After years of watching manufacturers struggle with inadequate pricing tools, we decided to build something better

When we started Broadn.io, we had a simple observation: every manufacturing company we talked to was frustrated with their pricing process. They were either stuck with spreadsheets that broke constantly, or trapped in expensive enterprise software that took two years to implement and still didn't work the way they needed.

Sound familiar?

We decided to build the pricing platform we wished existed when we were running manufacturing operations. After evaluating what was already out there, we realized why everyone was so frustrated. Let us show you what we found - and why we're confident Broadn.io is the better choice.

The State of Manufacturing Pricing Software (Spoiler: It's Not Great)

Here's the thing about most pricing software: it wasn't built for manufacturers. It was built for retail companies, or software companies, or generic "businesses" and then awkwardly adapted for manufacturing. The results speak for themselves.

Salesforce CPQ: Close, But Not Close Enough

Salesforce CPQ is probably the most popular choice for manufacturers right now, and we get why. If you're already using Salesforce, it seems like the obvious choice.

What Salesforce CPQ gives you:

• Basic configure-price-quote functionality

• Integration with your existing Salesforce setup

• Decent workflow automation

• Standard reporting features

Where it falls short:

• Zero pricing intelligence - you're still guessing at optimal prices

• Manual rule management that becomes a nightmare as you scale

• No understanding of manufacturing-specific pricing challenges

• Limited competitive intelligence capabilities

• Requires expensive customization for complex manufacturing scenarios

What Broadn.io does differently: We built AI-powered pricing optimization specifically for manufacturing. Instead of just automating your existing (possibly suboptimal) pricing rules, we help you discover better prices based on market data, customer behavior, and competitive intelligence.

Oracle CX Commerce: Enterprise Overkill

Oracle's commerce solution includes pricing capabilities, and we'll give them credit - it's powerful. It's also completely overkill for most manufacturers.

Oracle's approach:

• Enterprise-grade functionality (whether you need it or not)

• Extensive customization options

• Deep integration with Oracle ecosystem

• Robust reporting and analytics

The reality for manufacturers:

• 12-18 month implementation timelines

• Six-figure professional services costs

• Requires dedicated IT resources to maintain

• Features you'll never use but pay for anyway

• Designed for Fortune 500 companies, not mid-market manufacturers

Our philosophy: Manufacturing companies need pricing intelligence, not pricing complexity. Broadn.io delivers enterprise-grade results with small business simplicity. Most of our customers are up and running in 4-6 weeks, not 18 months.

SAP Extended Price Management: When Legacy Meets Rigidity

If you're already deep in the SAP ecosystem, their pricing module might seem logical. But SAP's approach to pricing feels like it was designed in 2005.

SAP's strengths:

• Deep integration with SAP ERP systems

• Comprehensive feature set

• Enterprise scalability

The manufacturing reality:

• Extremely rigid pricing structures that don't adapt to market changes

• Complex approval workflows that slow down sales teams

• Requires SAP expertise that's expensive and hard to find

• Limited real-time pricing capabilities

• Painful to modify when business needs change

How we're different: Broadn.io is built for agility. When market conditions change, your pricing can adapt in real-time. When you need to test new pricing strategies, you can do it without months of IT work.

Vendavo: The Legacy Leader

Vendavo has been around forever in pricing software, and they've got some impressive customer names. But "been around forever" isn't always a good thing in technology.

Vendavo's position:

• Long track record in pricing software

• Enterprise customer base

• Comprehensive feature set

The modern manufacturing challenge:

• Built on legacy architecture that shows its age

• Complex user interface that requires extensive training

• High implementation and maintenance costs

• Limited mobile capabilities for field sales teams

• Analytics that feel outdated compared to modern standards

Our advantage: We built Broadn.io from scratch using modern cloud-native architecture. This means better performance, easier use, and faster implementation. Our sales teams can generate optimized quotes from their phones - try doing that with Vendavo.

PROS Pricing: Over-Engineering the Problem

PROS makes good software for airlines and large retailers. For mid-market manufacturers? It's like using a Formula 1 car to drive to the grocery store.

PROS's capabilities:

• Sophisticated pricing algorithms

• Enterprise-scale deployment

• Advanced analytics features

For manufacturing companies:

• Way more complex than needed

• Requires pricing science expertise most manufacturers don't have

• High licensing costs that don't make sense for smaller operations

• Long learning curve for sales teams

• Built for different industries with different pricing challenges

Our focus: We built Broadn.io specifically for manufacturing pricing challenges. Every feature, every algorithm, every workflow reflects deep understanding of how manufacturers actually price their products.

Zilliant: Smart Analytics, Wrong Approach

Zilliant has some impressive AI capabilities. The problem is they treat pricing like a pure data science problem, not a business problem.

Zilliant's strengths:

• Advanced statistical models

• Machine learning capabilities

• Detailed price optimization

The business reality:

• Requires data science expertise to operate effectively

• Black-box recommendations that sales teams don't trust

• Limited transparency in how prices are calculated

• Heavy dependence on consulting services

• Not built for the real-world messiness of manufacturing sales

Our approach: We believe AI should make business users more effective, not replace them. Broadn.io's pricing recommendations are transparent and explainable. Your sales team will understand why we're suggesting a particular price, which means they'll actually use the system.

The Smaller Players: Good Ideas, Limited Execution

We also evaluated plenty of smaller solutions - Pricefx, Model N, and others. Each had interesting features, but none were built specifically for manufacturing's unique challenges.

Common issues we found:

• Generic platforms trying to serve all industries (and serving none well)

• Limited integration capabilities with manufacturing systems

• Narrow focus on just one piece of the pricing puzzle

• Lack of manufacturing-specific intelligence and insights

• Poor mobile experiences for field sales teams

Why We Built Broadn.io Differently

After seeing all these limitations, we knew we could build something better. Here's what we focused on:

Manufacturing-First Design

Every feature in Broadn.io was designed specifically for manufacturing companies. We understand complex product configurations, customer-specific contracts, raw material cost fluctuations, and regional pricing variations because we've lived them.

AI That Actually Helps

Our pricing algorithms don't just crunch numbers - they understand manufacturing business logic. They know that a 10% price increase might be worth testing with Customer A but would be disaster with Customer B. They factor in competitive dynamics, seasonal patterns, and customer behavior.

Real Implementation Speed

While competitors promise "rapid deployment" in 6-12 months, we deliver real value in 4-6 weeks. Most of our customers see ROI in their first quarter, not their second year.

Sales Team Adoption

The best pricing software in the world is worthless if your sales team won't use it. We built Broadn.io to make sales teams more successful, not to create more work for them. The result? 90%+ user adoption rates instead of the industry average of 60%.

Transparent, Honest Pricing

No hidden professional services costs. No vendor lock-in. No "enterprise" features that triple your license cost. We believe great software should be accessible to manufacturers of all sizes.

The Bottom Line

We didn't build Broadn.io to be another pricing software company. We built it because we were frustrated with the options available to manufacturers. Every decision we made - from our AI algorithms to our user interface to our pricing model - reflects our deep understanding of manufacturing operations.

If you're tired of pricing software that was built for someone else and adapted for manufacturing, we'd love to show you what purpose-built looks like.

Ready to see how Broadn.io can transform your manufacturing pricing? Schedule a personalized demo and discover why more manufacturers are choosing purpose-built over adapted solutions.