Insights and Trends Blog
Stay updated with the latest insights, trends, and tips across various topics to keep ahead of the curve.
How do you respond smartly to developments within the metalworking industry?
The metalworking industry has undergone a number of innovations in recent decades. Many companies knew how to take advantage of this but a few missed the boat and had to close their doors.
Popular Posts
All Posts
AI & AutomationThe Smart Factory Signal: It's Not Token Burn, It's Where the Tokens Burn
Wim Dijkgraaf, CEO of Quotation Factory, explains why AI token consumption is more than a cost item — it's a performance indicator. Where in your business intelligence is actually being consumed reveals your true level of operational maturity.
Technology & InnovationWhy We Are Building a Demand Network for Metalworking on HiggX
Quotation Factory is building a demand network for metalworking on the HiggX platform — using UBL-based structured workflows, event-driven visibility, and opt-in transparency to eliminate the manual translation gap between companies in the supply chain.
AI & AutomationFrom Software to Agents: What the Next Leap in Metalworking Looks Like
Metalworking is entering a new era — not just smarter software, but agentic systems that capture specialist knowledge and scale expert judgment across the business. A CEO's perspective on why this shift matters and what it means for the industry.
Technology & InnovationCustomer Data Management as a Core Part of the Quotation Factory Vision
How Quotation Factory uses Customer Data Management and Segment to connect quoting workflows, project events, and lifecycle data into a unified customer journey — creating visibility, traceability, and operational intelligence for metalworking businesses.
AI & AutomationThe Smart Factory Signal: It’s Not Token Burn, It’s Where the Tokens Burn
Token burn alone is not a reliable signal of AI maturity. What truly matters is where tokens are being consumed — in transformation programs or in the daily operations of the factory itself. A framework for distinguishing AI ambition from real operational intelligence.
Technology & InnovationFrom Rigid Standards to Semantic Systems
Why the LLM era changes how we think about B2B integration. Exploring the shift from rigid, standards-based message formats like UBL and SCSN to semantic, agent-driven collaboration — and what this means for the future of digital supply chains in metalworking.
Technology & InnovationExcel Isn’t “Outdated” — Misusing It Is
Excel isn't the problem — misusing it is. A practical look at the difference between Excel as a database (bad) and Excel as a calculation engine (powerful), and how Quotation Factory uses spreadsheet-based estimators within a governed, versioned platform to model complex quoting and manufacturing logic.
AI & AutomationMCP: How AI Connects Directly to Your Business Data in Quotation Factory
Quotation Factory now has a native MCP server — allowing AI tools like Claude or ChatGPT to connect directly to your project data. Read project overviews, create new projects, upload CAD files, and generate quotes, all from your AI environment. Here's what's already possible and the bigger vision of AI agents that automate your entire RFQ intake.
AI & AutomationWhy AI Is Not a Feature for Quotation Factory – But a New Foundation
Based on a livestream with Wim Dijkgraaf, founder & CEO of Quotation Factory – why AI is not just another feature but a seismic shift in how software is built, and how Quotation Factory is transforming into an agentic development company and manufacturing operating system for high-mix, low-volume manufacturers.
Business & StrategyHow Seven Years of Runway and the Rise of AI Changed the Way I Think
Seven years of startup runway and the rise of AI forced me to rebuild my entire way of thinking. Here's what I learned — and why it matters for manufacturing leaders navigating the AI era.
Technology & InnovationFrom Scripts to Signals: Why High-Mix, Low-Volume Factories Need Event-Driven Thinking
Why high-mix, low-volume factories need to shift from scripts and file watchers to event-driven architecture. Learn the difference between messaging and events, and how this foundation enables AI-ready, self-learning production systems.
Business & StrategyThe Quote Factory Operating System
Rethinking High-Mix/Low-Volume manufacturing through commercial precision. Learn how quoting operates as a high-volume, high-precision prediction system and why the Quote Factory Operating System (QFOS) is essential for scaling HMLV businesses.
AI & AutomationERP Is Doomed – Especially in High-Mix, Low-Volume Manufacturing
“ERP is doomed.“ When I write or say that, people react. Some ERP vendors get defensive. Some customers get worried and ask: “Wim, are you saying ERP will disappear?“ This article explores why traditional ERP is fundamentally incompatible with an AI-driven world, especially in high-mix, low-volume manufacturing.
