Case: AI-powered drawing review streamlines manufacturing
T&S Engineering Intelligence combines expertise in advanced programming and mathematics to streamline drawing review in the manufacturing industry. Their mission is to create engineering tools that free up time and resources, allowing customers to focus on their most important tasks.
One of T&S Engineering Intelligence's main services is AI Review, which automatically reviews technical drawings and is developed in close collaboration with customers. The service is currently used by several major players such as Volvo, Siemens and Väderstad. The company is in an exciting growth phase, both in Sweden and in the European market.
The challenge that needed to be solved
Drawing review is a known bottleneck in industrial design processes. It is both time-consuming and can lead to costly errors and delays if problems are not detected in time. Many of the checks performed are repetitive and take up time that designers could spend on more value-adding tasks. In addition, it is a challenge for designers to keep track of all standards, such as ISO GPS, which can lead to inaccuracies in the design process.
Description of the solution and technology used
AI Review from T&S is an AI system that analyses technical drawings and performs automatic reviews and quality checks. The system generates a report for each drawing that clearly identifies any errors and explains why these violate company rules. In addition, it marks on the drawing where the errors are located, facilitating correction for the design team. The review report also shows which requirements have been met, giving the designer a clear picture of what has been reviewed. This automated process takes only a few minutes and can be repeated if necessary.
Results and success factors
- Increased efficiency and cost savings for each drawing reviewed.
- Improved quality of drawings, reducing the risk of costly production errors.
- Faster R&D processes by identifying errors at an early stage, thus avoiding costly iterations internally and externally.
- Freeing up time for designers to focus on more developmental tasks.
- Knowledge retention by ensuring that company design rules are consistently followed.
- Reduced stress and workload for designers.
- Efficient documentation and follow-up of errors.
Impact of innovation on industry and society
AI Review has had a significant impact on the manufacturing industry by automating repetitive tasks in drawing review. This relieves expert reviewers, who would otherwise have to spend valuable time on time-consuming checks. The tool reduces stress by providing support and ensuring that nothing is missed, which in turn contributes to higher quality drawings, fewer delays and fewer production errors. The result is lower costs and reduced resource consumption, which is positive for both businesses and the environment.
Future prospects and opportunities for further development
T&S is currently working on two promising development projects. The first is a customer portal that will allow customers to adjust and implement their audit criteria themselves. This portal will be tested by existing customers in early November. The second project involves exploring the possibility of 3D review directly in CAD in co-operation with industrial partners.
Challenges during the development process and lessons learnt
With a growing customer base, T&S has faced challenges in dealing with a variety of review rules that customers want to introduce. To meet this need, they have developed the customer portal, which allows customers to adjust and add new requirements themselves, making the process more flexible and scalable.