CHAPTER 01 · OVERVIEW
A Regulated Contract Manufacturer's Floor, Rebuilt Around AI
One working session surfaced 20+ years of tribal knowledge nobody had written down. Three months later, the floor gets a daily briefing it never had before.
The team had just posted its best quarter in years and couldn't explain why. Knowledge lived in veteran operators' heads, not in the work instructions. Every shift change meant re-solving problems the floor had already solved a hundred times.
Industry
Precision & Medical Contract Manufacturing
Operation
Multi-site precision contract manufacturer · ISO 13485 & FDA-regulated · hybrid Toyota Production System
Systems in place
Legacy ERP · M-Files · shared drives · shift logs
Scope
2 facilities in scope
WHAT SOLVING THIS REALLY MEANT
This Wasn't About a Dashboard
The cost of standing still
Labor is the largest line on the P&L, and other contract manufacturers were already moving on AI. Waiting wasn't neutral — it was falling behind.
The knowledge walking out the door
If the veterans carrying the fix-it knowledge retired before it was captured, the plant would relearn the same failures from zero, shift after shift.
The credibility problem
A record quarter nobody could explain is a result nobody can defend to ownership — or repeat on purpose.
HOW AN ENGAGEMENT RUNS
Same Three Phases, Every Time
01 · Day 0
Discover
One working day, on-site. We interview people, watch the work happen, map how it really runs, and score what we find.
02 · Weeks 1–6
Build
The first system shipped inside the plant's existing stack — no new platform, no ERP migration.
03 · Ongoing
Operate
We tune it, add the next workflow, and keep the security model current as real usage comes in.
OPERATING BENCHMARK
30 days
from the first working session to the first AI system live on the floor
$9.4M
modeled annual value, once every wave is live
2
Facilities in scope, one team
Annual Value Created
Modeled from the discovery baseline. Value is captured across cost reduction, revenue growth, and risk mitigation — not cost alone.
UP NEXT · DISCOVER