WebisoftAI Data & Integration
Platform
Three tracks designed for a 125-year masonry distributor — queryable analytics, AI product matching, and a Microsoft Graph contact validation platform.
Prepared by Phil Therien, Partner, Webisoft Technologie Inc.
Understanding Your Business Context
Merkley Supply is a 125-year-old masonry distributor based in Ottawa. With $29.6M in annual revenue, a highly specialized product catalogue, and a quote-driven sales process supported by architect-facing reps, the business relies on precise product knowledge and deep client relationships.
Four operational pressures surfaced in our discovery conversation:
Years in business
125
OTTAWA · MASONRY
Annual revenue
$29.6M
MERKLEY SUPPLY
Trade-show contacts
6,527
MANAGED ANNUALLY
Discovery deposit
$2,500
CAD · CREDITED
Data Locked in Legacy Infrastructure
25 years of sales and purchase data lives in an Epicor/BisTrack SQL database that is costly and cumbersome to query at scale. Meaningful analytics are accessible only to a small number of spreadsheet-savvy staff — and strategic decisions, including the upcoming facility relocation, lack the data-driven modeling support they deserve.
Product Matching at the Edge of General AI
Your catalogue is exceptionally nuanced — 100+ red brick variants, texture terminology ("velour," "brush text," "corduroy") that confuses off-the-shelf AI. Reps carry significant institutional knowledge that's difficult to scale or systematize. Bottleneck in quoting; inconsistency when senior reps are unavailable.
Systems That Do Not Communicate Cleanly
BisTrack is moving from on-prem to cloud. Microsoft Dynamics 365 migration (required by 2029) will not integrate natively with BisTrack, risking operational disconnects across ERP, accounting, and CRM. The integration architecture decisions made now define operational agility for the next decade.
Manual Contact Maintenance at Scale
Gary's team spends 3-4 weeks every year manually calling companies to verify and update 6,527 contacts ahead of the annual trade show. People pass away, companies close, contacts change roles. A prior tool (Good Contacts) handled this automatically.
Proposed Solution Overview
A three-track engagement structured around your most immediate needs and highest-value opportunities. Each track delivers standalone value while contributing to a connected, long-term platform.
Track A
Queryable Data & AI Analytics
The fastest path to measurable value.
Indicative
CAD $18,000 – $24,000
Track B
AI Product Matching Engine
Built specifically for the complexity of your catalogue.
Indicative
CAD $22,000 – $30,000
Track C
Contact Validation & Campaign Platform
Purpose-built replacement for Good Contacts, on your existing Microsoft infrastructure.
Indicative
CAD $8,000 – $12,000
Track Detail
Each track is independently scoped. Effort estimates are indicative; timelines confirmed through Discovery. Parallel execution across tracks reduces total wall-clock time.
Track A
Queryable Data & AI Analytics
The fastest path to measurable value.
Indicative budget
CAD $18,000 – $24,000
We extract a curated 5-7 year window of sales and purchasing data from BisTrack, structure it in a clean AI-ready data model, and deploy a conversational query interface accessible to your broader team.
Eliminates the cost of querying 25 years of raw Epicor data while delivering the insights that matter. Your team asks questions in plain English — "Which products have the highest margin in the Ottawa region over the last 3 years?" — and gets reliable, structured answers without spreadsheet specialists.
Also supports scenario modeling for the upcoming facility relocation — simulate delivery route changes and regional sales distribution shifts against real historical data.
Modules & effort
Track B
AI Product Matching Engine
Built specifically for the complexity of your catalogue.
Indicative budget
CAD $22,000 – $30,000
Not a generic AI deployment — a custom model trained on your product data, supplier terminology, regional pricing variables, and the specific texture and finish vocabulary your reps use daily.
Result: a product matching assistant your architect-facing reps can query during customer interactions, reducing lookup time and ensuring consistent recommendations. Over time, extends to customer-facing quoting, further reducing senior-staff burden.
We have deployed a similar system internally at Webisoft — trained on five years of historical sales data — and it consistently reduces proposal preparation time from hours to minutes. Directly applicable here.
