AI Front Office for Manufacturing. AI for manufacturing customer service, from RFQ to RMA
Zanus AI is AI for manufacturing customer service that answers the sales, parts, order and warranty lines of equipment builders, component makers, fabricators and process producers. Dealers, distributors and plant buyers get stock, order status and quotes from your approved knowledge base by phone, chat and e-mail; engineering and safety questions reach your people.
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7 days free · per company, never per seat · nothing to install
Easy setup
Answers & books
Sells
You talk. Lisa sets it up.
You“Parts calls go to the AI first; engineering questions ring the application engineer.”
Lisa“The parts department becomes AI first, and engineering questions ring the application engineer with the caller's part number told first. Apply?”
Any setting, in any module · applied only on your yes
Start with the one thing you need. Add more anytime by asking Lisa.
The whole Front Office › · All industries ›
Who reaches you
Who the AI answers for Manufacturing
- Dealers and distributors checking stock, lead time and the ship date of a PO
- OEM and MRO buyers sending RFQs as spreadsheets, PDFs or purchase orders
- Maintenance technicians with a line down and a serial number in hand
- Quality contacts asking for an SDS, a certificate or the latest drawing revision
- Shops and contractors applying to carry your line in an open territory
- Trade-show visitors following up on a machine they saw at the booth
What it does
What AI for manufacturing customer service handles
With manufacturing customer service automation, one front office answers every door a buyer uses, from the information you approve, and keeps the record your inside-sales team works from.
Answers the main line
Every call is picked up on the first ring, day and night, with no hold queue and no phone menu: a dealer says what he needs, and the AI voice of that department answers or puts him through.
Gives order status
A buyer asking where his purchase order stands hears its stage from the order record, and the tracking number goes out by e-mail rather than being read aloud on the call.
Quotes catalog parts
Spare parts and standard models are quoted from your price list on the call, in the chat or from a purchase order, and each quote waits under Awaiting your yes.
Opens tickets and returns
A stopped machine or a short shipment becomes a customer support ticket or a return with the model, the order and the customer's own words, held for the right desk.
Answers on your website
The chat replies by text or voice from your catalog pages and documents, holds up the real picture of a part and turns a curious visitor into a named lead.
Writes the account story
Each call lands on the account with its transcript and summary, beside its e-mails, quotes, returns and tickets, so the rep who picks up next starts from what was already said.
The week
A virtual receptionist for manufacturers, hour by hour
6:10 AM, two time zones east
A distributor asks whether its nine-line order has left the plant. The AI reads the stage from the order record and e-mails the tracking number your shipping desk entered.
10:30 AM, a conveyor stopped
A maintenance technician reads the model and serial off the plate. The AI asks your service questions, e-mails the approved first checks and rings the technician on duty.
2 PM, a purchase order by mail
A buyer's PDF order lands in the orders inbox, is read once and checked against your catalog and price rule, then becomes a quote or waits with one plain question.
4:50 PM on a Friday
A machinery shop in an open territory fills your dealer application. The AI researches its website and lines, so the channel manager reads the summary on Monday morning.
Real screens
The screens behind a manufacturer's front office
Each picture is a real Zanus AI screen holding demo data, set in a frame for this page: the day's calls, purchase orders checked, parts on back order, a service ticket, returns by stage and the orders inbox.
Compared
AI customer service for manufacturers versus the usual cover
Five everyday moments that shape a dealer's customer experience with a plant, and what becomes of each one with the ways manufacturers cover the phone and the inbox today.
| What the desk needs | Voicemail after hours | An answering service | Inside sales alone | Zanus AI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A dealer asks a ship date at 6 AM | Heard after the plant opens | A message passed on | Nobody in yet | Answered from the order record:: tracking e-mailed as shipping typed it |
| A technician reports a stopped line on Sunday | A recording nobody hears | A name and a number taken | Home for the weekend | Your service questions, then the on-call technician:: rung with the fault told first |
| A buyer mails a purchase order | Not a phone matter | Not a phone matter | Retyped line by line | Read and checked against your catalog:: a quote at your prices, or one question |
| A customer asks if a seal suits a solvent | A call back days later | A message with no answer | Answered from memory | Handed to the application engineer:: with the part number and the question |
| The record of the conversation | A recording only | A typed message | Notes if there was time | Transcript and summary:: on the account for the next rep |
Guardrails
What stays with your engineers, quality and warranty desk
A manufacturer carries safety, engineering and money questions, so the AI answers inside the lines you approve and hands the rest to a person.
Ratings and suitability
Pressure and load ratings, chemical compatibility, tolerances and whether a part fits an application are never answered by the AI; they go to an application engineer with the caller's question.
Injuries and hazards
A caller reporting an injury, a fire or a product hazard is put through to the quality or safety contact you named, and the call is kept in writing for your investigation.
Prices and discounts
Prices are read from your list and a dealer's discount is applied by your rule. A request for special pricing becomes a revision for your yes, never a figure the AI invents.
Ship dates and expedites
Lead times come from what you wrote into the knowledge base. An expedite, or a date outside those rules, goes to customer service with the buyer's words attached.
Warranty coverage
Whether a failure is covered is your warranty desk's call. The AI files the return with the model, serial and reported fault, and nothing ships back until a person approves it.
