F095: Building the Modern Digital Shop: Transform Legacy Shops into Digital Performers

IMS is a family-owned electric motor repair shop in Anderson, SC, with fewer than 20 employees and no IT department. Our most valuable asset isn't equipment — it's the decades of diagnostic expertise living in our people's heads. And every retirement puts that knowledge at risk. Instead of hiring a developer, the company's COO used AI as a learning partner to teach herself Microsoft Power Platform and build the shop's digital infrastructure from scratch. The insight was simple: our people already had the logic. If you can map the logic, you can build low-code apps. The results are production tools running today — OCR-powered nameplate capture, structured root cause of failure documentation, photo-driven quality workflows, and automated executive reporting.

Attendees will learn how to use AI as a learning accelerator, how to extract process logic from experienced workers, and how to build on tools most small manufacturers already pay for.

Speed has become the new currency in manufacturing, but speed without quality is a waste, and automation without people creates fragility.

As part of a panel or fireside chat, Jim Belosic, founder and CEO of SendCutSend, can join fellow industry leaders to discuss how modern fabricators can scale high-mix, quick-turn production while maintaining craftsmanship, consistency, and strong margins. Drawing from his experience building a vertically integrated, software-driven manufacturing company in the U.S., Jim can share practical insights on where automation creates leverage, where human expertise is irreplaceable, and how domestic shops can compete globally.

Discussion topics may include: The role of vertical integration in controlling quality, cost, and turnaround time. Why in-house software development is becoming a core manufacturing competency. Building resilient high-mix, quick-turn production systems. Competing offshore through speed, transparency, and customer experience rather than price alone. Balancing automation with skilled labor in a tightening workforce market.