The core idea is that while robots automate more work inside factories, there’s another critical layer of work that happens between factories: supplier discovery, qualification, RFQs, quotes, purchase order updates, capacity management, constraints, and the ongoing coordination between demand and supply.
The argument is that Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers effectively act as infrastructure for hardware innovation. And in that context, AI agents may become valuable not as “better AI colleagues,” but as a coordination layer for these supplier networks.
Curious how others here are thinking about AI + manufacturing beyond vision systems and factory-floor automation!