The manufacturing industry is facing a growing skills gap and increased component complexity, requiring a robust solution to streamline information access and support.
Sandvik created the Manufacturing Copilot, built with Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Search, to provide easy access to years of product documentation.
By using the Manufacturing Copilot, Sandvik employees have improved productivity by up to 30%, enhanced customer support, and accelerated training processes.
30% average productivity gain
At Sandvik, innovation is at the core of operations. The company develops cutting-edge technology solutions that power modern manufacturing. However, there is a growing skills gap in the industry, increased component complexity, rising automation, and a younger workforce with new expectations.
To address this, Sandvik is using Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing across its manufacturing software brands. It develops its products with GitHub Copilot, and has used Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Search to create its proprietary Manufacturing Copilot, a tool used by its customers and its sales and customer support teams.
Sandvik has never shied away from innovation. But AI’s ability to turn human expertise into instantly accessible intelligence marked a significant shift.
“We needed to utilize smart technology globally while still supporting our customers,” explains Magnus Malmström, Chief Technology Officer of Sandvik Manufacturing Solutions. “That’s why we used Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing to develop the Manufacturing Copilot.”
Rolling out the Manufacturing Copilot across Sandvik’s CAM software brands required a strategic approach. Instead of building a separate solution for its different products, Sandvik created a shared service on which the company built product-specific Manufacturing Copilots.
Each solution was trained on proprietary knowledge, unique to each brand, so users have access to product documentation, help files, and audio/video recordings. They are further trained on technical support continuously and eventually connect with each other to bring even more intelligence to the shop floor.
With the Manufacturing Copilot, Sandvik employees and its customers can quickly access decades of company knowledge using natural language. The tool was first launched in Sandvik’s CAD/CAM software Cimatron, GibbsCAM, and SigmaNEST and will soon be accessible for 400,000 users.
The results? “Manufacturing Copilot saves time for our employees, on average, close to 20% to 30%, and if it is something completely new that we are facing for the first time, probably up to 50%,” says Coşkun İslam, Head of Collective Intelligence Engineering at Sandvik Manufacturing Solutions.
Beyond streamlining access to information, AI is helping reduce language barriers. “We support 19 languages with special algorithms for domain-specific language translation, ensuring users can interact in their own language,” İslam explains. This helps with global collaboration and access to information in the user’s own language.
“We needed to utilize smart technology globally while still supporting our customers. That’s why we used Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing to develop the Manufacturing Copilot.”
Magnus Malmström, CTO, Sandvik Manufacturing Solutions
Internally, Sandvik employees also use the tool in areas like sales, customer support, and training. “Onboarding a new salesperson now takes about half the time using the Manufacturing Copilot,” says Joe Ulrich, Regional Sales Manager at SigmaNEST, one of Sandvik’s brands.
Providing immediate, accurate answers during sales calls has enhanced customer confidence and decision-making. The tool helps Ulrich to eliminate follow-up meetings, keeping the sales process moving. “If I can answer a customer’s question during a sales meeting with the Manufacturing Copilot, it saves so much time and increases my chance of winning a deal,” Ulrich says.
Robert Choudury, Application Engineer at SigmaNEST, also uses the tool to provide customer support. With the Manufacturing Copilot, “We also learn from the direct customer feedback loop so we can resolve issues faster and have access to support in real time,” he says.
As AI evolves, so does Sandvik’s vision. Beyond efficiency, AI is transforming how expertise is shared and preserved. “This technology unites people with physical human knowledge and tech competence,” Malmström says.
As industries transform through automation and AI, Sandvik remains at the forefront. The Manufacturing Copilot isn’t just a tool—it’s a catalyst for change. By turning complex expertise into instantly accessible knowledge, it helps Sandvik engineers, developers, customer-facing teams, and customers work smarter and faster than ever.
With Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing, Sandvik is proving that the future of manufacturing isn’t just automated—it’s intelligent, adaptive, and deeply human.
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