configured model as STEP for manufacturing and CNC machining, STL for 3D printing, or GLTF and GLB for the web. The file reflects the exact configuration with every parametric dimension applied.
That last point turns a configurator into a handoff to production. PL Custom builds emergency vehicles, and Spokbee cut its time to quote from about two years to a few days, with each configuration also delivering the 2D drawings its engineers need to build the configured vehicle.
The same configurator is open to AI assistants. Spokbee exposes your catalog through MCP tools and a REST API, so an agent can find the right product, configure and price it within your rules, and create a quote. Buyers who start their search in an AI assistant end up with a valid configuration of your product, not a guess.
The embedding guide covers the iframe and script-tag options, and the Spokbee platform page shows what Forgeline, Dragonfire, PL Custom and Stor-Loc built with theirs.
Sources
- Spokbee quickstart: input modes, publishing and embedding: spokbee.ai/docs/quickstart
- Spokbee input modes: chat, photo, URL, PDF and data files: spokbee.ai/docs/building/input-modes
- Spokbee 3D viewer and materials: spokbee.ai/docs/building/viewer
- Spokbee parameters, groups, content blocks and
geometry_impact: spokbee.ai/docs/building/parameters - Spokbee constraints, the six rule types: spokbee.ai/docs/building/constraints
- Spokbee visibility rules: spokbee.ai/docs/building/visibility
- Spokbee pricing engine and calculation order: spokbee.ai/docs/building/pricing
- Spokbee quotes and approvals: spokbee.ai/docs/selling/quotes, spokbee.ai/docs/selling/approvals
- Spokbee embedding: spokbee.ai/docs/developers/embed
- CAD export formats (STEP, STL, GLTF) and CAD inputs: spokbee.ai/integrations
- Agentic selling, MCP tools and REST API: spokbee.ai/agent-commerce
- Customer results for Stor-Loc and PL Custom: spokbee.ai
Frequently asked questions
Which CAD formats can I start from?
Any engineering file format. STEP, IGES and Parasolid are ideal. If the native CAD does not exist, Spokbee reverse-engineers the product from DXF, DWG or PDF drawings, and can start from photos, dimensions, a written description or models from an earlier catalog. You do not rebuild your catalog in a new tool first.
What if I only have drawings or photos of my product?
Spokbee reverse-engineers the product from DXF, DWG or PDF drawings into a parametric 3D model. Photos, dimensions and a written description are enough to start as well; Spokbee builds a valid 3D model from them and refines it with you. The result is the same engineering-grade geometry you get from a STEP file.
Can buyers download the configured CAD model?
Yes, where you enable it for the product. Buyers, or your own sales team, export the configured model as STEP for manufacturing and CNC machining, STL for 3D printing, or GLTF and GLB for the web. The file reflects the exact configuration the buyer selected, with every parametric dimension applied, so engineering receives geometry instead of a description of it.
Does every option change rebuild the 3D model?
No. Only parameters you mark as affecting the geometry rebuild the model when they change. Choices such as colour, finish or add-ons swap instantly without touching the geometry, which keeps the configurator fast on every device. You decide which parameters drive the geometry when you set up the configurator.
Do I need a CAD seat or an engineer for every quote?
No. Your engineers write the rules once: which options require or exclude each other, which dimensions depend on which materials, which totals need approval. Spokbee enforces those rules live in the configurator, prices every change and generates the quote PDF. Engineers spend their time on products, not on checking spreadsheets. Spokbee also offers a free Starter plan, so you can publish a first configurator before committing to anything.