Price file · 20+ supplier lines
Each line · its own rulebook
Tol ±0.5% price vs rule Channel claims · every line
Each SPA · its own clauses
Tol ±0 claim vs agreement

Your costs moved. Did your prices?You paid the claim. Was it owed?

Supplier increases land faster than your price file can follow. Twenty-plus lines each price by their own rules, and rebates you earned go unclaimed. We find every leak, size it in dollars, and your people rule on every fix.Claims and SPAs arrive in every format, the programs you fund rest on estimates, and quotes drift behind cost. We check each claim against the agreement as written, size every gap in dollars, and your people rule on every fix.

Run the free Margin X-RayRun the free X-Ray Audit the sample claimsAudit sample claims Talk to Mike See all 19 demos

90 secondsyour file never leaves your computerno e-mail asked

3 minutessample claims, runs in your browserno e-mail asked

91% of distributors raised prices in 2Q26 33% still absorbed part of the increase — Baird–NAW survey, via Modern Distribution Management, Aug 2026 (opens the source in a new tab)

98% of repeat quotes reproduce the quote desk’s own price ladder — measured at RobbJack, October 2026 · how it was measured

Michael MacArthur · 30+ years at a manufacturer that sells through distributors

AI held to your tolerance.

Drag to turn · scroll to measure ↓

What distributors are up against · 2026 trade-press researchWhat manufacturers are up against · filings and research

All findings and sources

About 113 trade-press, survey and filing sources read, 2023–2026 · vendor research is always named as vendor research

Start here · free · 90 secondsStart here · free · sample data

Start where the money leaks.

For distributors · the Margin X-Ray Your price file, measured. Every supplier line, its own rule. Drop a price file into the sealed chamber. It reads each supplier line’s own pricing rule, runs 35 distributor checks in your browser and ranks every leak. 90 sec · Sample file or your own, never uploaded · no e-mail asked Run the free Margin X-Ray
For manufacturers · Shop Pulse

Pick your departments. Watch your shop floor build itself.

Grinding09:50

89%

spindle time

6 grinders since 06:00

Inspection09:50

3/4

first parts passed

1 fail · GR-5 at 09:20

Sample data · fictional plant Quarrybrook Precision Components (fictional)

Build my dashboards Selling through distributors? Channel Clean-Room
For manufacturers · the Channel Clean-Room Every claim, read against the agreement as written. Distributors’ point-of-sale files in every format become one clean table. Then each claim line is checked the way your agreement reads: the term, the end user, the claim window, the cap, the rate and the duplicates. Pay what is owed; send the rest back with the reason. 3 min · Sample data · no e-mail asked Audit the sample claims
For manufacturers · three more doors

The programs you fund, the prices you quote, the floor you run.

Vendor costs change on their own schedule, your system cost later, your sell price later still. Every day in between, margin leaks in three places:

  1. Prices that didn’t keep up A supplier increase that never reached the sell price. A cost that no longer matches the supplier’s file. A tariff surcharge billed on every receipt and never priced in. Replay a 2026 cost shock
  2. Money owed to you Rebates, SPA credits and ship-and-debit claims you earned and never filed, or filed short. Cash that sits with your suppliers until someone asks for it. See the Rebate & SPA Desk
  3. Deals past their terms A contract that expired months ago and is still being billed. A handshake discount nobody wrote down. A box priced as one piece. Rule on them with Decision Cards

Distributors claim on their schedule, your programs accrue on yours, and raw material moves on neither. In between, margin leaks in three places:

  1. Claims you shouldn’t pay A claim filed after its window, a cap already used, last month’s claim sent again, a rate above the SPA. Once paid, it rarely comes back. Audit the claims
  2. Programs you fund Growth, volume and co-op programs promised to distributors, estimated all year and settled when the year closes. See the maker’s side
  3. Quotes behind cost A repeat special quoted at last year’s cost, a surcharge that never reached the quote, a price file distributors don’t trust. See the Quote Desk

The pricing-rules problem

Twenty lines. Twenty rulebooks.

Your price file isn't one price list. Every supplier line has its own way you buy and its own way you sell: a multiplier off list here, cost-plus by class there, a bracket matrix, a net sheet, a buying-group contract. Almost none of it is written down. Here is one fictional distributor, line by line.

