Sector
Direct answer
In a manufacturing SME, AI is useful around production rather than on the machine: preparing a quote from a customer request and its drawings, keeping technical documentation up to date in several languages, structuring non-conformity reports. Prices and lead times come from your ERP; AI drafts and checks, the person in charge approves.
Concrete use cases
A request arrives with a drawing and three pages of specifications. The assistant extracts materials, tolerances, quantities, treatments and requested lead times, flags what is missing and drafts the quote text. Pricing stays in the ERP; the sales manager reviews before sending.
What we measure — Time from request to quote, and the number of back-and-forths with the customer to clarify the request.
Manuals, data sheets and assembly instructions in French, German, Italian and English: the assistant translates from a glossary approved by the technical office and flags differences between versions.
What we measure — Time to update a document in every language, and the corrections requested on review.
From the shop floor’s findings (notes, photos, measurements), the assistant writes a structured report: description, probable cause to verify, proposed corrective action. The quality manager decides and signs.
What we measure — Time to write a report, and the share of reports complete on the first pass.
What must be respected
Your customers’ drawings and specifications are often covered by a non-disclosure agreement. The tools we select make it possible to honour it if content is not used for training, access is limited to the people concerned and the customer’s requirements (hosting, sub-processors) are checked before use.
Use cases for this sector
Further AI uses that concern this sector, taken from our catalogue by business function.
Recommended tools
For quotes, e-mails and Excel files in the technical office and sales team.
For reading specifications in PDF and preparing translations with your glossary.
Questions
A half-day workshop on your own cases: from CHF 1,900 excl. VAT. To roll it out with your teams: a subscription from CHF 1,800/month (10 h), three months minimum, or a fixed-price engagement on quotation. Details are on the pricing page.
No, not in an SME. What works: a contact point who validates usage, not a dedicated role.
It depends on what you already use. The tools we most often recommend for this line of business are shown above; the final choice is made with your IT team, depending on whether you work in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.
Start here
You leave with the use cases chosen for your company, the right tool and the rules of use. Price confirmed before we start.