secondFactory combines the founder’s more than 30 years of technical development and entrepreneurial experience with an existing, modular industrial and manufacturing platform – from the first inquiry to the finished delivery.
Tenders, inquiry, quote, planning, design, CAD/CAM, machines, production, personnel, quality, warehouse, logistics, shipping, invoicing and management in one system – without unnecessarily replacing systems that work. For manufacturing companies, technical mid-sized businesses, skilled trades, mold making and custom manufacturing.
If you wish, we also look at your workflows personally – on site or remotely –, point out optimization potential and integrate the right modules together with your team: into your existing processes, systems and machines, not the other way around.
The digital second layer of your operations – modular, customizable, can be run locally.
From sheet metal and furniture to buildings, MEP, concrete and moulds: explore the industry profiles and the path from first enquiry to delivery and billing.
Explore industries →Choose an example workflow. This illustration uses only synthetic example data from documented software workflows.
The documented R01 case derives seven sheet-part types from the reconstructed STEP assembly with 221 occurrences. A DFM finding on the top frame leads to revision B. SF-400 adds ten cabinet parts, including seven bent parts, and a welded assembly. Quotation, order, material, nest, operations, quality, delivery and payment remain connected.
Explore the workflow →The kitchen example includes base, tall and wall units plus a worktop with sink and hob cut-outs. The second example combines a curved reception counter with acoustic panels. Variants create new drawings, bills of materials and costing revisions.
Explore the workflow →The residential example shows a heat pump and underfloor heating for each apartment. The office example combines planned ventilation at 5,064 m³/h, 41 fire dampers, electrical systems, PV and fire-alarm components. Quantities and services continue into quotation, procurement, installation planning and billing.
Explore the workflow →Information sits in email, Excel, ERP, CAD, file systems, machines, paper and in employees’ knowledge. The loss of time often does not come from missing software – but from handovers, searching, duplicate data entry and missing connections.
Don’t digitize isolated islands – organize handovers, decisions and data flows end to end.
Incoming items from email, upload, scan or folder are imported, originals are preserved and documents are read via OCR – with source references.
Line items, quantities, dimensions, variants and rules are structured, open questions are identified and the costing is prepared. A human reviews and approves.
Routings, deadlines and capacities are derived from the order – coordinated with personnel, machines and material.
Drawings, sketches, scans or CAD data become 3D geometry, revisions, CAM programs and machine data – every step ready for approval.
Operations are started, handed over and reported as complete; machine status, faults and feedback come together.
Inspections, measurements, photos and rework are documented on the part – defects stop subsequent steps.
Storage locations, transports, forklift jobs and picking are guided by scanning.
Loading, delivery note and completion – with a traceable history through to the delivered part.
Expertise, judgment, decisions and problem-solving stay with the team. Searching, transferring, preparing, standard costing, recurring design engineering, CAM preparation, documentation and routine handovers are handled by secondFactory as far as the process allows.
Emails, PDFs, spreadsheets, images and drawings are analyzed in a structured way and reused directly in the process.
Known rules, line items, materials, times and variants are prepared; a person reviews and approves.
3D data and production-ready models can be prepared from a photo, scan, sketch, drawing or CAD – including freeform.
Tools, strategies, toolpaths, collision checking, simulation, post-processor and NC output are prepared automatically.
For suitable, recurring and standardizable workflows, manual processing times can drop significantly. 50–80% is considered a possible target range – depending on the specific process and degree of automation.
Typical levers, not guaranteed savings figures. The concrete potential is determined together based on your actual times, data quality, variants and approval steps.
The concrete potential depends on data quality, variant diversity, approvals and standardizability.
See the concrete time savings →An anonymized project started with structured inquiry and quote processing and was gradually expanded to include technical planning, production, machines/CAM, quality, warehouse, personnel and delivery.
Anonymized – without customer data and without invented figures.
The range of functions was not created as a presentation – it grew out of a real process project and was extended step by step with planning, engineering, production, machines, quality, warehouse and delivery.
secondFactory is aimed in particular at manufacturing companies, mid-sized technical companies, skilled trades, mold making, custom manufacturing and individual production – as well as other businesses with recurring, structured processes. Whether mechanical engineering, metal, wood, plastics, building products, custom manufacturing, workshops, trading with technical production or mixed operations: secondFactory does not replicate one single model company. The platform is assembled from modules, rules, roles, data fields and interfaces to match your workflows.
Start with the area that costs the most time today. Further modules, roles, fields, rules and integrations can be added later.
Find public tenders from official sources, read documents and BoQ, assess fit with stated reasons, monitor deadlines and transfer tenders into a case.