20 lines shown 13 off their own rule 7 on rule
Sell rules on this wall: Multiplier off listCost-plusCost matrixPriced to market
  1. Line 1 Out · leak

    Carbide end mills & drills

    Kestova Carbide (fictional)

    Multiplier off list
    Buy
    Supplier list × 0.42, discount group C3; a tungsten surcharge billed as its own invoice line
    Sell
    Book = supplier list; Tier A pays list × 0.68

    Found: The surcharge never reached item cost, so margins read 9 points higher than they are.

  2. Line 2 Out · leak

    Solid carbide end mills

    Halcyra Carbide (fictional)

    Multiplier off list
    Buy
    List × 0.45, with two surcharge steps this year
    Sell
    Supplier list × 0.90

    Found: The second surcharge reached cost on 140 items but never the sell price.

  3. Line 3 Out · leak

    Taps & threading

    Vorlex Threading (fictional)

    Multiplier off list
    Buy
    List × 0.50; a new list effective March 1
    Sell
    Supplier list × 0.95

    Found: 212 items still sit on last year’s list, so the whole line runs about 6% behind its own rule.

  4. Line 4 In tolerance

    Taps

    Tessaly Tap Works (fictional)

    Cost-plus
    Buy
    Net cost from the supplier’s monthly price file
    Sell
    Cost × 1.52 by product class

    Found: On its rule, item by item. Nothing to fix.

  5. Line 5 Out · leak

    HSS & cobalt drills

    Quenmark Drills (fictional)

    Multiplier off list
    Buy
    List × 0.48; annual increase every February
    Sell
    Supplier list × 1.00

    Found: Repeat customers kept paying last year’s price: the increase reached the book, not the invoices.

  6. Line 6 Out · leak

    Drills, no price file

    Brightholm Drill Co. (fictional)

    Cost-plus
    Buy
    Increases arrive as PDF letters; costs keyed by hand
    Sell
    Cost × 1.50 by product class

    Found: Cost never updated after the spring letter: nine months stale across the line.

  7. Line 7 In tolerance

    Band saw blades

    Sawtrell Blades (fictional)

    Multiplier off list
    Buy
    List × 0.40
    Sell
    Supplier list × 0.88

    Found: On its rule. Nothing to fix.

  8. Line 8 In tolerance

    Coolant & cutting fluids

    Aquilor Fluids (fictional)

    Cost matrix
    Buy
    List × 0.55, priced by container size
    Sell
    Bracket matrix: about × 1.66 on small packs, stepping to × 1.46 on drums

    Found: Drums run thin on purpose. Judged by the matrix, not a blanket margin target: no false alarm.

  9. Line 9 Out · leak

    Vises & workholding

    Gripforth Vises (fictional)

    Multiplier off list
    Buy
    List × 0.60, plus a castings tariff surcharge
    Sell
    Supplier list × 0.92

    Found: The tariff surcharge is billed on every receipt and was never built into the sell price.

  10. Line 10 In tolerance

    Inspection & metrology

    Valtern Metrology (fictional)

    Multiplier off list
    Buy
    List × 0.62
    Sell
    Supplier list × 0.90

    Found: On its rule. Nothing to fix.

  11. Line 11 Out · leak

    Tooling cabinets

    Drawerline Storage (fictional)

    Cost matrix
    Buy
    Net price plus inbound freight on every cabinet
    Sell
    Bracket matrix on landed cost

    Found: Inbound freight was never added to cost, so the biggest cabinets sell under their own matrix.

  12. Line 12 Out · leak

    Fill-in buys from a master distributor

    Tredwyn Master Distribution (fictional)

    Cost-plus
    Buy
    Net cost per the master distributor’s own sheet
    Sell
    Cost × 1.45 by product class

    Found: The same Kestova end mill is set up twice under two spellings, at two prices. The counter finds the cheap one.

  13. Line 13 Out · setup error

    Shop towels & wipers

    Commodity line (fictional)

    Cost-plus
    Buy
    Net price sheet, no list price; bought by the case of 12
    Sell
    Cost × 1.28 by class, sold each

    Found: Three items carry the case cost on an each price. A setup error to fix, not a loss to count.

  14. Line 14 Out · leak

    Abrasives: discs & belts

    Commodity line (fictional)

    Cost matrix
    Buy
    List × 0.38, packed in boxes of 50
    Sell
    Matrix by box

    Found: Four items price a full box as if it were one disc.

  15. Line 15 In · your word

    Gloves & hand protection

    Commodity line (fictional)

    Priced to market
    Buy
    Net sheet with quantity breaks
    Sell
    Priced to market on purpose: basket items customers compare

    Found: Under the line rule by design. Once you say “priced to market”, it stops reading as a leak.

