HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — At an Alabama-based advanced research engineering firm, AI is being used to reduce administrative burdens and accelerate engineering output.
Val Korman, Owner and President of K Sciences, develops technologies ranging from aerospace components and medical devices to alternative coffee products. Like many small manufacturers, K Sciences operates with limited resources and a constant need to stretch every dollar.
One of its most significant uses emerged from the complex world of government contracting. Federal contractors must comply with extensive requirements contained in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), a sprawling set of rules that can limit access for smaller contractors.
“We were able to create our own homegrown time-record method,” Korman said. AI helped streamline the compliance process and dramatically reduced time costs, while the team remained fully responsible for validating the final product against federal requirements.
For a small business, those savings can make a meaningful difference.
Manufacturers are increasingly discovering similar opportunities. While large corporations often have teams dedicated to operational efficiency, smaller firms are adopting the technology to solve specific problems: automating paperwork, improving customer service, analyzing supply chains or accelerating product development.
K Sciences is also using AI to address a challenge familiar to many firms that support older industrial and military systems: obsolescence.
When parts are no longer manufactured, engineers often spend hundreds of hours searching for substitutes. K Sciences is developing an AI-assisted tool that compares technical requirements against available alternatives, helping engineers identify potential replacements more quickly.
“Instead of someone spending 2,080 hours searching around and talking to vendors, you kind of get this head start,” he said.
The technology is also proving useful in marketing and product development. AI-generated images allow the company to visualize product concepts before investing heavily in design work.
While AI may not be transforming every aspect of their businesses, it is increasingly becoming another tool in the toolbox: valuable when applied to specific problems, less useful when treated as a cure-all.
That pragmatic approach may be especially important as manufacturers confront rising costs, supply-chain disruptions and workforce challenges.
“The cost of operations has gone up,” Korman said. “The revenue side hasn’t met it yet.”
For companies navigating those pressures, AI’s greatest value may come from helping lean organizations do more with limited resources.
In Huntsville, where aerospace and advanced manufacturing have long driven economic growth, that practical mindset is shaping how small businesses approach emerging technologies.