Use case · Mechanical engineering
Document search in mechanical engineering
In mechanical engineering the knowledge sits in drawings, inspection reports and emails about machines delivered twelve years ago. When a customer calls because a part needs remaking, the filing decides whether that takes half an hour or two days.
Usually the process accepted fastest
What is different here
What it actually turns on in mechanical engineering.
You search by the machine, not by the file name
Commission number, serial number, year of build. But the filing grew by project, by year or by employee - and that connection appears in no folder name.
The drawing revision is the real question
There are almost always several versions, and the one that was built is rarely the last. In mechanical engineering an answer without the revision is not an answer.
Much of it exists only as a scan
Inspection reports, acceptance records, supplier certificates - scanned, often skewed, sometimes annotated by hand. A classic full-text search finds nothing there.
Systems we connect here
- PDM/PLM
- Network drives
- Mail archive
- abas
- proALPHA
- CAD archive
If yours is not listed, that is not an exclusion. Where no interface exists, we build one - that is the most demanding part and it is our trade.
The rule that only applies here
In mechanical engineering the question is almost never “where is the file” but “which revision was built”. An answer without a source is therefore worthless.
The process
Where a person is needed - and where they no longer are.
- ClaudeLab from here
Step 01Person
Question
Intake
Step 02ClaudeLab
Search
Gathering
Step 03ClaudeLab
Answer
Output
The difference
The same process, once as it is today and once with us.
Step 01 · today
Step 01 · with us
Step 02 · today
Step 02 · with us
Step 03 · today
Step 03 · with us
What we build
- Component 01
- Existing filing is opened up - without you having to tidy it first.
- Component 02
- Answers come with a source: which document, which passage, which revision.
- Component 03
- Permissions stay as they are - what someone may not open today, they will not see here either.
Degree of autonomy
Pure enquiry runs independently, because it changes nothing. Anything that creates or sends a document is a different process.
Where it does not fit
If the records contradict each other, the search makes that visible - it cannot resolve it. Sometimes that is the actual finding.
Frequently asked
Is this worth it in mechanical engineering?
In mechanical engineering the question is almost never “where is the file” but “which revision was built”. An answer without a source is therefore worthless. Whether it pays for you depends on your volume - the audit establishes that.
We use a different system from the ones listed. Does it still work?
Yes. The ones listed are those we most often meet in mechanical engineering - a list, not a precondition. Where no interface exists, we build one.
What do we have to provide?
Read access to the archives that are to be searched - network drive, mail archive, DMS. A permissions rule: who may see which records. The system adopts it, it does not work around it. A dozen typical everyday questions as touchstones. Nothing more is needed to start.
How will we know it works?
On 50 prepared questions, at least 85 % come back with an answer and a correct source. Every answer names the document it came from - no source, no answer. Nobody sees records through the search that they could not open directly.
How long does implementation take?
3 to 5 weeks, depending on the state of the filing.
Does the AI decide on its own?
Pure enquiry runs independently, because it changes nothing. Anything that creates or sends a document is a different process.
When is this not worth it?
If the records contradict each other, the search makes that visible - it cannot resolve it. Sometimes that is the actual finding.
The same process, in general
This page shows the fit in mechanical engineering. The process itself is sector-independent - what matters is whether it repeats.
Document search in generalTell us where your time goes.
In the audit we record the process, work out what is worth automating, and you get a plan with fixed prices - credited against the build if you go ahead.