The company said the software allows printers to cut the costs of in-house estimating by allowing customers to enter their own job specifications, such as quantities and production processes.

Managing director John Roche said: "JDF means files flow seamlessly from the buyer, through PDQ into the printer's MIS."

He added that the software's route-based estimates offered printers an answer to the "double-whammy" of demands for faster quote turnaround times and falling conversion rates from quotes to jobs.

"PDQ vastly increases the number of quotes processed," said Roche. "If you keep the same conversion rate you will win more work. However as prices fall, conversion rates fall and if, for example, conversion rates halve, you need to double the number of quotes just to stand still. That's a fact of the market. PDQ offers the way out."

Originally developed at the request of Buckingham Colour Quest to cut its estimate turnaround time, the tool has evolved from an Excel spreadsheet to a dedicated software package.

Haybrooke has also extended the application of the core technology to a tool print buyers can use as a price comparison service to pick the best printer for a particular job. Roche said the system's use of the printer's pricing logic and production capabilities meant that "buyers get prices in real time."

However, he also said: "We don't allow the printers to see the prices of other firms. We don't want to give anyone the chance to slash their own throats."

As well as production criteria, PDQ can also use lead time and credit terms to affect the price.