Manufacturing Case Studies

Real-world results from leading manufacturers

AI Visual Quality Inspection

Automotive Parts Manufacturer

A leading automotive parts manufacturer struggled with quality consistency across high-volume production lines. Manual inspection could only sample 10% of output, and human inspectors showed declining accuracy during long shifts. Defect escapes were causing costly warranty claims and threatening key OEM relationships.

The Challenge

  • Only 10% of products inspected due to line speed
  • Human inspector accuracy dropped 30% during night shifts
  • Defect classification inconsistent across inspectors
  • $2M+ annual cost from customer returns and warranty claims

Results

100%
Inspection Coverage
Every unit inspected in real-time
92%
Defect Detection
Up from 65% manual inspection
75%
Warranty Claims Reduced
$1.5M+ annual savings

Solution Highlights

Orion AI deployed a multi-camera vision system integrated directly into the production line. The AI inspects 100% of products at full line speed, detecting surface defects, dimensional variations, and assembly errors that human inspectors frequently missed. The system classifies defects by type and severity, enabling real-time process adjustments. Continuous learning from inspector feedback improved detection accuracy by 15% in the first six months.

Predictive Maintenance

Heavy Equipment Manufacturer

A heavy equipment manufacturer operated complex CNC machining centers running 24/7. Unplanned breakdowns halted production for hours or days, creating massive schedule disruptions and overtime costs. The maintenance team relied on fixed-interval preventive maintenance, often replacing parts that still had useful life while failing to catch actual developing problems.

The Challenge

  • Average of 12 unplanned breakdowns per month across the plant
  • Each breakdown caused 8-48 hours of production loss
  • Preventive maintenance schedules based on time, not condition
  • Maintenance data scattered across paper logs and disconnected systems

Results

65%
Fewer Breakdowns
12 per month to 4 per month
30%
Maintenance Cost Reduction
Optimized parts replacement
7 Days
Advance Warning
Average failure prediction lead time

Solution Highlights

Orion AI connected to existing sensors and PLCs across 50+ machines, collecting vibration, temperature, power consumption, and operating parameter data. Machine learning models trained on historical failure patterns now predict equipment problems with an average 7-day lead time, allowing maintenance to be scheduled during planned downtime. The system automatically generates work orders with specific repair recommendations and required parts, integrated directly with the CMMS.

Intelligent Production Scheduling

Electronics Contract Manufacturer

An electronics contract manufacturer juggled production for dozens of customers with varying order sizes, priorities, and delivery requirements. Production planners spent days creating weekly schedules using spreadsheets, and any disruption—machine breakdown, material shortage, rush order—required hours of manual rescheduling while production lines sat idle.

The Challenge

  • Weekly scheduling process took 3-4 days to complete
  • Schedule disruptions required 4-6 hours to re-plan
  • 15% average capacity lost to changeover inefficiency
  • On-time delivery rate stuck at 82%

Results

2 Hours
Schedule Generation
Down from 3-4 days
96%
On-Time Delivery
Up from 82%
12%
Capacity Increase
Optimized changeovers

Solution Highlights

Orion AI implemented an intelligent scheduling system that optimizes across all constraints simultaneously: equipment availability, material supply, workforce skills, customer priorities, and delivery deadlines. The system generates optimized schedules in hours instead of days and re-optimizes automatically when disruptions occur. Smart sequencing minimizes changeover time between jobs, effectively adding production capacity without additional equipment.

Process Knowledge Management

Specialty Chemical Manufacturer

A specialty chemical manufacturer had accumulated decades of process knowledge in technical documents, batch records, and the minds of senior engineers. Finding relevant information required hours of searching through document management systems. When experienced engineers retired, critical process insights often left with them.

The Challenge

  • 30,000+ technical documents across multiple systems
  • Engineers spent 2+ hours daily searching for information
  • Process troubleshooting relied on a few senior experts
  • New engineer onboarding took 18+ months to full productivity

Results

85%
Search Time Reduction
2+ hours to minutes
30,000+
Documents Indexed
Fully searchable knowledge base
50%
Faster Onboarding
New engineers productive sooner

Solution Highlights

Orion AI built an intelligent knowledge management system that automatically ingests and indexes all technical documentation—SOPs, batch records, equipment manuals, and process development reports. Engineers now query the knowledge base using natural language, receiving instant answers with citations to source documents. The system understands chemical and engineering terminology, handles complex tables and formulas, and surfaces relevant safety and regulatory requirements automatically.