Kuken Industries Cuts 70-Year Drawing Searches by 90% With AI Tool

1 articles · Updated · OpenAI · Nov 9

Kuken Industries has deployed an AI search system that lets engineers find replacement-part drawings from a 70-year archive in minutes instead of spending up to half a day searching.
The tool was built with Japanese startup Recursive using OpenAI models after Kuken found digitized files still required engineers to know exact names, numbers and file locations.
Engineers can search by drawing or part number, or upload a screenshot, image or PDF; the app extracts part numbers and returns likely matches, including similar designs.
Kuken says the system should cut annual drawing-search time by about 90%, help newer engineers handle more jobs independently and reduce printing by enabling in-app review.
The company is also prototyping AI drawing checks for partner submissions, with tests showing about 90% of flagged issues were genuine discrepancies.