1factory + private AI
AI for 1factory: First Article and Inspection Data Joined to Your ERP
Short answer
AI for 1factory works on the inspection side of quality: ballooned drawings, characteristics, first article inspection reports (AS9102 style), and measured results. It joins those records to ERP work orders, lots and suppliers, flags out-of-tolerance trends and missing characteristics, and drafts summaries for quality engineers, while the inspection record and sign-off remain in 1factory.
- ERP
- 1factory
- Industries
- Aerospace, Defense, Medical Devices, Automotive, Electronics
- Written for
- Quality Engineer
1factory is a cloud quality platform focused on inspection and quality data: drawing ballooning, inspection plans, first article inspection reports, in-process and receiving inspection, SPC and nonconformance handling. It is used by manufacturers and suppliers in aerospace, defense, medical and automotive supply chains where customers require FAI reports and measured evidence.
The data is rich and structured: characteristics with nominal values and tolerances, measured results per part or sample, gauge references, and report packages. What it lacks by itself is operational context. Which work order, lot, machine program or supplier produced the parts that drifted? That information sits in the ERP, MES or machine systems.
1factory provides its own analytics and automation for ballooning and reporting, and those should be evaluated first for tasks inside the platform. A separate AI layer is useful when you need to ask cross-system questions, review drawing revisions against ERP routings, or keep drawings and measurements inside your own boundary because of ITAR or customer restrictions.
This page explains where AI genuinely helps with inspection and FAI data, how the integration is shaped, what it must leave to humans, and the questions to ask any vendor before connecting a model to controlled drawings and measurement records.
What usually gets in the way
The problems we hear most from quality engineer teams running 1factory.
FAI preparation is repetitive
Each new part or revision needs a ballooned drawing, a characteristic list and a complete AS9102-style package. Missing or duplicated characteristics are a common cause of customer rejection.
Drawing revisions drift from ERP data
A revision change in the drawing may not be reflected in the routing, inspection plan or open work orders until someone notices.
Trends hide in measurement data
Gradual drift toward a tolerance limit is visible in data but needs someone to look at the right characteristic across lots and machines before it becomes a scrap event.
Supplier inspection data is inconsistent
Suppliers submit reports in different formats, making incoming review and comparison to your own results slow.
Context for a failure takes legwork
When a characteristic fails, finding the work order, operator shift, program version, material lot and supplier takes cross-system searching.
Where AI earns its place in 1factory
Each use case names the ERP objects it reads or writes, so your ERP team can judge the integration effort before anyone commits budget.
FAI completeness review
Checks that every drawing characteristic has a matching entry, units and tolerances are consistent, and required fields in the report are populated, then lists gaps for the engineer.
Touches: 1factory FAI reports, characteristics, balloons; ERP item revision and drawing reference
Outcome: Fewer resubmissions caused by omissions; the engineer remains responsible for the report.
Revision change impact
When a drawing revision changes, identifies affected inspection plans, open work orders and parts in process.
Touches: 1factory inspection plans and drawing revisions; ERP routing, open work orders, item revision
Outcome: Earlier detection of stale plans; changes are still approved through your process.
Drift and capability summaries
Highlights characteristics trending toward limits and summarises capability by lot, machine or supplier in plain language.
Touches: 1factory measured results and sample data; ERP work center, machine and lot references
Outcome: Directs attention to the right characteristic sooner; statistical decisions remain with engineers.
Failure context assembly
For an out-of-tolerance result, gathers work order, routing step, material lot, program and supplier information into a brief.
Touches: 1factory nonconformance and results; ERP work order operations, lot genealogy, receipts
Outcome: Reduces time to first hypothesis; the cause is determined by people.
Supplier report normalisation
Extracts characteristics and results from supplier PDFs or spreadsheets into a standard structure for comparison.
Touches: Supplier inspection reports; ERP PO line and vendor master
Outcome: Faster incoming review where documents are legible; exceptions go to a person.
Customer requirement checks
Compares an FAI package with customer-specific requirements held in documents, such as required certificates or attachments.
Touches: 1factory FAI package; ERP customer record and sales order notes
Outcome: Catches missing items before submission.
Plain-language inspection queries
Lets planners and engineers ask questions like which parts have FAI due this month or which characteristics failed most last quarter.
Touches: 1factory FAI schedule and results; ERP planned orders and item master
Outcome: Replaces export and pivot work with queries that show their filters.
Reference architecture
A read-only integration pulls inspection plans, characteristics and results from 1factory through the interfaces your plan provides, stores them in a private index, and joins them to ERP data through read-only connectors. A model in your boundary produces completeness checks, summaries and answers with citations. Sign-off and report submission stay in 1factory.
- 1
1factory access
Use the API or export options available to your subscription, with a restricted account. Confirm availability and limits with the vendor before scoping.
- 2
ERP connector
Read-only access to item revision, routing, work order, lot and PO data.
- 3
Structured store plus text index
Measurements and tolerances stay in SQL for exact calculation; drawings, notes and reports are indexed for retrieval. Statistics are computed by code, not by the language model.
