Kuken Industries searches 70 years of drawings in minutes

Kuken Industries, a major Japanese manufacturer of cooling towers and ventilation equipment, has digitized 70 years of engineering drawings but struggled with searchability, as newer engineers often needed experienced colleagues to locate the right files. Partnering with Japanese AI startup Recursive and using OpenAI models, Kuken built a search system and field app that lets engineers find drawings by part number, image, or PDF screenshot in minutes rather than hours. The tool is expected to cut drawing search time by about 90%, reduce printing costs, and free up experienced engineers to mentor newer colleagues. Kuken is also prototyping an AI tool to review partner drawings, with about 90% of flagged issues being genuine discrepancies. The company aims to use AI to pass engineering expertise to the next generation.

(Source：OpenAI)