  16. Line 16 Out · leak

    Janitorial & sanitation

    Commodity line (fictional)

    Cost-plus
    Buy
    Buying-group contract price, renewed every July
    Sell
    Cost × 1.22

    Found: The group renewed at new costs in July. The price file is still on the old contract.

  17. Line 17 Out · leak

    Bulk fasteners

    Commodity line (fictional)

    Cost-plus
    Buy
    Priced per 100, by weight bracket
    Sell
    Cost × 1.60 by class

    Found: A key-account contract still quotes the 2023 per-100 price. Nobody has reviewed it since.

  18. Line 18 In tolerance

    Safety eyewear & PPE

    Commodity line (fictional)

    Multiplier off list
    Buy
    List × 0.55
    Sell
    Supplier list × 0.80

    Found: On its rule. Nothing to fix.

  19. Line 19 Out · setup error

    Hose & fittings

    Commodity line (fictional)

    Multiplier off list
    Buy
    List less a discount by group: group A at × 0.47
    Sell
    Supplier list × 0.70

    Found: 64 items were costed at the wrong discount group, so cost reads high and quotes go out high.

  20. Line 20 In tolerance

    Tape, ties & shop supplies

    Commodity line (fictional)

    Cost-plus
    Buy
    Net cost, some direct and some through the master distributor
    Sell
    Cost × 1.55

    Found: On its rule, whichever way it was bought. Nothing to fix.

Is this your file? Ask it.

The free Margin X-Ray reads each supplier line's sell rule from your own price file, shows you the rule it found, and asks: is this your rule? Lines it can’t read with confidence are marked “not judged”, never guessed. The Margin Diagnostic then goes line by line, buy side and sell side.

Find each line's rule in my file Sample · fictional supplier lines

Try it · three lines, ten seconds

Is this your rule?

We read the rule each supplier line's prices sit on. You confirm it or correct it, and every price is measured against your rule, not ours. Prices within ±1% of the rule are in tolerance.

  1. Abrasives · Vorlex (fictional)

    We read Sell at supplier list × 0.70

    Abrasives: each price measured against the rule
    ItemPriceRuleDeviation
    VX-4410 12.88 12.88 +0.0%
    VX-4412 15.47 15.47 +0.0%
    VX-5030 28.70 28.70 +0.0%
    VX-5034 30.10 32.55 −7.5%
    VX-6120 6.86 6.86 +0.0%
    VX-6124 9.07 8.82 +2.8%

    4 of 6 on rule · 2 off it

  2. Safety · gloves · Halcyra (fictional)

    We read Cost-plus: 30% gross margin

    Safety · gloves: each price measured against the rule
    ItemPriceRuleDeviation
    HC-N100-L 10.50 10.50 +0.0%
    HC-N100-XL 10.50 10.50 +0.0%
    HC-C220-M 17.00 17.00 +0.0%
    HC-C220-L 15.20 17.00 −10.6%
    HC-K500 31.00 31.00 +0.0%
    HC-K510 34.50 34.50 +0.0%

    5 of 6 on rule · 1 off it

  3. Cutting tools · drills · Kestova (fictional)

    We read Sell at supplier list × 0.62

    Cutting tools · drills: each price measured against the rule
    ItemPriceRuleDeviation
    KS-2210 39.68 39.68 +0.0%
    KS-2214 44.33 44.33 +0.0%
    KS-3305 54.56 54.56 +0.0%
    KS-3310 59.77 59.77 +0.0%
    KS-4420 70.80 73.16 −3.2%
    KS-4425 81.84 81.84 +0.0%

    5 of 6 on rule · 1 off it

Sample data · fictional distributor On your own file, the Margin X-Ray reads every supplier line this way and asks the same question. Run it free

Proven at a manufacturer · the supplier side of your counter

Built on RobbJack's own data first.

Mike MacArthur has been part of the RobbJack team, a precision carbide cutting-tool manufacturer that sells through industrial distributors, for over thirty years. Every method here was built and proven on RobbJack's pricing, quoting and order data before it was offered to anyone else.

See it for yourself: the Margin X-Ray runs 35 distributor checks on a sample distributor or on your own files, right in your browser. Every finding comes back as a count, a dollar estimate and real example rows.

