Vlad Cazan, KFactory cofounder, sits down with Republica.ro to introduce the Virtual Engineer - an AI assistant that lives on the shop floor and answers the operational questions production managers ask every day.
The questions managers actually ask
A production manager is paid to make decisions, not to spend more than 40% of their day chasing data across spreadsheets, machines, and clipboards. The Virtual Engineer is built to give them answers instantly:
How the Virtual Engineer works
The Virtual Engineer sits on top of the KFactory platform. Connect brings in real-time data from machines, ERP, and quality systems. Operate turns that data into structured signals about production, maintenance, and quality. The Virtual Engineer is the conversational layer that lets every operator, technician, and plant manager ask questions in plain language and get back grounded, contextual answers.
The same engine handles SOPs and procedures (knowledge management), root-cause analysis on assembly-line incidents, and "what would it take" production-uplift simulations through Analyse.
Why this matters
The factory of tomorrow is not just more sensors - it is faster decisions. Managers spend an outsized share of their week pulling reports together. The Virtual Engineer compresses that time to seconds and gives the shop floor the kind of self-service intelligence that has long been standard in finance and sales. Manufacturers can assess their own digital readiness to see where the Virtual Engineer can be deployed first.
Read the full interview: Vlad Cazan on Republica.ro →
Article was published in Romanian.