For Canadian manufacturers, labor shortages, supply chain instability, and equipment issues aren’t hypothetical challenges—they’re daily roadblocks. These obstacles slow down decisions, delay production, and create avoidable inefficiencies on the factory floor.
 

Overcoming them starts with faster access to institutional knowledge—the expertise locked in manuals, logs, and the minds of experienced personnel. But most organizations still struggle to get that information into the hands of the people who need it, when they need it.

With natural language interfaces and built-in industry expertise, GenAI solutions make it easy for frontline teams, new hires, and customer support reps to get fast, accurate answers based on your documentation and historical data. This results in less downtime on the factory floor, smoother onboarding across your organization, and more consistent customer experiences, leading to happier customers.
 

Here are three real-world examples of how GenAI is helping manufacturers speed up problem solving, preserve expertise, and keep operations on track.
 

1. Troubleshooting: Fix Issues Faster with On-Demand Guidance 

When an issue arises on the shop floor, every second counts. Scouring physical manuals, scrolling through fragmented, incomplete, or unreadable digital files, or consulting with experts can be slow and prone to human error.
 

GenAI to the Rescue 
Responding in seconds to simple, natural language prompts, AI tools for manufacturing operations have secure access to every relevant manual and document, delivering the insights and guidance employees need. This includes resolutions from past issues, options for moving forward, and next-step guidance.
 

How it Works 
On a busy production line, a technician notices defects in injection-molded parts. Instead of halting production and digging through manuals, they query a GenAI interface: “Why is Machine 502 producing incomplete components?” The assistant responds with possible causes based on the machine’s manual—such as low injection speed, insufficient pressure, or incorrect melt temperature—each paired with recommended troubleshooting steps. With this guidance, the technician can quickly adjust, minimizing downtime and avoiding further disruptions.
 

2. Onboarding: Accelerate Training Without Slowing Down Production 

Training new employees typically relies on experienced personnel, ultimately keeping them from critical work. It’s a dependency that creates bottlenecks and risks the loss of institutional know-how as senior staff transition. Even the most motivated, self-supporting new hire often has only hard-to-navigate, potentially outdated documents for reference. This forms a recipe for inconsistency, knowledge gaps, and wasted time.
 

Self-Guided AI Support 
GenAI is ready to show new hires the ropes, freeing up busy experts and empowering employees to learn independently and follow company best practices while preserving institutional knowledge. AI-powered onboarding tools deliver the right information in the proper context, helping new hires ramp up quickly and confidently.
 

How it Works 
A new operator queries the system: “How do I perform preventive maintenance on Line A?” In response, the accelerator delivers step-by-step instructions, annotated diagrams, and insights from past maintenance logs. This self-guided approach reduces reliance on senior employees and helps new hires crest learning curves faster and more confidently.
 

3. Customer Support: Answers Your Customers Can Count On 

Support experiences that are delayed or unclear don’t just inconvenience customers—they undermine confidence in your product. Over time, this leads to higher return volumes and reputational harm that’s hard to reverse.
 

GenAI for Speed and Consistency  
With GenAI integrated into customer support channels, help is always available and much more consistent. Drawing from manuals, past resolutions, and real-time data, AI chatbots for manufacturing support deliver fast, consistent, and accurate guidance—boosting trust and reducing time to resolution. When human support is needed, the AI can seamlessly escalate or schedule a technician, ensuring no one feels left stranded.
 

How it Works 
A customer types, “How do I fix a flickering display on Model Z324?” into the GenAI interface. The system analyzes the issue and provides step-by-step guidance based on the latest documentation and similar past cases. It can even be set up to pull data from trusted, external sources, such as a forum where users help each other troubleshoot issues.
 

GenAI Implementation Without the Growing Pains 

AI implementation can feel complex—especially without the right team in place. You might be short on in-house expertise or under pressure to show results quickly.
 

That’s why Slalom emphasizes experience. For decades, we’ve worked alongside manufacturers—listening, learning, and solving real-world challenges. When we set out to build a suite of high-ROI GenAI solutions, we combined that deep industry knowledge with cutting-edge technology from AWS and Intel to create tools that are proven, powerful, and cost effective.
 

Our Manual Summarization and Support GenAI Accelerator is designed specifically for manufacturers. And with most of the solution design already complete, it’s possible only minimal fine tuning is required to integrate it successfully into your operations. 
 

Time to Set a New Course 

If you’re looking to steady the ship and boost productivity, Slalom’s GenAI Accelerators might be exactly what your team needs.
 

Want to Know: 

• How GenAI can be used in manufacturing? 
• How does GenAI help reduce downtime in operations and on the factory floor? 
• Can AI improve customer support for industrial equipment?
   

We’ve got you covered. Visit our GenAI Accelerator page to get answers to these questions and more. Learn how to customize our accelerators to your unique use case, business, or industry, and request a demo to see them in action. Qualifying customers may also be eligible for funding to support a proof of concept, making it easier to get started. 

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