AI Workday 101 · Example
How we'd approach a typical manufacturer: AI Workday 101 at a door manufacturer
IllustrativeIllustrative example based on Siôn's experience in the sector, not a real client project.
1. The company
- A mid-sized door manufacturer in the North West with around 150 staff, making [internal, external and fire-rated] door sets for [trade, housebuilder and commercial] customers.
- The office, operations and quality team of [10–12] handles quotes, order specs, production scheduling and delivery coordination.
- Some staff already use ChatGPT or Copilot on their own, with no shared approach and no rules.
2. The problem
- Safety worries: managers don't know whether customer drawings, door and hardware specs or pricing are being pasted into free AI tools, which is a real risk with commercial and NDA work.
- Manual scheduling: production slots, shift rotas, cover requests and delivery schedules are rebuilt by hand, and every change means a round of emails.
- Admin time: order confirmations, spec checks, NCRs (non-conformance reports), [fire door certification paperwork] and supplier chasers take [X hours] a week.
3. Before the day
- A short call with the operations manager to pick 3–4 real tasks, such as rota emails, order confirmations and NCR write-ups.
- Confirm which tools they already have, such as Copilot on Microsoft 365 work accounts versus free tools.
- Draft a one-page 'safe to paste / never paste' guide covering drawings, specs, pricing and customer details.
4. The AI setup on the day
- Scheduling: turn the rota or production plan spreadsheet and leave requests into draft rota, cover and delivery-change emails, with a person checking before anything is sent.
- Admin: prompt templates that turn rough notes into order confirmations, shift reports and NCRs, and draft supplier chasers.
- Safety: what stays out of AI tools, how to strip sensitive details from a spec, and how to check AI output.
5. Expected outcome (aims, not results)
- Time saved: in Siôn's experience, AI automations like these can save a user an hour or even two hours a day, which adds up to hundreds of hours a year for each person. Every attendee speeds up at least one real task on the day.
- Fewer errors: consistent templates mean fewer missed details in rotas, order confirmations and specs.
- Happier staff: less repetitive admin, more confidence, and a clear answer to 'am I allowed to use this?'
6. 30 days later
- The optional check-in measures the time saved on the tasks we worked on, so you get [real figures].
- It spots the next opportunities, such as [quote automation, spec checking or predictive maintenance on production machinery].