Read the storyTalk to Mike
97%of purchase-order lines read correctly by AI1
98%of repeat quotes reproduce the quote desk’s own price ladder2
20automated pricing-rule checks run on every change3
92%of priced SKUs repriced to current material cost, with every SKU accounted for4
−75%quote-engine pricing error5
  1. 97% of purchase-order lines read correctly by AI. Blind test on 1,395 real purchase orders the AI had never seen: each line it read was graded against what RobbJack’s order desk entered. As of October 2026.
  2. 98% of repeat quotes reproduce the quote desk’s own price ladder. Share of RobbJack’s past repeat quotes where the quote engine produced the same price ladder the quote desk had quoted. As of October 2026.
  3. 20 automated pricing-rule checks run on every change. Count of automated checks on RobbJack’s pricing rules that run every time a price changes. As of October 2026.
  4. 92% of priced SKUs repriced to current material cost, with every SKU accounted for. Share of RobbJack’s priced SKUs whose price was rebuilt on its current material cost. As of October 2026.
  5. −75% quote-engine pricing error. Change in RobbJack’s quote-engine pricing error after the rebuild. As of October 2026.
  6. Measured at RobbJack and published with RobbJack’s written authorization, as percentages and counts only.

Next step · Margin Diagnostic · from $5,000

Two weeks on your real data. Every leak sized.

The X-Ray reads the exports you give it. The Margin Diagnostic runs its checks and more on a read-only export of your full data, and checks every dollar against your invoices and supplier files. Your people make every decision; we never write to your ERP.

Run the free Margin X-Ray Start with a Margin Diagnostic Talk to Mike

Starting-at price; your fixed price is written down before work starts. Onboarding discount: 20% off any desk for the first 12 months.

Michael MacArthur, founder of Precision Tolerance AI
Michael MacArthur reviews every finding in a Diagnostic himself: two weeks on a read-only export, every leak sized, the fix list in your hands.
  1. Every leak sized in dollars, with the fix list
  2. A Supplier Line Rulebookeach supplier line’s buy and sell rule in plain English
  3. A Line Review Kitone page per supplier line to bring to your supplier review
See it work

Nineteen live demos. No sales call required.

Every one runs in your browser on a fictional company, or on your own file where it says so. Nothing you drop in is ever uploaded. Start with these three.

  1. 01Flagship90 sec Margin X-Ray Drop a price file into the sealed chamber. It reads each supplier line’s own pricing rule, runs 35 distributor checks in your browser and ranks every leak. Open demo
  2. 02Calculator40 sec Leak Calculator Ten inputs. Every assumption shown and editable: sourced where a source exists, labeled illustrative where not. Get a range to take to your partner or board. Open demo
  3. 03Rebates2 min Rebate & SPA Desk Seven supplier programs, each with its own paperwork. Run month-end and watch every claim fill itself, get checked line by line the way the supplier will, and wait for a person to release it. Flip to the manufacturer’s side and the same rules read the same claims. Open demo

Also in the lab

All 19 demos
The method

Measure. Rule. Fix. Guard.

  1. A.1

    Measure

    A forensic scan of your item, price and customer data finds every problem and sizes it in counts and dollars.

  2. A.2

    Rule

    Each problem becomes a Decision Card your owner or GM answers in a minute. Your people decide; AI never sets your prices.

  3. A.3

    Fix

    Rulings are applied on a copy and returned as import files your own staff review and load. We never write to your ERP.

  4. A.4

    Guard

    Every ruling becomes a check that runs on every future change, so the same mistake can't quietly come back.

Where to start

Start small. Keep what works.

Project

Margin Diagnostic

A two-week margin X-ray of your real price file: every leak, sized, with the fix list.

from $5,000 Project

Data Decision Sprint

Thirty days: forensic scan, your rulings on Decision Cards, fixes loaded, checks that keep them fixed. Know your margin by customer, product and line before a buyer or lender asks.

from $15,000 Monthly desk · Flagship

Margin Guard

Watches cost against price every month so a tariff or tungsten move never sits in your margin.

from $3,500/mo

All services and starting prices → or talk to Mike about where to start →

Your data, sealed

Your file never leaves your computer.

The Margin X-Ray runs entirely in your browser. The page shows a live bytes-sent meter that stays at zero, and it keeps working with your Wi-Fi off. On a paid engagement we keep your data only while our agreement is in effect, never train AI on it, and delete it within 30 days after it ends or whenever you ask, with a signed Certificate of Data Deletion.

How we protect your dataTry it offline
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