Unleash Story
AI on the Factory Floor Episode 6: AI Helps Engineers Find Parts They Already Have
Written by: JJ Moore
BIRMINGHAM, Mich. — One of the simplest opportunities for AI in engineering may be helping engineers find components their companies already have.
Manufacturers can accumulate thousands of part numbers over years of product development. When engineers cannot easily search that history, they may specify a new component even though an equivalent part is already in the system.
Tim Dorn, vice president of engineering at Amerequip, says the problem has affected the company's design engineering process.
“In the past, it was very difficult for us to check and see what we had in our system,” Dorn says.
That can create unnecessary complexity. Dorn says even something as common as a fastener could be difficult to locate, leading an engineer to specify the same type of component again under another part number.
“Lo and behold, we would just go and spec out the same fastener, and we'd have multiple part numbers of the same type of part in our system unbeknownst to us,” Dorn says.
Each additional SKU can create consequences beyond engineering. More part numbers can mean more components for purchasing and inventory personnel to manage and more opportunities for unnecessary complexity as products move toward production.
AI-powered search offers another approach by making existing engineering information easier to find using ordinary search terms.
Amerequip, for example, uses CADDi to search its existing part information. Dorn says engineers can enter simple terms and receive possible existing components within seconds.
For a fastener, an engineer can review the available options and select an existing component that meets the requirements rather than immediately creating another part number.
The engineering benefit is straightforward: Before designing or specifying something new, engineers can more quickly determine whether the company has already solved the problem.
For manufacturers managing large numbers of components across multiple products, that can help control SKU proliferation, simplify inventory and give engineers more time to focus on decisions that actually require a new design.
About CADDi
CADDi is a global manufacturing technology company driven by the vision to accelerate physical innovation tenfold. Headquartered in Chicago and Tokyo, the company was founded in 2017 by industry veterans Yushiro Kato and Aki Kobashi, formerly of McKinsey and Apple, respectively. CADDi currently serves manufacturing businesses in more than 20 countries, including many of the largest publicly traded companies in Japan and the United States. To learn more, visit caddi.com.