Traceline
CAD REGISTER // SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE & WALKTHROUGH

From messy supplier documents to audit-ready purchasing data.

A four-stage walkthrough of how Traceline ingests inconsistent quotes, normalizes units and pack sizes, links every number to source evidence, and delivers live formula Excel exports.

STAGES // 04 SEQUENTIAL PHASES
MATH // 60-DIGIT DETERMINISTIC
EXPORT // FORMULA-BACKED .XLSX
01 // INGESTION MULTI-FORMAT EXTRACTION

Ingest quotes in whatever format suppliers send.

Suppliers respond in completely inconsistent formats: multi-page PDF formal quotes, raw Excel spreadsheets, CSV data exports, or pasted email body text.

Traceline parses documents up to 25 MB and 50 pages without requiring suppliers to log into a portal or fill out rigid web forms. Quotes are extracted and mapped against the buyer's original Request.

EXHIBIT // INGESTION PIPELINE MAX 25MB · 50 PAGES
.pdf
Multi-Page Formal Quote Text Layer Extraction
.xlsx
Raw Supplier Spreadsheet Native Cell Matrix
.csv
ERP Data Export Delimited Stream
.txt
Unstructured Email Text Line-Item Tokenizer
STRUCTURED TARGET Canonical Request Map
Target RFQ: WO-2210 (Warehouse Lighting)
Line Items: 3 Requested Products
Text Layer: Verified Digital UTF-8
OCR Filter: Zero Raster Distortion
02 // NORMALIZATION DETERMINISTIC PARITY

Standardize units, packs, and currencies with zero arithmetic guessing.

One supplier quotes per box of 10 (BX/10); another quotes individual fixtures (EA); a third quotes in cases of 100 (CS/100).

Traceline automatically parses pack quantities and converts prices to a standardized unit baseline using an audited Unit of Measure catalog (count, length, weight, volume).

It also calculates the Common Scope Total: items that weren't quoted by all suppliers are excluded from the headline total so you never mistake an incomplete quote for the lowest bid.

EXHIBIT // PACK NORMALIZATION & MATH UOM CONVERSION ENGINE
STEP 01 RAW SUPPLIER INPUT
Ridgeline Electric 12 Boxes @ $450.00/bx (10/bx)
Doc: Quote SQ-58213.pdf · Line 14 · Pack Quantity: BX/10
STEP 02 UOM CATALOG AUDIT
Rule Matched: UOM // COUNT: BOX[10] → EA[1] (Ratio: 10.000000)
Math Formula: $450.00 ÷ 10 = $45.000000
STEP 03 STANDARDIZED CANONICAL UNIT
Normalized Unit Price: $45.00 / EA
Summit Rival: $48.00 / EA
✓ Real unit price is 6.25% LOWER than Summit despite the headline $450 box sticker.
COMMON SCOPE TOTAL BASELINE
Omitted scope automatically excluded across all bids
03 // REVIEW & TRACE AUDITABLE PROVENANCE

Uncertainty is highlighted, never smoothed away.

Every extracted number is pinned to its exact location in the original supplier document. Clicking a price opens the Evidence Panel, highlighting the PDF bounding box (x0, y0, x1, y1) or spreadsheet cell coordinate.

When a quote contains an ambiguity—such as a proposed alternate SKU, lot pricing, or an unbundled freight fee—Traceline tags the cell with a diagonal hatch chip (Needs Review).

The buyer reviews flagged exceptions one by one in a dedicated Review Queue and approves matches. Traceline never automatically picks a winning supplier.

EXHIBIT // EVIDENCE VIEWER & REVIEW QUEUE BBOX CITATION · HUMAN APPROVAL
SOURCE CITATION Ridgeline Quote E-421.pdf
PAGE 02 // LINE 14 x0: 142.4, y0: 388.1, x1: 520.0, y1: 412.6
...ITEM 13: 400W METAL HALIDE RETROFIT KIT [DISCONTINUED]...
LINE 14: 150W LED HIGHBAY (HB-150W-5K) — 12 BX @ $450.00/BX (10/BX)
...ITEM 15: 8FT T8 CONVERSION FIXTURES — 40 EA @ $28.00/EA...
Evidence Anchor: Exact spatial raster coordinates pinned in audit log
REVIEW QUEUE // 1 OF 3 Needs Review
PACK SPECIFICATION AMBIGUITY

Supplier quoted in boxes of 10. Normalization mapped to 120 EA @ $45.00/EA. Verify unit conversion against RFQ baseline.

Human decision required. Traceline never picks a winner.
04 // EXCEL EXPORT AUDIT-READY DELIVERABLE

Audit-grade Excel exports ready for your existing ERP.

When the comparison is approved, export a comprehensive, multi-sheet .xlsx workbook generated natively by Traceline.

The workbook includes four structured sheets:

  • 1. Bid Tab Sheet: Headline Common Scope Total, quoted totals, requested items, and side-by-side normalized supplier prices.
  • 2. Per-Supplier Quote Sheets: Complete breakdown of line items, pack sizes, raw quoted text, and commercial terms.
  • 3. Issues Sheet: Full audit register of all flagged deviations and reviewer notes.
  • 4. Sources Sheet: Comprehensive register of all document cell coordinates with clickable deep links opening the original document in Traceline's evidence viewer.

Purchasing teams can map these flat, clean tables directly into existing ERP purchase order import templates (SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics) without custom IT integrations.

EXHIBIT // NATIVE 4-SHEET WORKBOOK PREVIEW
EXPORT // .XLSXTL_COMPARISON_WO-2210_EXPORT.xlsx
GENERATED // DETERMINISTIC ENGINE
ERP PO Handoff1. Native .xlsx→2. PO Map→3. ERP Import: SAP · Oracle · NetSuite · Dynamics
E10
=SUMPRODUCT(D6:D8, E6:E8)Live Formula — Never Hardcoded
WORKSHEET 01

Canonical Bid Tab & Normalized Comparison

Common Scope Total$38,420.00
#Requested Item DescriptionQtyUOMRidgeline Electric (Normalized)Summit Industrial (Normalized)Harbor Supply (Normalized)
01150W LED High-Bay FixtureSKU: HB-150W-5K120EA$45.00 / EA(was $450.00/bx)fx$48.00 / EA$47.50 / EA
02Emergency Battery Pack 90-MinSKU: EM-90MIN20EA$95.00 / EA[UNQUOTED] (Omitted Scope)Excluded from headline baseline$98.00 / EA
03Freight & Logistics DeliveryREF: FOB DESTINATION1LOT$450.00(Prepaid)$600.00$350.00(Unbundled line)
COMMON SCOPE TOTALFormula: =SUMPRODUCT(D6:D8, E6:E8)$38,420.00fx$41,200.00*$39,150.00

Bring one real RFQ. See what it catches.

Test Traceline on an upcoming comparison. Experience pack normalization, common scope calculation, and provenance tracing on your own documents.

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