CONTENTS
What happens between the bill of quantities and the SAP quote
Integration routes at a glance
Why prices should stay in SAP
Keeping master data from SAP current
Operations: log and alerts
Also for orders and other systems
Frequently asked questions
In many companies, SAP is the heart of sales: the material master, customers, terms and pricing all live there. AI that reads bills of quantities and customer requests is therefore only as good as its route into SAP. This article shows which integration options exist for quotes, how Mercura uses them and what to watch for in the project. For sales orders there is a separate article on SAP integration for orders.
Key takeaways
Mercura connects SAP R/3, SAP ECC and SAP S/4: via IDoc (ORDERS05), OData, SOAP via SAP BTP or file export.
SAP stays the system of record. Prices and conditions come from SAP; Mercura delivers the line items and the article matching.
At Sanitär-Heinze, processed requests go to SAP for pricing through an OData interface. Quote turnaround dropped from 2 days to 2 hours.
Every transfer is logged, and admins get an email when something fails.
What happens between the bill of quantities and the SAP quote
A bill of quantities arrives as a GAEB file, PDF or Excel. Before it can become a quote in SAP, three things have to happen:
Read: line items, quantities, units, short and long texts are recognised in the document. Read more in our article on the GAEB file format.
Match: every line item is matched to an article from your material master, with alternatives and accessories if needed.
Hand over: the reviewed result goes to SAP, where prices, discounts and terms are calculated.
Mercura handles the first two steps and the hand-over. Inside sales reviews the suggestions before anything goes to SAP.
Integration routes at a glance
Route | How it works | When it fits |
|---|---|---|
OData | Quotes are handed to SAP via OData services, plus a daily sync | S/4 or ECC with released OData services |
IDoc (ORDERS05) | Mercura creates IDocs and places them on SFTP or provides them for download | Existing IDoc processing, older releases |
SOAP via SAP BTP | Hand-over through the SAP Business Technology Platform | When your IT runs integrations through BTP |
File export | Export in a format agreed with you | Interim solution or simple landscapes |
Which route fits is usually decided by your SAP Basis team. What matters is that the connection runs over routes your IT approves and controls.
Why prices should stay in SAP
Pricing in large companies is often complex: customer terms, scales, project prices and surcharges. Rebuilding this logic a second time in another tool is expensive and error-prone. That is why the ERP stays the system of record with Mercura. The AI makes sure the right articles in the right quantities are in the quote; SAP calculates the prices.
This is how Sanitär-Heinze works: Mercura filters the bills of quantities for relevant line items and suggests products for each one. Through an OData-based interface, processed requests go to SAP for pricing. The result: Sanitär-Heinze handles 100% of incoming requests with the same team, and a quote takes 2 hours instead of 2 days.
Keeping master data from SAP current
For matching to be right, Mercura needs a current article master. There are several routes:
export from SAP as CSV or Excel (up to 2 GB, with a column-mapping wizard)
master data import via the API or via SFTP
a scheduled pull from your system that your admins set up with a schedule
Operations: log and alerts
An interface is only as good as its operation. In Mercura, the Integration Center shows the status of every connection. One shared log lists imports, API calls, webhooks and exports to SAP. If a transfer fails, admins get an email with a direct link to the problem.
Also for orders and other systems
Besides quotes from bills of quantities, Mercura also processes sales orders from email and PDF, see Order processing. For systems other than SAP there is a documented API, signed webhooks and SFTP. Salesforce can be synchronised for orders and quotes. The Integrations page gives an overview of all routes.
Frequently asked questions
Which SAP versions does Mercura support? SAP R/3, SAP ECC and SAP S/4.
Which interfaces bring the quote into SAP? OData, IDoc (ORDERS05), SOAP via SAP BTP or file export.
Does Mercura calculate prices? No. SAP stays the system of record; prices and conditions come from SAP.
How does the material master stay current? Via file, API or SFTP, or through a scheduled pull from your system.
How do we notice when a transfer fails? Every transfer is in the log, and admins get an email when something fails.
You will find more selection criteria in our enterprise checklist. If you want to clarify the route for your SAP landscape, book a demo.
Sources
Customer story Sanitär-Heinze on mercura.ai, success stories section, retrieved 10 November 2026
Mercura product documentation on SAP integration, API, webhooks and SFTP (developer documentation), as of November 2026
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