Japanese manufacturer uses OpenAI API to search 70 years of engineering drawings

Kuken Industries, a Japanese manufacturer, deployed an AI-powered search system built on the OpenAI API in partnership with Recursive, a Japanese AI startup and OpenAI partner. The system lets engineers search through 70 years of company drawings and design documents in minutes, cutting down what would otherwise be hours or days of manual archival work.

By automating retrieval of historical designs, the platform frees up senior engineers to focus on mentoring younger staff and tackling more complex engineering challenges rather than spending time digging through archives. The approach preserves decades of institutional knowledge while improving team productivity.