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alex johnson

Business systems & AI for manufacturers

Systems your team actually uses. Built fast with AI.

I help UK manufacturers and trade businesses replace spreadsheets, paper and patchy ERP with tools that fit how they really work, from first diagnosis to a trained-up team.

Arrange a 30-min call See how I work
A 3D furniture design tool in a browser, and a workshop screen on a tablet showing the next panel to make
  • 7 yrs as technical director at a UK manufacturer
  • Days to a first working prototype
  • £ measured baseline before, results after

Sound familiar?

The business has grown. The systems haven’t.

  • Orders are re-keyed two or three times before they reach the workshop.
  • There’s a “master” spreadsheet only one person really understands.
  • Nobody can say where a job is without walking the floor.
  • Quotes take days because the costing lives in someone’s head.
  • You paid for an ERP, and the team works around it.
  • Month-end means chasing paperwork and fixing mistakes.
  • Remakes and rework you can’t trace back to a cause.
  • You’d like to use AI, but can’t see where it would actually help.

How it works

Start small. Prove it. Then keep going.

Every engagement starts with a baseline, so you can see exactly what improved, in hours and pounds.

  1. Discovery

    2–4 weeks · from £3,500

    I learn how the business really runs, measure the baseline and recommend what to fix first.

    About Discovery

  2. Build

    1 week to several months

    Spec it properly, build it fast, train the team and measure the result.

    About building

  3. Ongoing support

    Monthly · from £1,100

    Keep improving, look after what’s been built, and report results every month.

    About support

Know what you need? Skip Discovery: explain the problem and we’ll start with a spec.

A CNC nesting line with overhead dust extraction on the Fittingly factory floor, with a parts screen and label printer beside it

Why me

I’ve been the person you’re missing.

For seven years I was technical director at a UK manufacturer. I designed the processes, wrote the systems and trained the team to use them. Now I do the same for other manufacturers, faster, with AI.

  • One person, start to finish Analyst, architect, developer and trainer, so nothing gets lost in hand-offs.
  • Operator-first Designed around how your floor and office actually work, not how software wants them to.
  • AI-accelerated Working prototypes in days, so you see it before you commit.
  • Measured Baseline before, results after, in hours and £.
More about me

Things I’ve built

Working tools, not slideware.

Recent work for a made-to-measure furniture business I’m setting up, from the customer’s first click to the workshop. AI speeds up the build; the design starts from how the work is really done.

  • A made-to-measure shelving unit in a 3D design tool, with size sliders and a live price

    3D design tool with instant pricing

    Customers design made-to-measure furniture in the browser, see it in 3D and get a price straight away.

  • An exploded view of the shelving unit, with the drilling drawing for one side panel

    From design to the machine

    One design produces the cutting list, a drilling drawing for every panel and the assembly steps, with nothing re-keyed.

  • A workshop screen on a tablet, showing an order’s panels to make one by one

    Orders to workshop

    Orders go straight to a step-by-step workshop screen, panel by panel, so the office and the floor see the same thing.

From the shop floor

From paper to just-in-time

The Fittingly production floor in 2022: trolleys of cut panels, workbenches and drying racks
Fittingly’s production floor, 2022

Co-founder and technical director · Fittingly

We started on paper and grew from nothing to £1.5M in year one. I built the systems that kept up: automated machine planning, real-time barcode tracking of every part, and an ERP that reacted instantly to lost or damaged components. Lead times fell from about four months to four weeks, and turnover doubled in the same floor space with the same shop-floor team.

Common questions

Do we need to replace our ERP?

Usually not. Often the fix is better processes and small tools around what you already have. If replacement is right, I’ll say so and help you choose.

How much does it cost?

Discovery starts from £3,500 and ongoing support from £1,100 a month; builds are quoted per phase. Fixed fees agreed up front, or a rolling contract if you’d rather keep me on.

What does AI actually do here?

It speeds up the build and removes repetitive admin: drafting, summarising, checking. People stay in charge of decisions.

Will my team actually use it?

That’s the point. They help design it, they’re trained on it, and we measure adoption, not just go-live.

Get in touch

Tell me what’s slowing you down.

A 30-minute call. No pitch, no jargon. You’ll leave with at least one thing worth fixing, whether we work together or not.

Arrange a 30-min call Connect on LinkedIn