For manufacturing, packaging and shipping
More quotes won. Orders out on time. Invoices paid.
We set up AI for your shop, plant or warehouse and connect it to the systems you already use. It works every day on quotes, late orders, customer updates and the invoices that are overdue. Then our AI keeps making it better, with a real person on a call every month.
Get a free 20-minute consultation. Tell us what matters most, then pick a time.
You'll talk to our founder for 20 minutes, no sales pitch.
This is your dashboard: your priorities, and how each number has moved since you started. It's a sample for a made-up business. Open the live oneAI in manufacturing, packaging and shipping today
Manufacturers are trying AI quickly and spending little on it. In the New York Fed's regional survey, the share using it went from 16% to 51% in two years, and nine in ten of those call the investment minimal to modest. The Census Bureau, which asks a stricter question, still places manufacturing and warehousing well below the leading sectors. In small shops the pattern is plain: AI is earning its keep in quoting, programming and office work, and a skilled person still checks everything it produces.
How it's being used
- 51% of manufacturers in the New York region say they use AI in the business, up from 26% a year earlier and 16% the year before. More than 90% describe the investment as minimal to modest, and at the typical firm only 7% of workers use it. Federal Reserve Bank of New York, September 2026
- An Indiana aerospace machine shop uses AI-assisted programming software that often cuts programming time by more than half. On one defense job it quoted two to three weeks against a competitor's twelve. Modern Machine Shop, July 2025
- Quoting tools for small machine and fabrication shops read the drawing and the bill of materials. One maker says quoting drops from 15 to 20 minutes a part to under two, and a test shop turned around overnight a large quote that used to take three days. A person still estimates run time and picks the machine. Modern Machine Shop, June 2026
- On the floor, AI is arriving first in narrow physical jobs. An Iowa ambulance builder uses an AI-driven robot to sand panels with no custom programming, and cut sanding time by more than 30%. Modern Machine Shop, June 2026
- In packaging, the uses gaining most ground are capturing what experienced operators know and passing it on, and camera-based inspection, ahead of predictive maintenance and compliance paperwork. PMMI, the packaging and processing association, March 2026
- Among logistics providers, 74% now use generative AI, and route and transportation planning is where both shippers and providers report the best return. The study is not limited to small firms. Annual Third-Party Logistics Study, reported by Logistics Management, October 2026
Where it's going wrong
- Small firms are not moving. AI use rose at companies with 20 or more employees between December 2025 and May 2026 and did not change significantly at smaller ones. 37% of firms with 250 or more employees use it, against under 20% of those with four or fewer. US Census Bureau, May 2026
- Most firms that are holding back say AI does not apply to them. Among businesses with no plans to use it, 65% said it is not applicable to what they do, 22% did not know what it can do, and 20% cited privacy or security. US Census Bureau working paper, April 2026
- Smaller machine shops get stuck on three things: fear that it replaces skilled people, distrust of unpredictable software around expensive machines and material, and not knowing who owns AI-assisted work. Modern Machine Shop, June 2026
- The output needs an experienced eye. The same Indiana shop says the software's suggested feeds and speeds are sometimes close to what it runs and sometimes not, and some generated toolpaths get removed in cleanup. Modern Machine Shop, July 2025
- In packaging, the top worries are made-up or wrong answers and who is accountable when AI gets something wrong. PMMI, the packaging and processing association, March 2026
- Poor data, skills gaps and old systems are still what hold AI back, by manufacturers' own account. Nearly half of companies have no company-wide plan for their data. The group's members lean toward larger manufacturers. Manufacturing Leadership Council, November 2025
- AI entered the trucking industry's top ten concerns for the first time, ranked sixth among drivers, mainly over jobs and AI-enabled fraud and theft. American Transportation Research Institute survey, reported by Furniture Today, March 2026
What we take from it
The shops getting value from AI are using it to get quotes out faster and to stop orders slipping, with a skilled person checking the result. That is the arrangement we set up. Your AI logs every request the hour it arrives, follows up open quotes, and gives you a morning list of orders at risk. It does not price the job or touch the machines.
As one shop technologist put it in Modern Machine Shop, AI makes an unstable process fail faster. So we start with two priorities and one number for each, taken from your last 90 days, and add more only when those are steady.
"It doesn't apply to us" is the most common reason small firms give for holding back, and for the shop floor it is often true. It is rarely true of the office, where quotes sit unanswered, invoices wait for a proof of delivery, and customers call to ask where their order is.
Sources last checked October 2026. The summaries are ours; follow the links for the full reports.
What we connect to for manufacturing, packaging and shipping
You keep the tools you already use. Your AI connects to two of them with you before we meet, and more can be added.
QuickBooks Online
Revenue, expenses, profit, and who owes you money, every week.
HubSpot
Contacts, deals, and email marketing.
Gmail
Drafts replies, follow-ups, and reminders for you to approve.
Microsoft 365
Outlook, calendar, and files, for businesses on Microsoft.
Google Drive
Finds and updates your documents, price sheets, and reports.
Xero
The same weekly numbers for businesses on Xero.
Use something else? See everything we connect to, or ask on the call.
How it works
One setup, then it keeps getting better. See each step in detail.
$1,000 a month for two priorities, plus setup from $1,500. See pricing · What we connect to
Common questions
Click a question to see the answer.
Will AI quote jobs or program machines for us?
No. Your estimator and programmers keep doing that. Your AI works around them: logging every request, chasing open quotes, flagging orders at risk of running late, answering status questions and getting invoices out the day an order ships.
Our ERP isn't on your list. Can you still help?
Usually, yes. Your AI can work from your email, accounting, spreadsheets and report exports, and where a number can't be pulled in we ask you one question a week. Tell us what you run on the call.
What happens to customer drawings and pricing?
Your AI runs on your own Claude account. We see the work it did and the totals, such as quotes sent and orders shipped on time. We never see your conversations.
How do I know it's working?
Each priority has one number, such as the share of quotes won or orders shipped on time. Your dashboard shows it against where you started, and once a month we get on a call to decide what to change. There are no targets to hit.
What does it cost?
$1,000 a month for two priorities, plus setup from $1,500. The first step is a free 20-minute call.
Ready to talk?
Twenty minutes with our founder. Tell us about your business and see where AI can take it.
Ready to pick your first two? Tell us about your business on a free 20-minute call.
You'll talk to our founder for 20 minutes, no sales pitch.