AI Material Managment, Review, and Update Agent

Feature Request: AI Material Management, Review, and Update Agent

Summary:
Introduce an AI-driven Material Management, Review, and Update Agent in BOE Pro that operates within the Materials View using the existing Dela chat experience. The agent analyzes the proposal’s BOM alongside external system data and the BOE Library to identify missing or candidate materials and propose precise, non-destructive change deltas that the estimator can selectively approve.

Problem Statement:
Estimators working on complex proposals often assemble BOMs from multiple sources (engineering inputs, templates, external systems). Ensuring that these BOMs are complete, current with evolving design/scope, and consistent with historical proposals is time-consuming and error-prone when done manually. Gaps in materials, incorrect quantities, and misalignment with external data or past proposals can lead to rework, cost inaccuracies, and approval delays. There is currently no intelligent, proposal-wide assistant that can safely suggest BOM changes while respecting existing permissions, locks, and approval workflows.

Proposed Solution:
Implement an AI Material Management, Review, and Update Agent accessible from the Materials View via the existing Dela chat window.
The agent should:

• Analyze the current proposal BOM in aggregate, including line items, quantities, and structure.

• Cross-reference configured external system connections (e.g., ERP/PLM) and the BOE Library (including similar historical proposals) to detect:

  • Missing or likely-required materials.

  • Inconsistent or outdated quantities.

  • Related or complementary materials that are typically included together.

• Present proposed changes as explicit “change deltas” (e.g., add new line X, increase quantity of Y from 10 to 12, add related item Z) via chat, grouped in a way that is safe for large BOMs (batch-safe processing).

• Allow the estimator to review and approve/reject suggested changes individually or in bulk before any updates are applied.

• Enforce all existing permissions, locking rules, and approval workflows so that AI-driven updates cannot circumvent established controls.

• Maintain a clear, reviewable chat history of AI recommendations and user-approved updates for auditing and traceability.

• Ensure all AI actions are non-destructive by default, with no BOM changes committed until explicitly confirmed by the user.

Benefits:

• Reduces manual effort for estimators by automating BOM review and suggestion generation.

• Improves material completeness and accuracy, reducing the risk of omissions and quantity errors.

• Keeps BOMs better aligned with evolving proposal scope, external system data, and historical best practices from the BOE Library.

• Preserves governance by honoring existing permissions, locks, and approvals, providing a safe AI-assisted workflow.

• Enhances traceability through a documented chat history of AI recommendations and user-approved changes, supporting reviews and audits.