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 faced challenges for newer engineers in locating the right drawings efficiently. Partnering with AI startup Recursive and using OpenAI models, Kuken built a search system that allows engineers to search by part number, drawing number, or even by uploading a screenshot or PDF. The tool reads part numbers and returns possible matches, including similar designs. Results show search time reduced by about 90%, enabling experienced engineers to mentor and newer engineers to work more independently. Kuken is also developing an AI tool to review partner drawings, with prototype testing showing about 90% of flagged issues were genuine discrepancies. The initiative aims to preserve and pass on engineering knowledge to the next generation.

(Source：OpenAI)