Solving the Distribution Labor Shortage with AI and Quoting Automation

Executive Summary:
Labor shortages are straining wholesale distributors across HVAC/R, plumbing, and electrical. Hiring is difficult, training takes too long, and veterans are retiring. Distro is the AI Revenue Platform that solves this challenge — automating quoting, simplifying takeoffs, and empowering smaller teams to perform like much larger ones.

What Challenges Do Labor Shortages Create for Distributors?

Across verticals, the workforce problem is clear:

  • Attracting talent: Younger workers often overlook distribution as a career path.

  • Training new hires: Ramp times are long due to complex ERPs and thousands of SKUs.

  • Retaining expertise: Experienced staff are retiring, taking decades of knowledge with them.

The result: quoting slows down, errors increase, and margins erode.

How Does Distro Address the Labor Shortage?

Instead of trying to replace years of expertise overnight, distributors are turning to Distro. Unlike generic AI tools, Distro is purpose-built for distribution. It:

  • Automates quoting to eliminate manual retyping.

  • Simplifies takeoffs, turning documents into quotes in minutes.

  • Equips every rep with instant access to specs, pricing, and product data.

By removing repetitive work, Distro frees people to focus on customers, problem-solving, and relationships.

What Results Are Distributors Seeing with Distro?

Distributors already using Distro report transformational results:

  • Reduced Workflows: One distributor eliminated hundreds of hours per month by automating RFQ intake.

  • Accelerated Takeoffs: Complex takeoffs that once took hours or days are completed in minutes.

  • Knowledge Transfer at Scale: New hires quote independently within weeks, compressing training cycles dramatically.

These aren’t incremental efficiencies — they are critical solutions to the industry’s workforce shortage.

Is Your Team Prepared for the Labor Shortage?

Ask yourself:

  • Can your team process RFQs quickly without overloading senior staff?

  • Can new hires contribute in their first month?

  • Would a retiring veteran leave a dangerous gap in your operation?

  • Do you have tools to handle more work without adding headcount?

If you answered yes, it’s time to explore Distro’s AI-powered quoting automation and takeoffs.

Why Choose Distro Over Point Solutions?

Distro is the only AI Revenue Platform built for wholesale distributors.

Other vendors offer point solutions that create fragmentation — one for quoting, one for takeoffs, another for search. That means more logins, higher costs, and less adoption.

Distro unifies it all:

  • Quoting automation.

  • Takeoffs automation.

  • Product lookup.

  • Sales enablement.

With Distro, distributors overcome labor shortages, empower every rep, and capture more margin in one system.

FAQs

Q: How does Distro help with labor shortages?
A: Distro automates quoting and takeoffs, shortens training cycles, and equips every rep with instant product knowledge.

Q: Does Distro replace people?
A: No. Distro empowers people by removing repetitive tasks, so they focus on customers and revenue.

Q: Why Distro instead of multiple tools?
A: Distro is a holistic AI Revenue Platform, not point solutions. It unifies quoting, takeoffs, and sales enablement in one place.

Q: What results can distributors expect?
A: Faster quoting, reduced training times, accelerated takeoffs, and consistent processes across branches.

Closing Thought

The labor shortage isn’t going away. But Distro ensures distributors thrive despite fewer people. By automating quoting, simplifying takeoffs, and empowering teams, Distro transforms labor challenges into competitive advantages.

The future of distribution isn’t about hiring more people. It’s about giving your people more power. And Distro makes that possible.