AI agent for manufacturers: inquiries, supplier orders and shift reports without manual re-typing
The agent takes over the office work around production: it turns customer inquiries into draft quotes, proposes supplier orders from the stock export, builds the shift report for the supervisor from end-of-shift entries and gathers the data for a complaint reply. Prices, deadlines and actions stay with your people.
Author: Žiga Flis ·
Where the hours go
In a manufacturing company many hours go into the work around production, not production itself. A customer inquiry arrives as an email with a drawing; someone re-types the parts, materials and quantities, checks the item master and stock and builds a quote. The buyer compares stock with minimum levels every day. At the end of a shift the supervisor gathers downtime and notes from messages and slips of paper. With a complaint, someone hunts for the batch, the order and the photos before the search for the root cause even starts.
This work is done by people who know the products well, so their time is valuable. What that means in hours for your company you calculate yourself in the savings calculator.
What the agent takes over and where it stops
Below are the four processes we most often suggest to manufacturers. Each one shows what triggers it, what the agent does, what stays with your people and where the agent stops. In the analysis we pick the one you start with. During the pilot the agent first works in suggestion mode: a person reviews every result before it moves on.
- 01
Customer inquiries into a quote
Trigger: A customer email with a specification or a drawing.
- Takes over
- Extracts parts, quantities, materials and deadlines, checks the item master and stock (export from Pantheon, SAP Business One or Dynamics 365 Business Central), prepares a draft quote from your template and a list of open questions.
- Stays with a person
- Your sales engineer or process engineer sets the price and the deadline.
- Stops at
- The agent does not send quotes and does not promise deadlines.
Integrations:- Outlook
- Excel
- ERP export
- 02
Supplier orders from minimum stock levels
Trigger: The daily stock export.
- Takes over
- Compares stock with minimum levels and open orders and prepares proposed orders per supplier in Word or Excel.
- Stays with a person
- The buyer approves the proposal and sends the order.
- Stops at
- The agent never places an order automatically.
Integrations:- ERP export
- Excel
- Outlook
- 03
Shift report
Trigger: End of shift: an entry in Teams or in a form.
- Takes over
- Collects downtime, quantities and maintenance notes, builds the report for the supervisor and flags recurring faults.
- Stays with a person
- The shift or production supervisor approves the report.
- Stops at
- The agent takes no action on the machines.
Integrations:- Teams or Forms
- Excel
- SharePoint
- 04
Customer complaints
Trigger: A customer sends a complaint by email.
- Takes over
- Opens a record, collects the batch, the order and the photos, prepares a draft reply to the customer and the internal 8D form up to the root cause step.
- Stays with a person
- Your quality team analyses the root cause and replies to the customer.
- Stops at
- The agent does not admit liability and does not promise compensation.
Integrations:- Outlook
- Excel or SharePoint
Where the agent works: Email, Teams, Dashboard. How the channels work.
Which tools we connect
The agent reads email in Outlook, works with Excel and SharePoint and takes entries from Teams or Forms. It connects to the ERP, for example Pantheon, SAP Business One or Dynamics 365 Business Central, through the exports and imports the system already supports; we use an API where one exists. The base package includes up to two integrations; if the process needs a third, the analysis says so, with a price.
The agent does not control machines or PLCs. It works only with messages, spreadsheets and documents.
How it runs for you
On a free 30-minute call we pick the process, for example customer inquiries for one product group. The analysis takes one week and costs 490 €, which is deducted from the agent's price. Then comes a pilot on your inquiries in suggestion mode (2–3 weeks), followed by production and handover in weeks 4 to 5, with documentation and a repository that sits in your organisation from the start. Maintenance from 190 € per month is optional. After any phase you can stop and pay only for completed phases. The full process and pricing are on the main page.
Private AI or an agent?
The agent runs the process: it prepares the quote, the order proposal, the shift report. If the company mainly needs to search manuals, procedures and maintenance logs with a cited source, that is private AI for manufacturing technical documentation, which runs on your own server, also in a network without internet access. Both can run side by side; the analysis tells you which one is the first step for you.
What we do not promise
- Hours or money saved. You estimate that yourself in the calculator, and the pilot then counts the inquiries actually processed and the exceptions.
- Prices and deadlines. The agent prepares a draft quote; your person sets the price and the deadline.
- Automatic orders. The agent proposes; the buyer orders.
- Actions on the shop floor. The agent reports and flags; it changes nothing on the machines.
An automation blueprint for your process
Pick your sector and describe a repetitive task in two to four sentences (up to 700 characters). Claude suggests three ideas in a few seconds: the first in full, the other two by email. No savings figures; we estimate those on the intro call.
Suggestions are written by AI (Claude by Anthropic) and pass an automatic filter before display, not a human review. Your inputs are processed by Anthropic (USA), without your email; see the privacy policy.
Frequently asked questions
Do we need an API to our ERP?
No. The agent works with the exports and imports your ERP already supports, for example a stock or item master spreadsheet. Where the ERP has an API we use it, but it is not a requirement.
What about confidential supplier documentation?
Drawings and specifications can be processed by a local model on your server, with only the metadata set in the analysis going to the cloud. What goes where is written down in the analysis before the agent reads its first document.
What if the production network has no internet access?
Then the agent runs on a local model inside the network, with no outside connection. How such a model is set up and on what hardware is described on the private AI for business page.
Other industries
- Law firms→
- Accounting firms→
- Clinics→
- Retail and e-commerce→
- Logistics→
- Real estate agencies→
- Construction→
Back to Business process automation: process, channels, ownership and FAQs.
Savings calculator: what the process is worth in hours and euros, from your own numbers.
Ta stran v slovenščini: Proizvodnja.
A 490 € analysis, credited to an agent from 4,900 €.
On a 30-minute call we pick the process. Within a week you get a written analysis and a fixed-price offer, or an honest answer that an agent is not (yet) worth it. Prices are final; the provider is not VAT-registered.