Industries
Manufacturing
For leaders of discrete and process manufacturers, contract manufacturers and job shops. Quotes wait on one estimator, technical questions wait on one engineer, and decades of know-how sit with people near retirement. We build AI into the work your plant and front office already do.
What we hear from manufacturing leaders
Quotes and answers wait on a few people
RFQs arrive as drawings, specs and long email threads, and distributors want technical answers today. Only a few estimators and engineers can respond, so response time depends on who's out this week.
Know-how is retiring
Your best machinists, maintenance techs and application engineers carry answers that aren't written down. When they leave, the answers leave with them.
The ERP has the data, not the answers
Planners and managers export to spreadsheets to answer basic questions about late orders, margin and capacity.
Where AI pays off first
Quote preparation
An agent pulls quantities, materials, tolerances and finishes from RFQ packages, finds similar past jobs, and drafts a quote for the estimator to price and approve. What to track: days from RFQ to quote.
AI Agents: Quote preparationTechnical support and product selection
An assistant on your website and support desk answers from your manuals, spec sheets and service history, and hands hard cases to an engineer with the context attached. What to track: time to first answer.
Customer Support Automation: Technical support and product selectionMaintenance know-how at the machine
Techs ask about a machine and get answers from CMMS work orders, OEM manuals and past fixes, on a tablet at the line. What to track: mean time to repair.
AI Agents: Maintenance know-how at the machineQuality paperwork
Nonconformance reports and corrective actions drafted from inspection data and operator notes, for your quality engineer to review and close. What to track: days to close a corrective action.
Workflow Automation: Quality paperworkPlain-English answers from the ERP
Ask which orders are at risk, which customers' margins slipped or what's on hand, and get the answer from live ERP data. It's the kind of agent we built first for a B2B distributor. What to track: report requests to IT.
Data Analytics: Plain-English answers from the ERP
What's different about manufacturing
Legacy ERP and spreadsheets
Many plants run an ERP that's been customized for years, with key data in spreadsheets beside it. We work with what's there and clean only the data a build actually needs.
Shifts, crews and trust
Floor teams work across shifts, some under collective bargaining agreements, and they've seen initiatives come and go. AI adoption on the floor depends on them, so we involve operators and supervisors from the first week, train every shift, and measure use, not just launch.
Controlled and confidential drawings
Defense and aerospace suppliers may handle export-controlled technical data under ITAR or the EAR, and customer drawings often come under NDA. AI security here starts with that data: we keep it out of any service its rules and agreements don't allow, and design builds around it.
How we'd start
Interview leadership, then estimators, planners, quality, maintenance and service staff.
Review your ERP, MES, quality and maintenance systems, and the spreadsheets around them.
Size every opportunity, with build-vs-buy calls and a top 10 to ship first.
Build the first one with the people who'll use it, and train each shift on it.
Common questions
Our data is messy. Can we still start?
Yes. The Assessment shows which opportunities work with the data you have today. Quote history, manuals and service tickets are usually enough for a first build.
Will this replace our estimators or engineers?
No. It takes the reading, searching and first drafts off their plates so they spend their time on judgment calls. They approve everything that goes to a customer.
Will it work with our ERP?
Usually, through the reports, exports or database views it already has, read-only to start. If your ERP vendor already sells the feature you need, the Assessment says so.
Have you worked with manufacturers?
Yes. We're working with a manufacturer on an AI agent for their website, followed by agents for sales and technical support. Our current engagements are on our Work page.
Related solutions
Let's find where AI pays off in your business.
Thirty minutes with Daniel. No pitch deck: you talk about your business, I tell you honestly where AI fits and where it doesn't.