AI for manufacturing: where to start.
Most talk about AI in manufacturing is about robots and predictive maintenance. For a 30 to 250 person shop, the quickest return is usually the paperwork around the machines: quotes, order replies, packing lists, invoices and NCRs.
We call it superintelligence, Si for short. Most people still say AI.
Six steps, in order.
Start where the paperwork is.
Pick one desk where hours go to retyping, chasing and answering the same questions. One desk, not the whole company.
Measure it today.
How long does a quote, a receiving entry or an order reply take now? Without a baseline, nobody can tell if AI helped.
Use your own records, not the internet.
Rented AI tools know nothing about your parts, your customers or your house rules. Teach it from your records and your best people.
Keep a person on every decision.
AI drafts; a named person checks, edits and sends. Prices, payments, hiring and anything that moves a machine stay with people.
Keep your ERP.
Start from the reports your systems already export. No rip and replace, and nothing that changes your records.
Check your customers' terms.
Some customers' terms restrict putting their drawings or data into any AI. Read them before you start, and choose where it runs to match.
Five desks to start with.
- Quoting
- The RFQ prep packet: what's asked, similar past jobs quoted against actual, the house rules and who taught them, with hours and price left blank. Your estimator sets every hour and every price.
- Customer service
- "Where's my order?" replies with the ship date from the record; expedite requests showing what they would push back. The customer service lead sends it.
- Receiving and purchasing
- Packing lists checked against the PO, receiving entries, reorders and chasers for late POs. The buyer decides; nothing is ordered on its own.
- Accounts payable
- Invoices matched to the PO and the receipt, with the differences flagged. A person approves and pays.
- Quality
- NCRs and corrective actions drafted, inspection forms set up with the results left blank. The quality manager signs.
What AI drafts at each desk, in our approach. A named person decides at every one.
We teach it, build it and run it.
Thinking Humans builds each company its own model, taught by its best people and controlled by them, on a server we own and look after in your building. One monthly price, nothing upfront: Starter $2,990, Shop $3,990 or Plant $7,990 a month for 36 months. Month 1 is refundable if we can't show you a working answer from your own records by day 10.
We're in development in Austin, Texas, with no customers yet; pilots are planned from spring 2027. Prices and terms · How it works on our home page
What owners ask about AI.
Where should a manufacturer start with AI?
With the paperwork around the machines, at one desk where hours go to retyping, chasing and answering the same questions: quotes, order replies, packing lists, invoices or NCRs. Measure that desk today, then compare.
Do we need new software or a new ERP?
No. It starts from the reports your ERP and email already export, and it only reads them. A person checks every draft and enters it.
Is it safe to use AI on customer drawings and data?
Check your customers' terms first: some restrict putting their drawings or data into any AI. A model that runs for your company only, on a server in your building, helps, but the terms still come first.
Will AI replace people on the shop floor or in the office?
It isn't built to cut jobs. It drafts the paperwork so your people spend more of the day on the work only they can do, and a named person decides everything that goes out.
What does it cost?
With us, one monthly price with nothing upfront: Starter $2,990, Shop $3,990 or Plant $7,990 a month for 36 months, with your money back for month 1 if there's no working answer from your own records by day 10.