You can use a CRM to manage your quotes really easily, and there a ton of great, affordable ones on the market.

Do you use Quickbooks for your accounting? If so, you may want to take a look at Method:CRM (http://method.me) which is ranked as the #1 CRM for Quickbooks users.

yes hyster have a program built in the parts invetory program. It was a very good program base for different model. In fact several mfg have like program and some aftermarket compay also do the same. just ask your local parts manager or service managerfor detail.

using labor rate guides are just that... they are guides made up by the manufacturer's to use when filing warranty claims. They are strictly for the mfg's purposes on what they will allow on warranty claims and not really meant to use in real service situations as 'the labor bible' , even though some managers like to try and shove that down a tech's toolbag ;o). Service circumstances vary so widely it is almost impossible to beat the time frames they set in every case you come across.

Of course it all depends on the tech doing the work, the information he puts in his warranty report, how the service manager files the claim wether he puts in all the right codes to cover the situation (many dont want to spend the time it takes to file a correct claim anyway). And then you have the warranty administrator doing the actual claim, filing and collecting it and dealing with the engineers.

generally when i do a job quote i use the labor guide as a template, i figure how much actual time i think it would take me to do the job and then add an hour or so to it just to cover any unforseen problems that might eat up extra time.

But to be more to the point of this question?
I do not know of any 'software' out there that deals with quotes and estimates. I suppose you could look into the automotive service end, they might have something like that. With a few modifications i'm sure it could be adapted into the forklift service end.

when i worked at a toyota dealer some years ago they had a book that had some labor guide like aldata but it was so wrong like ie change a set of 4.3 l heads in 4 hrs we used as a joke for all the techs it was funny to see how close the new guys could get to the times.