# AI Station

> AI Station is a Canadian software company that builds focused, read-only-first AI tools for small and mid-sized businesses: AI Station Line (production loss and OEE analysis for plants), AI Station Supply (material shortage and supplier delivery tracking for manufacturers and distributors) and AI Station Dispatch (AI dispatching assistant for field-service companies with 5–50 technicians). A person approves every action. Engagements start with paid, fixed-scope 30–60 day pilots.

Key facts:
- Based in Canada; serves Canadian businesses
- Products never control machines and start with read-only access
- Canadian data hosting options; data location stated in writing in every agreement
- Pricing: Line per plant per month plus setup; Supply per site per month plus setup; Dispatch per technician per month. No public price list; pilots are quoted after a discovery call
- Related services (separate services, linked from this site): SOP365, an AI platform that turns process videos into SOPs; JHRE Talent Platform, recruitment software from Jama HR Express.
- Contact: hello@aistation.ca

## Products

- [AI Station Line: production loss and OEE software for small plants](https://aistation.ca/products/line/): AI Station Line is production-loss and OEE (overall equipment effectiveness) software for small and mid-sized plants, starting with food and packaging. It reads your existing data without changing anything, finds the losses that cost the most, and recommends what to fix first. It never controls machines.
- [AI Station Supply: material shortage and supplier tracking for manufacturers](https://aistation.ca/products/supply/): AI Station Supply is a material shortage and supplier tracking assistant for small and mid-sized manufacturers and distributors. It compares supplier promised dates with when production actually needs each material, flags shortages and unconfirmed orders early, and drafts reorders and supplier emails for a buyer to approve. It is read-only and never places orders on its own.
- [AI Station Dispatch: AI dispatching assistant for field-service companies](https://aistation.ca/products/dispatch/): AI Station Dispatch is an AI dispatching assistant for field-service companies such as HVAC, commercial refrigeration, marine service and equipment repair. It turns requests into draft work orders, matches jobs to technicians by skill and location, and drafts customer updates. A person approves every job before anything is sent.

## Pages

- [AI Station: practical AI for Canadian manufacturing, supply and field service](https://aistation.ca/): Homepage. AI Station builds three focused AI products (Line, Supply, Dispatch) for Canadian manufacturers, distributors and field-service companies. Read-only first, human approval on every action, paid 30–60 day pilots.
- [AI solution map: 10 costly business problems](https://aistation.ca/solutions/): Ten problem areas: production loss/OEE, purchasing and supplier tracking, inventory and stockouts, field-service dispatch (being built), plus predictive maintenance, contractor estimating, SMB compliance, energy, back-office exceptions and B2B retention (exploring).
- [How AI Station pilots work: paid, measured, 30–60 days](https://aistation.ca/how-pilots-work/): Every engagement starts with a paid, fixed-scope pilot on your real data, judged against a number agreed up front. What happens, what we need, what you get.
- [Security and data handling](https://aistation.ca/security/): Read-only by default, human approval for every action, least-privilege access, Canadian data options and clear disclosure of the AI providers we use.
- [About AI Station: narrow AI tools for Canadian businesses](https://aistation.ca/about/): AI Station is a Canadian software company building focused, read-only-first AI tools for one expensive workflow at a time. How we choose what to build and what we believe.
- [Apply for a pilot](https://aistation.ca/contact/): Tell AI Station about the problem that costs your business the most each week. We reply within two business days.
- [Insights for plant, supply and service leaders](https://aistation.ca/insights/): Practical guides for manufacturing, distribution and field-service leaders: what downtime, inventory, expediting and first-time fix really cost, and how to approve AI with confidence.

## Tools

- [Downtime cost calculator for manufacturing lines](https://aistation.ca/tools/downtime-cost-calculator/): Free calculator. Weekly cost = lost hours × (units per hour × margin per unit) + lost hours × crew × labour cost.

