How CADDi Uses AI To Improve Manufacturing

Read the article in IMTS

Written by: Kathy Keyes

Manufacturers have invested heavily in automation, robotics, and connected technologies to improve shop floor productivity. But what about the processes that happen before production begins?

Engineering, quoting, and procurement still often rely on spreadsheets, ERP systems, and time-consuming searches through historical records.

At IMTS 2026 – The International Manufacturing Technology Show, CADDi demonstrated how Industrial AI can improve these processes by connecting engineering drawings, pricing, production records, and other manufacturing data.

“How do we apply these same lean concepts and drive productivity upstream?” asks Patrick Harrigan, CADDi's vice president of sales.

Originally founded as a procurement platform for custom-manufactured parts in Japan, CADDi developed software to preserve and reuse knowledge manufacturers accumulated from years of operation. Today, its Manufacturing AI Data Platform helps manufacturers put that experience to work in three key areas.

1. Engineering: Build on Proven Designs

CADDi allows engineers to centralize reviews directly on drawings and CAD. They can leave comments directly on product data so design, procurement, manufacturing engineering, and quality teams can review in one shared workspace.

Built as a manufacturing operating system, CADDi analyzes drawings, identifies similar parts, and retrieves historical design and quality information.

“Have we ever designed something like this? And was it a good design or a bad design?” Harrigan asks. “Without a way to instantly identify which variants already exist, engineering teams design new components, and procurement teams develop new supply chains.”

A modern fastener, seal, or pump manufacturer often runs tens of thousands of SKUs with small dimensional differences.

One Wisconsin-based manufacturer of custom packaging equipment uploaded several hundred thousand engineering drawings into CADDi, enabling engineers to quickly locate similar designs rather than recreating them.

2. Quoting: Respond Faster to RFQs

By centralizing RFQ distribution, collection, and comparison, CADDi allows teams to manage requests and responses across multiple suppliers in one place, with price, lead time, and terms normalized for side-by-side comparison.

CADDi connects historical quotations with costs, pricing, margins, and job outcomes, helping teams prepare estimates more efficiently.

Harrigan says, “Beyond process efficiency, external factors like trade volatility raise the stakes for U.S. manufacturers. It translates directly into sourcing decisions that have to move faster and rest on better data than they did three years ago.”

The Wisconsin manufacturer expanded its use of CADDi into quoting and aftermarket sales, allowing employees to identify replacement parts and complementary components.

3. Production Planning: Streamline Flow

CADDi detects inconsistencies across quality and production documents. Its proprietary AI compares the completed PFMEA with control plans, quality control process sheets, work instructions, and related documents, flagging conflicts and missed updates.

CADDi helps manufacturers determine potential production challenges by examining lessons learned from similar projects.

“Have we ever built a similar line to this in the past, and what were the challenges and issues that we ran into?” Harrigan asks. “What we’re seeing with our customers today is that the conversation has shifted from ‘what value does AI bring?’ to ‘how do we make the data we already have usable and accessible across teams?’ Our system is a manufacturing operating system built for engineering, procurement, and other teams across the supply chain. American manufacturers are thinking about ways to maximize the AI technology they are already investing in, and this is a significant mindset shift from earlier conversations.”

Investing in Industrial AI

At IMTS 2026, CADDi announced $114 million in Series D funding, bringing its total funding to $234 million and valuation to $1.2 billion. The investment will support AI development, platform expansion, talent, and growth in North America. CADDi serves manufacturers in more than 20 countries and calls the United States, the world’s second-largest manufacturing market, its priority. Its vision is to accelerate physical innovation tenfold.

For manufacturers, CADDi puts decades of accumulated knowledge to work across the business. See how manufacturers use the CADDi Manufacturing AI Data Platform at caddi.com/en-us/case-studies.

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.