Founding manufacturing pilot
We’ll build one North West manufacturer a bespoke solution — free.
Rare² is looking for one manufacturing or engineering company with a costly, repetitive business process. We’ll analyse it, build a focused AI, automation or software solution, and measure the result. There is no development charge. In return, if the project succeeds, we ask to use the results as our founding case study.
Why we are doing this Free?
Rare² is building its first manufacturing case study. Rather than asking a company to take a risk on a new supplier, we are prepared to invest our own development time into one carefully selected project.
The selected company gets the solution without a development fee. We get the opportunity to prove what we can achieve in a real manufacturing environment.
The selected company gets the solution without a development fee. We get the opportunity to prove what we can achieve in a real manufacturing environment.
One company | £0 development cost | Fixed scope | Measured results
We are not looking for the biggest company. We are looking for the right problem.
What the pilot includes
The founding pilot is intended for a North West manufacturing or engineering business that:
- Has one repeated operational problem creating measurable cost, delay or risk.
- Uses a mixture of email, spreadsheets, paper, desktop software or disconnected systems.
- Can provide a named operational owner and access to the people doing the work.
- Is willing to test the solution properly and provide honest feedback.
- Will approve an accurate case study only if the agreed result is achieved.
Problems that may suit the pilot
It could be something surprisingly simple.
We are not looking to replace your ERP or rebuild your entire operation. One frustrating process is enough.
- Enquiries or requests for quotation are manually re-entered, delayed or left without clear ownership.
- Quotation promises and follow-ups are difficult to track.
- Work-in-progress status is spread across whiteboards, spreadsheets, paper and people’s memory.
- Purchase orders, drawings or job documents contain missing or conflicting information.
- Production delays are not connected clearly to customer delivery promises.
- Completed work waits before an invoice is raised.
- Weekly reports require repeated manual collection from several systems.
- Useful desktop or legacy software is isolated from newer cloud tools.
What the pilot includes
- A process observation and discovery session with the people doing the work.
- A baseline covering time, frequency, delays, errors or commercial value where measurable.
- A mapped workflow and agreed success measures.
- A fixed, tightly controlled build scope.
- Testing against realistic data and exceptions, initially read-only or in shadow mode where appropriate.
- User guidance, review and measured outcome report.
- A clear recommendation to stop, improve or scale after the pilot.
What we ask from the partner
- A named operational owner who can make decisions and coordinate access.
- Time with the employees who actually perform the process.
- Access to approved sample information and systems needed for the agreed scope.
- Honest feedback during testing and willingness to record when an alert or action is correct or wrong.
- Agreement on baseline and success measures before development begins.
- Permission to publish an accurate case study only if the agreed result is achieved, with commercially sensitive information removed and final wording approved by both parties.
What this is not
- A full ERP replacement.
- An unlimited list of bespoke features.
- Autonomous control of production, safety, quality or customer commitments.
- A promise that every old software product can be connected.
- A claim that the project is endorsed or funded by Made Smarter.
Your problem becomes our investment.
If we believe we can materially improve it, we’ll put our own development time behind proving it.
Cost and commitment
What will it cost?
£0 development cost for the selected founding case-study partner.
Rare² will provide the process assessment, design, development, testing and initial implementation of the agreed solution without charging a development fee.
In return, we require the company to:
- give us reasonable access to understand the process;
- nominate somebody internally to work with us;
- participate in testing;
- allow us to measure the before-and-after results;
- provide honest feedback;
- allow an agreed case study to be published if the project produces worthwhile results.
There is no obligation to purchase further work from Rare².
What Happens
1 — Show us the problem
We visit the business and watch how the process currently works.
2 — Measure it
We establish how much time, cost, delay or error it currently creates.
3 — We build the solution
Rare² designs and develops a focused solution around the existing process.
4 — Run it in the real business
Your team tests it alongside normal operations.
5 — Measure the result
We compare before versus after.
6 — Case study
If it works, we document the genuine results together.
How success will be judged
The measures will depend on the process and may include:
- Staff hours removed from repetitive work.
- Faster enquiry or quotation response.
- Fewer missing fields, mismatches or re-keying errors.
- Earlier visibility of delayed or blocked jobs.
- Value of completed work invoiced sooner.
- Accuracy of high-confidence alerts.
- Usage and adoption by the people expected to use the system.
Could your business be the right founding partner?
Tell us what you manufacture, which process is causing difficulty, how it is handled today and what a worthwhile improvement would achieve. We will tell you honestly whether it looks suitable for the pilot.