## Insights

- [How to find your biggest production losses in 30 days](https://aistation.ca/insights/find-your-biggest-production-losses/): OEE multiplies availability, performance and quality. It tells you how much of your planned time produced good product. Most plants already have enough data to find their biggest loss. The problem is usually inconsistent downtime reasons, not missing sensors. Spend 30 days on one line: define planned time, record stops with a short reason list, add counts and scrap, then rank losses and fix the top one.
- [What an AI dispatcher should and shouldn't do](https://aistation.ca/insights/ai-dispatcher-field-service/): For most 5–50 technician companies, the hidden cost is office time spent retyping requests and chasing schedules, not the software itself. Good first jobs for AI: turning requests into draft work orders, suggesting a technician, drafting customer updates and writing job summaries. Keep people in charge of final dispatch, emergency calls, pricing exceptions and unhappy customers. Measure office hours and time-to-schedule before and after.
- [How to stop material shortages from stopping your line](https://aistation.ca/insights/prevent-material-shortages/): Most line stoppages for missing material are visible days in advance. The warning is just spread across emails, the ERP and a planner's spreadsheet. Track three dates for every open order: when production needs it, when the supplier promised it, and whether that promise has been confirmed. Measure days of cover against the actual production schedule, not a monthly average, and review a short shortage list every morning.
- [What unplanned downtime really costs a plant (it's more than the machine rate)](https://aistation.ca/insights/what-unplanned-downtime-really-costs/): The machine's hourly rate captures only one part of a stop. Lost contribution margin is usually the largest, and labour, overtime, expediting and penalties add to it. Count five cost lines for every stop: lost margin, idle labour, recovery overtime, expediting and customer credits. Test the method on one line for a month, then present a range to leadership instead of a single precise number.
- [Five questions a board should ask about plant reliability](https://aistation.ca/insights/five-questions-board-plant-reliability/): Reliability reaches margin, delivery and safety. Ask for numbers, a trend and a named owner, not adjectives. Five questions cover the size of the loss, the top causes, data consistency, repeat failures and how a fix will be measured. A useful answer names the number, the trend, the owner and the decision the leadership team is being asked to make.
- [The cash hiding in your inventory: a finance lead's guide to stock on hand](https://aistation.ca/insights/cash-hiding-in-inventory/): Inventory costs more than its purchase price. It ties up cash and carries storage, insurance, handling and obsolescence costs. Carrying cost is the sum of capital, storage, handling and risk costs. Use your own rates, because they vary by business. Start with dead and slow stock and with safety stock that has not been reviewed. Reducing average stock frees cash that can be used elsewhere.
- [Expediting is a margin tax: the true cost of rush orders and emergency freight](https://aistation.ca/insights/expediting-is-a-margin-tax/): Expediting costs more than the freight invoice. Add overtime, rework and customer credits to see the real figure. Most expediting comes from a short list of suppliers and items. A 30-day log is enough to find them. A monthly expediting report and a supplier delivery scorecard turn firefighting into planning.
- [First-time fix rate: the service metric that decides your margin](https://aistation.ca/insights/first-time-fix-rate/): First-time fix rate is the share of jobs resolved on the first visit. It only works as a metric if the definition is written down. Each repeat visit costs travel, another labour block, parts delay and customer goodwill, so small gains add up. The usual levers are complete job information, the right parts on the truck and a fast feedback loop from the technician to the office.
- [Before you automate dispatch: a readiness checklist for service company owners](https://aistation.ca/insights/before-you-automate-dispatch/): Dispatch automation is only as good as the job data, technician profiles and rules it is given. Check six things before you start: job data, technician profiles, written rules, an approval path, a baseline and data handling. Start read-only, with suggestions that a dispatcher approves, and compare the results with your baseline before you go further.
- [Approving your first AI tool: a governance checklist for Canadian leaders](https://aistation.ca/insights/approving-your-first-ai-tool/): Start with the decision the tool supports, then ask what data it uses, where that data is processed and which AI providers are involved. Keep a named person accountable for every action the tool can take. Begin with suggestions rather than automatic changes. Quebec's private-sector privacy law requires an organization to tell a person when a decision about them is made only by automated processing, and to let them have it reviewed by a person.
- [Why every AI pilot needs a number agreed before it starts](https://aistation.ca/insights/agree-the-number-before-ai-pilot/): Choose one number that matters to the business, and measure it against a baseline recorded before the pilot starts. Write the decision rules in advance: what result means go, what means stop, and who makes the call. Keep the pilot small, time-limited (30 to 60 days) and run on real data, so the result means something.

## Related services

- [SOP365: AI SOP generator that turns process videos into SOPs](https://aistation.ca/services/sop365/): SOP365 is a separate Canadian AI service that turns process videos into SOPs, with approvals, version history, training and acknowledgement tracking. Plans: Trial free, Team $49, Business $89 CAD per month, Enterprise custom.
- [JHRE Talent Platform: structured, human-led recruitment software](https://aistation.ca/services/jhre-talent-platform/): JHRE Talent Platform is recruitment software from Jama HR Express for agencies and in-house talent teams: talent requests, explainable matching, structured interviews, references and placements. It does not score personality, emotion, accent or appearance. Access is by invitation; 15-day free trial, no card needed. Ontario employers must disclose AI use in public job postings from January 1, 2026.