Custom and engineered parts
A line priced by a person waits for your estimator. The AI reads no drawings and computes no machining time, material cost or routing for a part you have never made.
Set-up
Set up an AI receptionist for manufacturing in 2 minutes
Forward the main line
Forward the number printed on your catalogs, invoices and machine plates to your Front Office number. The AI answers the next call, with no porting and no new phone system.
Let Lisa read your site
Lisa reads your product pages, manuals and policies, then asks what the website leaves out: your product lines, hours, languages and who takes engineering questions.
Name the departments
Tell Lisa your departments, sales and RFQs, orders, parts, technical support, warranty and returns, and who answers each one. She shows every change before and after.
Call it yourself
Ring your own line and ask for a ship date or a spare part. Then run the 7-day free trial, no credit card, and read every call it took that week.
Questions & answers
Questions manufacturers ask about AI customer service
What is AI for manufacturing customer service?
It is conversational AI, artificial intelligence that answers the people who buy from a manufacturer on the phone, in the website chat, by e-mail and on web forms, from the knowledge you approve. Zanus AI tells a distributor where its order stands, files the warranty return, drafts the quote from your price list and writes each conversation onto the account, while your people keep engineering, special pricing and coverage decisions.
How can a manufacturer use AI for customer service?
Start with the routine tasks your inside-sales and parts desks repeat all day: order status, stock, which spare part fits a model, where to send a return, how to become a dealer. With your catalog, policies and manuals loaded, the AI answers them 24/7 by phone, chat and e-mail, and your team takes only the part of the call volume that needs a person.
Can an AI receptionist for manufacturing route calls to the right department?
Yes. You set up departments such as sales and RFQs, orders, parts, technical support, returns and accounts receivable, each answered AI only, AI first or your people first. The AI routes by the reason and the language the caller gives, and a transfer rings the rep or the technician on the computer, the phone app or a mobile.
Does the AI give engineering, application or safety advice?
No. It answers only from the catalog, spec sheets, manuals, SDS and policies you approve. A question about pressure or load ratings, chemical compatibility, tolerances or whether a part suits an application goes to your application engineer or the rep, and a caller reporting an injury or a product hazard is put through to the quality or safety contact you named.
Can it quote RFQs from our price list?
For the parts and models that carry a price on your list, yes. AI Quoting reads each line from your catalog, applies a dealer's discount by your rule and waits for your yes before anything leaves. It reads no drawings and works out no machining time, material cost or routing, so a custom part is still priced by your estimator.
Does it replace our ERP or MRP system?
No. Production planning, inventory control, costing and accounting stay where they are. Zanus AI is the AI front office for manufacturers that sits in front of them: the calls, chats, e-mails, forms, quotes, service tickets and returns, each written onto the customer's record, while your team keys into the ERP what belongs there.
What happens with a line-down call on a Sunday?
It follows the after-hours rule you set for technical support. The AI takes the model, the serial number and the fault in the caller's words, e-mails only the troubleshooting steps your service team approved, and rings the on-call technician, who hears what the call is about before he takes it. If nobody picks up, a ticket opens and the caller hears when your desk will answer.
Can export dealers talk to it in their own language?
Yes. The phone, the chat and the e-mail answer in the language the dealer uses, and the website chat speaks 40 languages by text or by voice. A distributor abroad hears the shipping options and terms you approved in its own language, and the whole conversation lands on its record with the transcript, for multilingual support without a bilingual desk.
How much does AI customer service cost for a manufacturer?
Zanus AI is priced per company, never per seat, so inside sales, customer service, the parts counter and the warranty desk share one subscription. You choose the modules that fit your plant and add others later. The plans are on the pricing page, and the Front Office runs free for 7 days with no credit card.
Will the AI promise a ship date or a discount it was not given?
No. Prices are read from your list and a dealer's discount is applied by rule; a request for a better price becomes a revision that waits for your yes. Lead times come only from what you wrote into the knowledge, and when a part is not covered the AI says so and offers a person instead of a guess.
Can we see customer satisfaction and response times by desk?
Yes. Under every answer on a ticket the customer can rate it, and Solved on the first answer counts the ones that helped, a plain read of customer satisfaction. Response times follow the promise each desk keeps, four working hours by default: a ticket past it is marked, and the page shows the median time to the answer over 30 days.
Can the AI take warranty claims and returns from dealers?
It does the first part and your warranty desk decides. Before a return opens, the AI asks what failed and what was already tried, then e-mails your troubleshooting steps. If the unit must come back, the return waits as pending until a person approves it; the dealer then receives the RMA number, the ship-to address and what to put in the box.
How fast can a plant get the AI answering?
In 2 minutes for the phone: forward the main line to your Front Office number and the AI answers the next call. Then tell Lisa your departments, product lines, after-hours rule and who takes technical support at night; she reads your website first and shows every change before and after you approve it.
Award-winning AI
Winner at CES 2026, ISE 2026 and TMCnet Enterprise AI Product of the Year.
REAL AI - the whole Front Office is AI, not old software with an AI button.
Awards & trade shows ›
Give Lisa your website.
She sets up your business in 2 minutes.
Other software makes you learn it. Zanus AI learns your business.
Try it free on your own business — no credit card, per company, never per seat.
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