AI and Automation Readiness Audit
Breakdown of the AI and Automation Readiness Audit Engagement
An in-person physical and digital evaluation designed specifically for industrial and manufacturing environments to bridge analog floor realities and advanced industrial AI intelligence.
Phase 00
Phase 01
Phase 02
Phase 03
00
Phase 0: Ninety Minute Discovery Meeting
90 Minutes// Objective
Before initiating a deep dive within the facility, the ABI team will engage with the your Stakeholders to gain a complete overview of the company, roles, and responsibilities. This should cover the full manufacturing lifecycle for each product, outlining high-level processes from beginning to end. An overview of current software, tools, and data management systems is critical to the success of the following in-person visit.
// Key Deliverable
Pre-visit systems, software, tools, and data management overview.
01
Phase 1: The In-Person Facility Visit (2.5 Days / 20 Hours)
2.5 Days / 20 Hours// Objective
This is the core differentiator of the service. Remote audits are fundamentally inadequate for manufacturing environments. A professional engineer must physically navigate the facility to observe the analog realities that software cannot capture.
// Action Steps
- Systems Architecture Mapping: A review of your existing software stack, including the specific versions of your ERP, CRM, and CAD/CAM platforms, identifying known integration bottlenecks and API capabilities.
- Process Shadowing: We physically trace the lifecycle of a typical order. We observe how a digital CAD file is translated into machine code, how raw sheet metal is pulled from inventory, how the operator interacts with the CNC interface, and how finished parts are inspected. This reveals the hidden, paper-based workarounds and data silos employees utilize daily.
- Frontline Change Management Assessment: The most frequent point of failure for industrial AI is human resistance. We conduct structured interviews with plant managers, shift supervisors, and veteran operators. The goal is to gauge the workforce’s digital literacy, identify their daily frustrations, and determine which AI tools will be embraced rather than rejected.
- Hardware Telemetry Inspection: A physical assessment of the legacy machinery to determine what percentage of the floor is capable of generating the digital exhaust (sensor data) required to feed predictive AI models, and what machinery will require aftermarket IoT retrofitting.
- Financial Baselining: A secure analysis of your high-level operational metrics – current average quote turnaround times, historical scrap percentages, and machine utilization rates. This establishes the numerical foundation required to calculate the eventual ROI of the proposed AI implementations.
// Key Deliverable
Direct Gemba Walk telemetry, software integration, process shadowing, human resistance, and baseline ROI analysis.
02
Phase 2: Professional Consultation and Plan Generation (40 Hours)
40 Hours// Objective
Following the Gemba Walk(s), the consulting team dedicates 40 hours to synthesizing the collected data into a bespoke, mathematically sound strategic roadmap.
// Action Steps
- Use-Case Prioritization Matrix: Not all AI applications are suitable for every shop. ABI filters dozens of potential interventions through a matrix that evaluates technical feasibility, required capital investment, and time-to-value.
- Data Governance Architecture: Developing the structural blueprint for breaking down the client’s data silos, detailing exactly how the legacy ERP will be integrated with the shop floor execution systems to create a unified data lake.
- Vendor-Agnostic Technology Recommendation: Rather than pushing a single brand of hardware or software, ABI will identify several suitable workflows, vendors, and technologies to achieve the layout.
// Key Deliverable
Synthesized prioritized matrix, data core lake blueprints, and vendor-agnostic technology maps.
03
Phase 3: The Final Deliverable
Final presentation// Objective
The culmination of the $15,000 engagement is the presentation of the Formal Company Improvement Plan. This is a tactical playbook detailing:
// Action Steps
- The unvarnished reality of your current digital maturity and operational bottlenecks.
- A highly specific, phased 12-to-24 month timeline for AI integration, ensuring that foundational data architecture is built before complex automation is deployed.
- Proposed technological intervention (typically targeting a 12-to-18 month ROI).
- A detailed implementation overview outlining the exact resource requirements, personnel training needs, and change-management strategies required to execute the plan.
- Financial projections on the expected reduction in expenses and increases in top-line revenue, with break-even timelines for new technology/processes.
// Key Deliverable
Presentation of the Formal Company Improvement Plan Playbook ($15,000 engagement culmination)