AI & AutomationSmart Factory ≠ More Apps: What 2025 Taught Me
In 2025, green numbers finally appeared on our dashboard. But profitability felt more like coming up for air after almost drowning, not like winning a race. Here's what AI really taught us about smart factories.
Technology & InnovationThe ExDA Manifesto for Intelligible Operations
ExDA: Expectation Driven Architecture. We are uncovering better ways of running complex systems by preserving expectations and learning from evidence.
Manufacturing & OperationsFrom Unified Namespace to a Manufacturing 'Belief System'
A research exploration into learning operations in High-Mix Manufacturing. What if manufacturing systems explicitly preserved what they believed — not just what happened?
Manufacturing & OperationsFit2Train (part 3) - Decisions Are Your Real Production System
Why High-Mix Manufacturing Doesn't Fail Because of Variability — but Because It Can't Learn. In high-mix manufacturing, your real production system is not your machines. It is the way decisions are made, revised, and remembered.
Manufacturing & OperationsWhy 'First Stability, Then Improvement' **Never** Works in High-Mix Manufacturing
Insights from my Fit2Learn live stream. In high-mix manufacturing, that calm moment you're waiting for almost never comes. Learn why waiting for stability before improving is a trap.
Manufacturing & OperationsHigh Mix Is Not Your Problem. It's Your Advantage.
What if high mix doesn't hold you back, it just means bad decisions hurt faster? Intelligence does not grow from repetition. It grows from contrast.
AI & AutomationThe Computer Is Also Human: What 2025 Taught Me About Metalworking, Software and AI
Reflections from Wim's daily Metal Minutes – live from Brazil. In metalworking we are still in love with our machines. But more and more, our real leverage sits in what you don't see on the shop floor.
Technology & InnovationState Machines - the Hidden Engine of Every Digital-First Metalworking Company
Beneath all digital technologies sits one foundational concept that quietly determines whether your digital journey succeeds or fails: State machines. The logic that defines how a factory truly behaves.
Technology & InnovationA Major Leap Forward for Digital Transformation in Metalworking
Introducing the Next-Generation Edge Connector: Event-Driven, Workflow-Enabled, and Built for the Future of Manufacturing. The Quotation Factory Edge Connector has evolved into a full event-driven, workflow-oriented automation platform.
AI & AutomationAI, Abundance and the End of Jobs as Our Operating System
We're not just talking about jobs. We're talking about the end of the labour-based economy as our default operating system. The core message of Emad Mostaque's book The Last Economy and David Shapiro's work on Post-Labor Economics.
Technology & InnovationIf you still pay six figures a year for ERP/CRM/PLM/MES licenses and “implementation partners”, this is for you.
Because the uncomfortable truth is: commercial ERP, CRM, PLM and MES – as you know them today – are doomed. And that's good news for metalworking companies.
Manufacturing & OperationsThe Supply Chain Is Not a Process. It's a Thinking Game.
Most manufacturers still talk about their process as if it's a fixed, linear thing. Inquiry → estimate → order → production → delivery.
Technology & Innovation“Swing in Steel” — How AI Swarms Will Transform Manufacturing
By Wim Dijkgraaf, CEO & Founder of Quotation Factory In competitive rowing, there is a rare and almost mystical moment athletes call "swing." It's when the entire crew moves in perfect unison. The ...
Business & StrategyFreedom as a Founder: What 20 Years Abroad Taught Me About Staying in the Game
By Wim Dijkgraaf – CEO, Quotation Factory Over the past months, many people have sent me messages after my livestreams. Most are encouraging—telling me to keep speaking openly and honestly. Others ...
Manufacturing & OperationsYour factory isn’t “just” a factory anymore. It’s a multiplayer world.
In my previous live session, I shared how we're building a supply chain integration platform for metalworking that behaves more like a gaming engine than a traditional IT system – with factories in...
Manufacturing & OperationsThe Supply Chain as a Game Engine: Not a Metaphor, a Roadmap
Your metal supply chain still moves at the speed of email. Your customers now expect the speed of online gaming. That contrast has been on my mind for years.
Technology & InnovationPretty PMI Won’t Digitalise Your Factory – Why Semantic PMI Matters
If you look at most demos around Model Based Definition (MBD), they tend to focus on the same thing: A 3D model covered in symbols, arrows, GD&T callouts and colorful labels.
Technology & InnovationTurning Dumb Geometry into Smart Manufacturing Decisions
Most CAD models in your factory look smart. But to your computer, they're just… folded paper. A cube, a bracket, a complex ASML part – in the old STEP formats your systems exchange every day – are ...
