A medium-sized contract manufacturer specializing in CNC turning technology for the automotive industry had reached the limits of its capacity. The company was no longer able to accept orders and was already struggling to meet promised delivery dates. One of the main causes was the pronounced shortage of skilled workers. There was no short-term improvement in sight on the personnel side, as the company required very specialized prior knowledge. It therefore commissioned the interim manager to identify ways of increasing efficiency in the short term and to provide support with implementation.
Fields of application for artificial intelligence identified in workshop
In his review, the interim manager determined that the company had very little room for manoeuvre in terms of both personnel and the structural and process organization due to constant optimizations. New ideas were needed to achieve a significant increase in efficiency: As a specialist in the use of artificial intelligence, the interim manager suggested that the teams apply the relevant technologies. An approach that was initially met with skepticism, but was nevertheless pursued with commitment.
In an initial workshop with the management team from production, sales and administration, the team identified three starting points.
- Programming the CNC machines
- Communication with international customers
- Automation in the back office
AI significantly simplifies CNC programming control
In the programming of CNC production, the team was very quickly able to develop ways to significantly simplify the work on the very special programming language of the CNC machines using artificial intelligence. This also enabled the team to identify and improve weak points in existing programs. This enabled the employees to create the machine programs much faster and document the process.
The use of AI accelerated the work of the experienced employees. In addition, less experienced specialists now needed less support. The AI documentation of the program steps also made it easier to reuse production programs, which previously often had to be completely redeveloped.
There was initially scepticism among the workforce, but this quickly dissipated with practical experience: the changes made a significant contribution to reducing processing times and thus increasing efficiency.
Optimization of processes in sales and administration
In sales, there were also opportunities to create customer-specific cover letters very quickly, improve advertising copy and, above all, appear multilingual. This was also very important due to the company's international focus.
In the administration department, the tasks and associated times were analysed at the end and prioritized according to the total time required. This also led to an improvement in administrative activities, including reporting.
The use of AI significantly exceeded the client's expectations
The interim manager was able to successfully complete the mandate after four months. The company's expectations were clearly exceeded. Efficiency in production itself had increased significantly. More importantly, however, the use of artificial intelligence lowered the hurdles for finding qualified personnel because less specialist knowledge was now required. The company now once again has the prerequisites for successful expansion and growth.
