Manufacturers and the job shops that supply them
AI for Manufacturing
Quoting, maintenance, quality documentation and supplier communication, with operational technology kept apart from IT.
Manufacturers hold decades of knowledge in job files, manuals and the heads of senior staff. AI makes that knowledge searchable and turns it into first drafts. The plant floor stays where it is, and nothing in an engagement reaches a controller.
Where the hours go
Work that AI can carry.
- 01 Quoting and estimating from completed jobs
A new request matched against past jobs, materials and hours so the estimator starts from a number.
- 02 Maintenance troubleshooting from equipment manuals
A technician describes the fault and gets the manual section and the last three work orders on that machine.
- 03 Quality documentation
Inspection records, nonconformance reports and corrective actions drafted from the data already collected.
- 04 Supplier communication
Purchase order confirmations, delivery queries and spec clarifications drafted for the buyer to send.
- 05 SOP drafting from tribal knowledge
The steps a senior operator knows written down, reviewed and published as a procedure.
What has to hold
The rules an engagement respects.
- Separation of operational technology from IT
Nothing in the engagement connects to a controller or a machine network, and the plan says so in writing.
- Safety sign-off on any procedure AI touches
A drafted SOP is a draft until the safety lead signs it.
- ITAR where defense work is present
Technical data on controlled parts cannot enter a tool that is not approved to hold it.
How an engagement runs here
The four steps, as they run in manufacturing.
- 01 Assess
The assessment maps the ERP, the quality system and the maintenance records, and finds the jobs where estimating and documentation hours concentrate.
AI Readiness Assessment - 02 Plan
The roadmap starts in the office, with quoting or quality documentation, and leaves the plant network untouched.
Strategy and Roadmap - 03 Build
The build connects to the ERP and the document store, with ITAR data fenced off where it exists.
Implementation - 04 Train
Training is run by shift and by role, and the SOP review process puts the safety lead at the end of every procedure.
Training and Change Management
Start with the assessment.
An inventory of your systems, data and rules, interviews with your department leads, and a report that says what to do first in manufacturing.