Business & StrategyDots, Lines and Your Factory: How Graphs Become the Backbone of Unified PMI
Most metalworking businesses are already "thinking in graphs" – they just don't call it that. When a new RFQ comes in, your brain instantly connects:
Technology & InnovationUnified PMI: A Pragmatic Path from Drawing Chaos to Model-Based Working
Most conversations about factory digitalisation today end up in the same place: "We need to move to Model Based Definition (MBD) and Model Based Engineering (MBE)."
Technology & InnovationUnified PMI: The Missing Link in Today's Factory Digitalization
Most factories are trying to digitalize their machines. Very few are truly digitalizing their information. That gap is exactly where Unified PMI lives.
Technology & InnovationFrom Metal Company Using Software → To Software Company Doing Metal
Most metalworking companies I speak do describe themselves the same way: "We're a metal company. We use some software here and there."
Technology & InnovationEvents, Expectations, and Why Your ERP Is Not the Truth
Manufacturing companies love the idea of a "single source of truth". Most of the time, that means: "Our ERP is the truth." But if you really look at how a factory behaves in the real world, that id...
Industry InsightsThere Is No Future for Quotation Solutions (As It Exists Today)
Why quoting, as we know it, will slowly disappear When you're the CEO of a company, one of your jobs is uncomfortable but essential:
AI & AutomationEverything Becomes Self-Service – But Not How You Think
Why portals and apps are only a temporary stop on the way to AI-driven manufacturing For years, "self-service" has meant one thing:
AI & AutomationMetalworking Companies Are Becoming Software Companies (Whether You Like It or Not)
A strange sentence to start with, I know. But if you look closely at what's happening with AI and "vibe coding", it's exactly where we're heading. And if you're running a metalworking company, this...
Manufacturing & OperationsWhen drawing guidelines lock up your supply chain
Every metalworking shop has its own drawing rules. But your customer has zero time to learn them all. A few days ago, our customer success team sent me what looked like a simple bug report.
Industry InsightsProposal for the Standardization of Event-Driven Architectures in the Manufacturing Industry
Submitted to: TNO Institute, The Netherlands Submitted by: Wim Dijkgraaf, Quotation Factory B.V. Date: 01/08/2025 The digital transformation of the manufacturing industry is fundamentally dependent...
Technology & InnovationTransformative Breakthroughs in the Metalworking Industry: The Promise of Quotation Factory
The metalworking industry is undergoing a digital revolution, one that promises to reshape its very foundation. At the forefront of this transformation is Quotation Factory, a platform that has set...
Business & StrategyManufacturing Evolution: Lessons from Our Primate Cousins
How a metalworking business owner applied Frans de Waal's primate behavior theories to understand the complex social dynamics of the European manufacturing industry and digitalization agenda.
Industry InsightsMetals and Milestones: Navigating the Industrial Evolution
How to navigate the journey of adapting to technological and societal changes while maintaining a legacy of craftsmanship and innovation. In a quiet town in the Netherlands, nestled among age-old c...
Manufacturing & OperationsMetalwork Miracles: The Artful Science of Estimation
How a metalworking company was transformed from near bankruptcy to success by overhauling the labor cost estimation process. Once upon a time, in the bustling heart of an industrial city, there sto...
Technology & InnovationMetal and Metamorphosis: Navigating the New Industrial Ecosystem
How a skeptical metalworking business owner embraces and successfully integrates his business, by adapting to a digitally interconnected industrial ecosystem. As the owner of a small but proud meta...
Technology & InnovationThe Metalworker's Guide to the Digital Age: A Tale of Three Transformations
About the differences between digitization, digitalization, and digital transformation, using three metalworking shops as examples. In a large, modern conference hall filled with the buzz of conver...
Business & StrategyThe Modern Metallurgist: A Story of Strategic Reinvention
How a long-standing metalworking business, successfully adapted to the digital age by embracing the Strategic Pillars Model and Porter's Generic Strategies. In the heart of a bustling industrial to...
Business & StrategyCutting-Edge Choices: The Strategic Journeys of Metalworking Leaders
How three metalworking companies each adopted different strategies and underwent unique digital transformations. In the heart of an industrious city, three metalworking Manufacturing as a Service (...
Technology & InnovationTwin Visions: A Journey of Discovery in Digital Transformation
How state transition models have a critical role in achieving event-driven and agile manufacturing processes. Once upon a time, in the bustling heart of an industrial city, there stood a metalworki...