Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming recognised as a powerful tool that can enhance decision-making, automate complex tasks and enable organisations to respond more effectively to changing production demands. Adam Ball, Commercial Director at Lantek, looks at how AI is shaping manufacturing processes.
Facing the challenges of modern manufacturing
“Today’s manufacturers face increasing pressure to improve productivity and deliver shorter lead times and faster quotations.
One of the earliest opportunities for AI integration lies within the quoting process. Material selection, machining times, tooling requirements, production routing, labour estimates and overhead calculations must all be considered before a competitive price can be produced. Traditionally, this process relied heavily on manual decision-making from experienced estimators and can become a bottleneck when enquiry volumes increase.
This brings additional challenges when producing quotes, such as human error leading to inaccurate pricing and manual methods introducing inconsistency between quotes. Frequent discrepancies between quoted and actual costs can also make it harder to maintain reliable pricing.
As production complexity increases, traditional manual methods struggle to keep up with demand and respond quickly to customer orders. This is where AI can make a significant difference, offering opportunities to improve efficiency across the entire production.
Faster and more accurate quoting
By learning from previous quotations, outcomes and actual costs, AI can assist estimators in generating highly accurate quotations faster than manual methods. With smart quotation systems, AI can identify similar historical jobs, recommend manufacturing methods, estimate production times and highlight potential bottlenecks before a quotation is issued. Smart quotation is a part of Lantek iQuoting, a cloud-based quoting solution that can estimate material wastage during production and calculate manufacturing times and costs.
Digital workflows can record how parts are nested, the material yield achieved and the real machine times generated in production. The real challenge then is using this data to generate a quote before production processes are defined. Advanced AI-integrated quoting systems, like Lantek iQuoting, help manufacturers to digitalise the quoting process by connecting pricing, materials and production data in a single platform. This enables faster, more accurate quotes based on real manufacturing inputs rather than estimations.
By using process-based calculation models and machine learning algorithms trained on real manufacturing and sales data that learn from historical production outcomes, manufacturers can improve the accuracy of early-stage cost estimation over time. If historical data is limited, advanced quoting systems will rely on parameterised models and workshop criteria while new operational data is collected.
This results in faster response times and improved pricing consistency, providing greater confidence that quoted margins can be achieved during production. Therefore, AI can assist estimators in providing recommendations while allowing teams to validate and refine the final quotation based on their expertise.
Smarter production planning
AI integration also supports manufacturers by identifying patterns that would otherwise be difficult to detect manually, providing recommendations that improve both speed and accuracy.
Traditionally, nesting systems focused on material usage and part placement, but manufacturing environments today require much more visibility. Machine availability, operators, energy consumption, incidents on the shop floor and changing commercial priorities all influence production decisions and schedules.
AI-integrated smart production systems can monitor machine utilisation, work in progress, maintenance schedules and priorities to recommend schedule adjustments as jobs change.
With smart production systems, operators can manage all those variables and adjust planning according to what is happening in real time, creating a production environment that is more responsive and resilient.
A great advantage of AI is its ability to connect production planning with real-time shop floor conditions. Production schedules can change if machines experience downtime, materials are delayed, or there is a shortage of workers. As systems with AI monitor actual production performance and compare it against planned schedules, they can automatically recommend a revised production sequence that minimises disruption and delivers on projected outcomes.
The future of AI
AI is still in its early stages of development and adoption in manufacturing, yet it has great potential. As AI models become more sophisticated and connected, intelligent systems will play a greater role in supporting operational and production decision-making.
AI becomes useful in manufacturing when it is a part of the real workflow. The most successful integrations will begin by addressing business needs. Manufacturers need to identify processes that consume significant time, involve repetitive decision-making or generate inconsistency. When focusing on quoting generation, production schedule, predictive maintenance, or inventory optimisation, AI-integrated systems can be effective in delivering meaningful recommendations that reflect actual manufacturing conditions.”
For more details, visit www.lantek.co.uk
About Lantek
Founded in 1986, Lantek is the global leader in software solutions for the sheet metal industry. Its products enable companies to optimise manufacturing processes with cutting-edge technologies for CAD/CAM, MES, ERP, and analytics. With a presence in over 100 countries, Lantek empowers its customers to embrace digital transformation and achieve their goals with confidence. An FA Service team, comprising over 25 professionals, was fully integrated into Lantek Japan in January 2025.
Lantek’s software systems are designed to manage the entire production process, from initial design through to final assembly. By integrating various functions into a single platform, Lantek enables manufacturers to streamline operations and improve efficiency.
FAQ
How can AI within software improve manufacturing production efficiency?
AI within software can analyse historical and real-time manufacturing data to support decisions around quoting, production planning, machine utilisation and scheduling. Systems can identify patterns and recommend actions that would be difficult or time-consuming to calculate manually.
How does Lantek use AI for manufacturing quotations?
Lantek uses AI and machine-learning capabilities within its quoting technology to support faster and more accurate cost estimation. Historical production outcomes, material consumption, manufacturing times and sales data can be used to improve early-stage quotations.
What is Lantek iQuoting?
Lantek iQuoting is a cloud-based quoting solution for sheet metal manufacturers. It connects pricing, material and production information to help calculate manufacturing times, material requirements and costs when preparing quotations.
Can AI improve production planning in sheet metal manufacturing?
Yes. AI-integrated production systems can analyse variables including machine utilisation, work in progress, production priorities, maintenance schedules and real-time shop-floor conditions to recommend changes to manufacturing schedules.
How can AI react to production disruption?
AI-enabled systems can compare planned production with actual shop-floor conditions. When machinery becomes unavailable, materials are delayed or workforce availability changes, the system can recommend revised production sequences designed to minimise disruption.
Does AI replace experienced manufacturing estimators?
The approach described by Lantek supports estimators rather than removing their expertise. AI can generate recommendations and calculations while experienced teams continue to validate and refine final quotations.
Why is manufacturing data important for AI?
AI systems depend on manufacturing data to identify patterns and generate useful recommendations. Historical quotations, actual costs, machine times, nesting results and shop-floor performance can all contribute to improving the accuracy of AI-supported decisions.
Where can manufacturers use AI-integrated software?
The article identifies quoting generation, production scheduling, predictive maintenance and inventory optimisation as areas where AI-integrated systems can provide meaningful recommendations based on actual manufacturing conditions.
Further Reading
MachineToolNews.ai: Artificial Intelligence in the Sheet Metal Industry
Lantek: Bringing Artificial Intelligence into Real Industrial Operations
