Equipment Lead Time Tripled. Price Jumped. And You Found Out at Checkout.

You need laptops for three new hires. Last month they were $899. This month, $1,049 and the lead time tripled. You found out at checkout.

Here's a common scenario.

A company gets quotes in January for a new office buildout. Budget is approved in February. They go to order in March.

By then, prices have shifted 20%. Tariffs were announced. RAM costs spiked. The approved budget no longer covers the approved list.

Here's what works.

A simple system. An AI search prompt. A log to track changes over time. About fifteen minutes a week.

A month in, you can see which items are volatile:

• Monitors drop every 6-8 weeks

• Laptop inventory gets tight before back-to-school

• Networking gear lags tariff announcements by about three weeks

You have fewer surprises.

We tend to think supply chain monitoring requires enterprise software. But what if a structured prompt and a simple log got you 80% of that visibility? What would change if you knew your equipment costs or lead times earlier?

How it works

You build a project in Claude or a scheduled task in ChatGPT. Tell it your equipment categories, your suppliers, and what data matters to you.

Set a calendar reminder if you're using Claude. The scheduled task runs automatically in ChatGPT.

When you run the check, the AI searches current pricing and lead times across your suppliers. You paste the results into a simple log — a spreadsheet or note doc works fine. That's where you accumulate the history.

After a month, you have data. After three months, you start seeing patterns. After six months, you're timing purchases instead of reacting to them.

 What this replaces

Procurement platforms like Coupa or Precoro run $200-500/month minimum. They need IT setup, training, and ongoing maintenance.

This approach needs an AI subscription you probably already have, a calendar, and fifteen minutes a week.

Tracking thousands of SKUs? Get the software. Tracking 10-30 key items? This should be enough.

Where it helps

• Capital planning — know what's volatile before budget season.

• Project purchasing — catch price shifts while approvals are pending.

• Recurring supplies — time bulk orders for the dips.

 Next step

I'm hosting a free lunch-and-learn. Sixty minutes. You'll leave with the prompts and the project template.

No pitch. Just the method. Would love to see you there. https://www.designrosetta.com/equipment-price-tracker