Industries · Machinery and plant engineering
We come from machinery and plant engineering ourselves. That is why we first ask which process costs you the most time and when a change there pays off. The right tool follows from that.
Survey, September 2026
Managing directors and owners from machinery and plant engineering answered a single question: which administrative process takes up the most time in your company, quotes, order processing, documentation or service?
Share of answers, multiple mentions possible
Three observations
No answer meant the operating manual. People named specifications, EU regulations and work preparation, in other words requirements work. It usually sits with the same two or three people who are also supposed to design the machine.
Service counts as business, and time that earns money does not feel lost. Yet service reports, spare part searches and fault histories hold hours that, by our numbers, can be recovered in under six months.
Anyone who knows their biggest time sink names it at once. In many companies the number lives in the managing director's head or nowhere at all, and that is exactly where tools get bought for problems people only suspect.
The report
Answers verbatim, three observations, the maths per process and a recommendation on where to start. With sources.
PDF in German, three pages, as of 15 September 2026
The maths per process
Model calculation for a reference company with 100 employees, not a survey result. The process respondents name most often is also the one where automation pays off fastest.
€112,342 savings per year
Fastest payback: operating manual from CAD and bill of materials, 2.4 months.
€83,092 savings per year
Fastest payback: pre-screening technical enquiries, 3.4 months.
€55,260 savings per year
Fastest payback: pre-qualifying service requests, 4.4 months.
€62,978 savings per year
Fastest payback: condensing supplier communication, 6.7 months.
Series
AI and automation
Five AI applications around enquiries and quotes in machinery manufacturing, with hours, setup costs and payback for a reference company of 100 staff.
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FORGESeries6 min read
AI and automation
Five AI applications for order processing and purchasing in machinery manufacturing, costed: hours, setup, payback, and where automation does not pay.
FORGESeries5 min read
AI and automation
Operating manuals, specifications, standards checks, translation, knowledge search: five AI applications for technical documentation at machine makers, costed.
FORGESeries6 min read
AI and automation
Pre-qualifying service requests, finding spare parts, reports from notes, securing fault knowledge: four AI applications for machinery service, costed.
FORGESeries4 min read
AI and automation
8D reports, complaint clustering, audit preparation and inspection instructions with AI: four applications for machinery makers, costed.
FORGESeries4 min read
AI and automation
Shift handover logs, work instructions, downtime analysis and lessons learned: four AI applications for machinery makers, with setup costs and payback.
FORGESeries4 min read
AI and automation
Management reporting automation, job adverts with initial screening, onboarding support: three AI applications, costed, and where the EU AI Act sets limits.
FORGESeries4 min read
What we do in machinery
Lean R&D governance with clear metrics, so projects hold their dates and rework goes down.
FORGE CPQ configures variants and builds quotes from your rules and past quotes.
Document Intelligence makes specifications, standards and past projects searchable and helps with drafting.
ComplAInow checks continuously against the standards of your industry, such as ISO 9001 and ISO 13849, and against your internal requirements.
The quick check shows in five days where your biggest lever is, at a fixed price.
The ROI calculator shows what repetitive tasks cost you today.
From practice
Machinery and plant engineering, food processing equipment, 500 employees
In the intro call we look at your workflows and tell you openly whether automation pays off there, or whether engineering itself needs attention first.