Engineering notes
9 articles on ai & automation — what works in production, what doesn't, and what it costs.
AI & Automation9 min
Why AI automation projects stall: vague scope, no owner, demo-to-production gaps. How to scope AI automation work that actually ships and keeps working.
AI & Automation8 min
Practical AI in manufacturing starts with data you already collect. Where it pays off on the shop floor, what to skip, and why machine vision is the exception.
AI & Automation8 min
Automate or hire? How to do the math on repetitive work: fully loaded labor costs versus build-and-run automation costs, and when each answer honestly wins.
AI & Automation9 min
How to turn company documents into an AI knowledge base your team will trust: retrieval over fine-tuning, citations, freshness, and real adoption.
AI & Automation8 min
LLM integration in practice: how to add AI features to software you already have, using structured outputs, retrieval, evaluation, and honest cost math.
AI & Automation8 min
AI document processing turns invoices, forms, and POs into structured data your ERP can use. What accuracy to expect, and why the review queue matters most.
AI & Automation8 min
What AI agents for small business can actually do in 2025: reliable use cases, where they fail, and the review-gated architecture that makes them work.
AI & Automation8 min
Which processes to automate first? Score each task on volume, rule clarity, pain, and risk of error. A simple method for picking projects that pay off.