- 4
Model serving
Open-weight models served on your GPUs or private cloud. Vision-capable models can assist with drawing review, with outputs checked by a person.
- 5
Engineer review
All findings are suggestions. The responsible engineer accepts, edits or rejects them in the normal workflow.
Integration notes for your ERP team
- Confirm the API or export options your 1factory subscription provides before scoping an integration.
- Store measurements as numeric fields with units, tolerance type and gauge reference; never let the model do arithmetic on them.
- Use drawing number and revision as the primary join key with the ERP item revision, and list mismatches for data owners.
- Plan a separate path for drawings and PDFs: rendering, OCR, and human spot checks.
- Keep controlled technical data classification flags on every record and respect them in retrieval.
- Capture the version of the inspection plan that applied when each result was recorded.
Deployment options
FAI review assistant
Suppliers with frequent new-part launches
Read-only completeness checks and gap lists for FAI packages.
Private cloud with ERP join
Manufacturers linking inspection to production
Adds work order, lot and supplier context and capability summaries in your tenancy.
On-prem or air-gapped
ITAR and controlled-drawing environments
Model and index local; ingestion follows an approved path, since 1factory itself is cloud-delivered.
Compliance and data control
How the architecture supports your obligations. Certification and accountability stay with your organisation; the design keeps the evidence straightforward.
AS9102 and AS9100
The assistant checks completeness and consistency of FAI data; the responsible person signs and submits. It does not replace the FAI process.
ITAR / EAR
Private deployment keeps drawings and technical data inside the customer's boundary. The customer remains responsible for registration, access control and export decisions.
ISO 13485 and IATF 16949 (PPAP)
Supports inspection evidence preparation; customer-specific requirements are verified by people.
Measurement integrity
Calculations such as capability indices are computed by deterministic code from stored values, with the formula shown, not by model estimation.
Where Netray fits
Custom build
FAI completeness checks, drift summaries and supplier report normalisation built around your drawings, plans and customer requirements.
ERPray
ERP side of the join, for revision, routing, work order and lot data with the query shown.
DataRay
Chat with inspection PDFs, certificates and measurement files on-prem when they live on shares.
How an engagement runs
Phase 1 . 1-2 weeks
Discover
- -Inventory of 1factory plans, report types and access options
- -Drawing and revision key alignment with ERP
- -ITAR and data classification review
- -Priority use cases
Phase 2 . 3-4 weeks
Prototype
- -FAI completeness check on sample packages
- -Revision impact list
- -Failure context brief with ERP join
Phase 3 . 3-4 weeks
Validate
- -Historical FAI test set including known rejections
- -Precision and recall review with engineers
- -Calculation verification against existing SPC outputs
Phase 4 . Ongoing
Operate
- -Monitoring of false positives
- -Plan and template change handling
- -Next-use-case backlog
Questions to ask any vendor, including us
A short list that separates real 1factory AI work from a chatbot demo.
- Which 1factory interfaces will be used and are they included in our subscription?
- Are capability and trend figures computed by code, and can we see the formula?
- How are drawings and technical data protected in your architecture?
- How do you reconcile drawing revisions with ERP item revisions?
- Does anything submit or sign an FAI report?
- How do you test completeness checks against reports that were previously rejected?
- What happens to the integration when we change inspection plan templates?
Frequently asked questions
Can AI fill in an AS9102 FAI report?
It can help prepare and check one, for example by listing characteristics missing from the report or inconsistent units. The responsible engineer must verify and sign. Treat AI output as a review aid, since customers reject FAIs for small errors and accountability stays with your organisation.
Does 1factory already have automation?
Yes, the platform includes tools for ballooning and reporting, and you should evaluate them first for tasks inside it. A separate layer is useful for cross-system questions, ERP revision checks, supplier report normalisation, and for keeping controlled drawings inside your own boundary.
Are the statistics calculated by the language model?
No. Capability indices, trends and limits are calculated by deterministic code from the stored measurements, and the formula is shown. The model only explains results in plain language and points to the underlying data, which avoids arithmetic mistakes.
Is this suitable for ITAR drawings?
A private, on-prem deployment can keep drawings and measurements inside your boundary, which helps you meet your obligations. 1factory is cloud-delivered, so you must also assess that path. Registration, access control and export decisions remain the customer's responsibility.
How does it link inspection to production?
Through drawing number, revision, part number, work order and lot keys joined to the ERP. When keys are inconsistent, mismatches are listed for data owners rather than guessed. Clean identifiers are the main factor in how useful the join becomes.
Can it read supplier inspection PDFs?
It can extract characteristics and results from legible PDFs and spreadsheets into a standard structure, with low-confidence items flagged for a person. Scanned, skewed or handwritten reports reduce accuracy, so we sample your actual supplier documents before promising coverage.
What does a pilot look like?
A read-only pilot on one product family: sync inspection plans and recent FAIs, run completeness checks against reports that were previously rejected or accepted, and review results with engineers. Access approvals and identifier alignment usually take longer than the model work.
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Talk it through with an engineer who knows 1factory
Bring one real question your team cannot answer from the ERP today. We will map the data path, the model, and where it runs, and tell you honestly if AI is the wrong tool for it.