Learn more →SECONDFACTORY MODULEImport emails, uploads, folders, PDFs, spreadsheets, photos and drawings; preserve originals, detect duplicates, OCR and source references.
Learn more →SECONDFACTORY MODULEPrepare line items, quantities, dimensions and rules; pricing logic, variants, clarification requests, quote versions, PDF and human approval.
Learn more →SECONDFACTORY MODULECoordinate orders, line items, routings, deadlines, resources, capacities, shifts, skills, priorities and forecasts.
Learn more →SECONDFACTORY MODULEManage technical cases, sketches, 2D/3D geometry, revisions, CAD adapters, freeforms, bills of materials and technical approvals.
Learn more →SECONDFACTORY MODULETools, holders, materials, setups, 2D/3D toolpaths, roughing/finishing, simulation, collision checking, post-processor and NC.
Learn more →SECONDFACTORY MODULETake over, start, pause, hand over and report completion of operations; live board, machine status, cameras, faults and maintenance.
Learn more →SECONDFACTORY MODULEInspections, measured values, photos, rework, complaints, QR/barcode, event history, revisions and part history.
Learn more →SECONDFACTORY MODULESites, halls, storage locations, transports, forklift jobs, put-away/retrieval, picking, shipping, trucks and delivery notes.
Learn more →SECONDFACTORY MODULEInvoices from order and delivery, e-invoicing, payment reconciliation, open items, project costs and export to accounting – not tax software.
Learn more →SECONDFACTORY MODULEStock, batches, reservations, nesting, offcuts, cutting, conditions, reuse and material history.
Learn more →SECONDFACTORY MODULEAttendance, working hours, time accounts, vacation, sick leave, qualifications, workforce scheduling, terminals and correction workflows.
Learn more →SECONDFACTORY MODULEKPIs, plan vs. actual/forecast, capacity, on-time delivery, QA status, utilization, reports, annual plan and management view.
Learn more →SECONDFACTORY MODULENotice board, messages, issues, escalations, approvals, clarification requests, tasks and role-based work queues.
Learn more →SECONDFACTORY MODULEQuestions about the whole operation – orders, parts, warehouse, machines, personnel – answered by role, with sources; plus operating help for every page.
Learn more →We only replace what you actually want to replace. secondFactory sits in between or on top of existing systems, or complements them – and connects data, processes and approvals into one shared workflow.
secondFactory closes the gaps in between and connects systems that don’t talk to each other today.
Information from multiple systems is bundled into one workflow with tasks, approvals and status.
Areas that currently run in Excel, on paper or by email get a fixed place in the process.
Code and rules control clearly defined workflows. AI supports with unstructured information, recognition, suggestions and issues. Critical results remain visible, traceable and reviewable by employees.
Technical information can be taken from documents, images, sketches, 2D/3D CAD or scans and transferred into a controlled engineering and manufacturing process. Freeform geometries and customer-specific domain logic can also be integrated.
Floor plans, sections, elevations and details are processed together. Recognized components stay linked to their sources.
From mold making to the machine in one continuous chain – every step can be reviewed and approved.
From the reviewed program to feedback from the shop floor: secondFactory connects CAM, machine connectivity and production control. Machines and controls are connected via suitable adapters.
Gantt, calendar, order and project planning, capacity matrix, resources, shifts, qualifications, priorities and forecasts.
Attendance, working hours, time accounts, vacation, sick leave, qualifications, terminals, project assignment and workforce scheduling.
From plan through production and inspection to warehouse, loading and delivery, the part history stays traceable – with QR/barcode, photos, measured values, rework and movements.
QR / scan / history: inspections, measurements, images, revisions, complaints and complete part history.
Site plan, halls, locations, inventory, material flow, scanners, QR/barcode, picking, trucks and delivery notes.
secondFactory can be operated on-premises, in a private cloud or in a customer-specific infrastructure. Local AI or your own LLM can also be integrated.
Operation within your infrastructure and your network.
Dedicated environment with controlled data flow and access.
Your own models or a local LLM for sensitive data and production knowledge.
Control permissions, approvals, versions and critical changes in a traceable way.
Recognized values refer to documents and source locations; approvals and technical states remain logged.
Support privacy-friendly operating models; actual legal compliance depends on configuration and operation.
No off-the-shelf standard software: secondFactory is not an all-or-nothing system. You can start with one bottleneck and add further areas later.
Process digitalization starts with your real workflows. We analyze your current workflows, systems, machines, data sources and approvals – and configure secondFactory where the biggest leverage lies.
We don’t simply digitize existing workflows. We understand them, question them and rebuild them when it makes sense.
secondFactory is a product by AKworkz. We answer questions about process analysis, demos and projects directly.
