Members of the Unytite and CADDi teams during an onsite visit. (Photo courtesy Unytite Inc. and CADDi)
A four-decade U.S. fastener manufacturer centralized more than 60,000 drawings and production documents to improve access to engineering and quality information.
CHICAGO—CADDi, a global technology company that develops data intelligence platforms for manufacturing, released a customer case study detailing how Unytite, Inc. reduced engineering and production search time “by more than 90 percent by centralizing manufacturing drawings and records using CADDi Drawer,” according to a press release from CADDi.
The case study demonstrates how manufacturers can save time by making existing engineering knowledge searchable and reusable across teams. CADDi is an AI powered data platform that makes design and supply chain data accessible and actionable for manufacturing teams.
Preserving decades of manufacturing data constrained by fragmented access
Unytite, founded in 1986, is a major U.S. manufacturer of domestic structural bolts. The company’s bolts, nuts, and cold- and hot-formed structural fasteners are used in infrastructure, heavy equipment, and automotive applications.
As production demands at Unytite increased and customer specifications became more detailed, teams faced growing challenges accessing engineering, production, and quality information quickly. Critical documents such as drawings, inspection sheets, routings, tooling instructions, and quality alerts were technically available but dispersed across network storage, ERP systems, and email, making them hard to find.
Before implementing CADDi Drawer, teams across R&D, quality, sales, and production spent significant time locating historical information needed for quoting, analysis, and process review.
Engineering teams investigated past quotation designs across multiple systems. Quality teams searched for prior alerts, countermeasures, and customer feedback. Sales and production teams lacked consistent visibility into routing notes and specification changes. An internal survey captured the issue directly. One team member noted, “I searched inside the internal network storage, ERP system, and emails. Only certain people know where the right documents are.”
Centralizing manufacturing knowledge with CADDi Drawer
Reliance on specific individuals slowed response time and made knowledge transfer more difficult, according to Unytite.
“Unytite’s U.S. facility plays a critical role in supplying large volumes while meeting strict standards and ensuring full traceability,” said CADDi Senior Manager of Customer Success and Business Development Jinshuo Li, in the release. “As we explored how CADDi could truly make a difference, we determined that what their R&D team needed was knowledge centralization, so anyone can find needed information quickly by searching one central repository.”
To address these challenges, Unytite implemented CADDi Drawer across production, quality, sales, and R&D. The platform reportedly centralized nearly 60,000 drawings, inspection sheets, routings, and customer specifications into a single searchable environment with controlled revision history.
“Teams can now search by drawing number, part name, keywords, or similar designs to locate information in less than one minute,” the release stated. “As a result, Unytite reduced engineering and production search time by more than 90 percent. They were able to save over 200 hours in their engineering and production teams.”
Improving efficiency across engineering, quality, and sales
Now, with centralized access to historical drawings and records, R&D teams can review past designs, quotation studies, and quality issues more efficiently when evaluating new work. Quality teams can immediately cross-reference drawings, alerts, and prior corrective actions, shortening investigation cycles.
Sales and production teams are reported to benefit from improved visibility into past products and specifications, reducing delays caused by information handoffs between departments. The shift also reduced dependence on individual knowledge holders.
“I used to ask senior members where files were stored,” one R&D employee said in the release. “Now I just search CADDi Drawer.”
According to CADDi, the Unytite case study “demonstrates how manufacturers can reduce operational delays by making existing engineering knowledge searchable and reusable across teams, without adding headcount or changing core systems.”
The full Unytite case study is available at us.caddi.com/case-studies.
CADDi, headquartered in Tokyo and Chicago, was founded in 2017 by industry veterans Yushiro Kato and Aki Kobashi, formerly of McKinsey, Apple, and Lockheed Martin. Its flagship product, CADDi Drawer, uses advanced AI to “centralize and analyze unstructured design and production data, helping manufacturers improve efficiency, reduce redundancies, and unlock innovation,” according to the company.
“At CADDi, we’re empowering American manufacturing by consolidating all fragmented engineering and supply chain data into one essential platform,” the company’s website stated.
See AI-powered Data Intelligence Eases Access to Engineering Histories for a case study on how a global materials and manufacturing company unlocked faster response times for custom manufacturing work.