Kuken Industries searches 70 years of drawings in minutes

Kuken Industries, a leading Japanese manufacturer of air conditioning and ventilation equipment, has digitized its 70-year archive of engineering drawings to help engineers quickly find replacement parts for cooling towers. Partnering with AI startup Recursive and using OpenAI's models, Kuken developed a search system that allows engineers to search by part number, drawing number, or even a screenshot of a parts list. The tool is expected to cut drawing search time by about 90%, enabling newer engineers to work more independently and experienced engineers to mentor and focus on engineering tasks. Kuken is also prototyping an AI tool to review partner drawings, with early tests showing about 90% of flagged issues are genuine discrepancies. The initiative aims to preserve and pass on engineering knowledge to the next generation.

(Source：OpenAI)