Modules & effort
Track C
Contact Validation & Campaign Platform
Purpose-built replacement for Good Contacts, on your existing Microsoft infrastructure.
Indicative budget
CAD $8,000 – $12,000
Connects directly to your shared Outlook/Exchange contact folder via the Microsoft Graph API. No data migration, no new CRM. Gary triggers validation campaigns filtered by name, category, date of last update, or any subgroup relevant to the trade show.
Each contact receives a personalized email showing exactly what Merkley has on file. Three actions: All Correct (one-click confirm + timestamp), Changes Required (pre-populated edit form), Opt Out (notifies Gary for manual removal). Every change logged with old/new value and timestamp.
Email delivery, spam compliance, bounce management, and deliverability handled through an enterprise third-party sending platform — selected during Discovery (~CAD $20–50/mo subscription). Removes the deliverability problem entirely; avoids first-party mass-send spam filter issues.
Designed to run 1–3 times per year, with November/December as the primary window ahead of the March trade show.
Modules & effort
All Tracks include 2 weeks of QA & Deployment — testing, user training, and go-live support across whatever tracks are commissioned.
Investment
All pricing indicative. Final scope and cost confirmed through the Discovery Engagement before any development begins.
| Track | Scope | Indicative Budget |
|---|---|---|
| Track A | Queryable Analytics — data extract, NL interface, refresh pipeline | CAD $18,000 – $24,000 |
| Track B | AI Product Matching — custom model, quote assistant, BisTrack integration | CAD $22,000 – $30,000 |
| Track C | Contact Validation Platform — Exchange integration, campaign engine, dashboard | CAD $8,000 – $12,000 |
All Three Tracks
Combined engagement, parallel execution, single SOW
Combined budget
CAD $43K – $59K
Note on Track C: budget covers development only. The third-party email sending platform carries an ongoing subscription fee of approximately CAD $20–50/month, to be confirmed during Discovery.
Discovery Engagement
Before any development begins, a structured Discovery Engagement — fixed-fee, time-boxed — designed to eliminate ambiguity and ensure what we build is exactly right for your environment.
Discovery Engagement
$2,500
CAD · Credited toward any subsequent engagement
What's included
- Audit of current BisTrack data structure, API availability, and cloud migration status
- Review of product catalogue complexity and rep workflow to scope the AI matching model accurately
- Assessment of Microsoft Exchange environment and Graph API access for the contact platform
- Selection and configuration planning for the third-party email sending platform
- Identification of quick wins vs. longer-horizon builds across all three tracks
What you walk away with
- Clear implementation roadmap with phased recommendations
- Locked scope document with defined deliverables and timelines per track
- Case study brief documenting current state, target state, and expected outcomes
- Full $2,500 credited toward any subsequent development engagement
- If you don't proceed after Discovery, you keep everything we produced
Why Webisoft
Montreal-based custom software and AI firm, ~40 engineers. We don't sell generic software — every engagement is built around your environment and objectives.
Live AI sales assistant — used daily
Trained on five years of historical data, deployed internally at Webisoft and actively used by our sales team. Direct analog for Track B.
ERP + CRM integrations across the stack
Direct experience integrating Epicor, Salesforce, Odoo, and Microsoft Dynamics — the exact environments at play in your migration.
Middleware during migration, not after
We integrate with BisTrack during your cloud migration — not after — so you exit with a stronger integration posture than you entered.
AI on proprietary, domain-specific data
Model training on niche vocabularies where general LLMs fail. Track B is built for exactly this kind of catalogue.
Microsoft ecosystem fluency
Outlook, Exchange, Teams, SharePoint, Graph API automation — Track C runs on what you already own.
Senior-led, ~40 engineers in Montreal
Custom software and AI firm. Every engagement built around your environment and objectives — never generic.
Proposed Next Steps
Confirm interest in Discovery Engagement
Webisoft sends Discovery agreement and invoice
Kick off Discovery — Jeremy, Gary, Phil, William
Webisoft delivers roadmap, scope doc, and case study brief
Merkley selects tracks and signs SOW
phil@webisoft.com · webisoft.com
Phil Therien · Partner, Webisoft
Confidential — Prepared exclusively for Merkley Supply