Lumeso: AI in the glass industry’s internal sales

Digitalisation in the flat glass industry is entering a new phase: as many areas of production are already automated and AI has long been part of machine technology, the focus is now shifting to the upstream back-office processes. The Austrian software company LUMESO offers an AI solution that takes over monotonous, repetitive tasks in order entry – thereby reducing the workload and ensuring faster order processing. The ‘time to production’ is significantly reduced. 

In many businesses, enquiries and orders are still entered manually from emails, PDFs, Excel spreadsheets, scans or scanned drawings – a time-consuming and error-prone process. Lumeso focuses on automating this task: the software reads out enquiries, recognises dimensions, glass configurations, finishes and quantities, and transfers the data in a structured format to the ERP system. Instead of entering orders manually, the administrator checks the pre-entered data records and approves them. This significantly boosts productivity. “We automate the routine so that people have their minds free for the special cases”, says Georg Katzlinger-Söllradl, CEO of LUMESO. “Around 80 per cent of orders are processed largely automatically. For the remaining 20 per cent, the data entry workload is halved – one of our first customers is already saving more than 50 per cent on their total data entry workload.” The role within the internal sales team is thus shifting from data entry to quality assurance – leaving more time for customer development and sales.

Up and running faster – with minimal IT effort

Lumeso is an ERP-independent industry solution. Customers using Lisec, A+W, Hanic, Synerglass and other systems are already connected; conceptually, Lumeso is based on VDMA 24124 (OPC UA), and the interface specification is freely available. Lumeso usually handles the connection directly with the ERP provider. This allows existing master data expertise to be utilised perfectly: calculation logic, product structures and individual customer terms remain within the ERP system. Lumeso is trained with every additional order entered. “Anyone who implements Lumeso is handing over a task that needs to be done anyway – with Lumeso, this comes with a genuine learning effect, unlike with traditional systems,” says Katzlinger-Söllradl. The first results are already visible after the first approved orders.

The data is stored on European servers and is fully GDPR-compliant. Each customer works in their own isolated training environment and trains the system for their own business. Lumeso is also breaking new ground with its business model: billing is per line item, so the benefit is realised at the very moment the invoice is issued. “Traditional industry software requires high upfront costs and, hopefully, delivers value at some point later. We’re turning that on its head: you pay for what actually takes the work off your hands,” explains Katzlinger-Söllradl. This seems to be resonating with the market. Within just a few months, the company has already attracted more than 20 customers to the solution, who have recorded over 15,000 orders using Lumeso. 

With a growing customer base and continuous development, Lumeso is pursuing the goal of creating a scalable, independent AI solution for the industry: fewer manual processes, shorter turnaround times, and more resilient organisations.

More information at www.lumeso.com or directly by email to georg.katzlinger-soellradl@lumeso.com.

Photo: Georg Katzlinger-Söllradl (CEO) and Christian Kimmeswenger (CTO) are the driving forces behind Lumeso. Just one year after the company was founded, its AI-based software was honoured with the German Innovation Award for excellence in B2B solutions and for its transformative potential.