ZHONGSHAN CITY, China, Oct. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Upholding its motto of putting customer needs first and optimizing parts production, First Mold, the leading rapid tooling and prototyping company, is planning to integrate AI agents into every aspect of its factory management system, especially CNC machining management. The AI agents, which the company also refers to as "digital employees", will be rolled out in phases.
"We firmly believe AI agents will become the core force in future factory management," said Ray Liu, Deputy General Manager. "Especially in small-batch productionoperations, digital employees and other AI applications hold promise for achieving intelligent production scheduling. 5-axis CNC machiningefficiency will see significant improvements."
Areas of AI Agent Integration in CNC Machining Management
First Mold is intentional in its adoption of AI agents and not merely chasing a trend. The company has identified opportunity areas where AI agents can be employed in CNC machining to optimize production efficiency. The guiding mantra of First Mold's investment in an AI agent is how it will benefit employees and customers. Key areas the company has identified where AI agents can be used to enhance customer satisfaction include:
1. Predictive maintenance
First Mold offers the fastest lead time in the industry, ensuring manufacturers get their tools or parts in 7 days or less. Production downtime from machine failures can interfere with that commitment.
However, AI agents can analyze a machine's historical data and compare it with real-time data from sensors to forecast possible machine failures. This can lower maintenance costs by 25% and prevent unplanned downtime, which will translate to faster and cheaper lead time for customers.
2. AI-assisted real-time quality control
AI-agents can monitor several parameters in real-time with the help of sensors, making it easier for human agents to adjust parameters where needed, to ensure optimal and consistent production.
First Mold estimates that the integration of AI agents in real-time quality control can lower the rate of defects by as much as 50%. Lower defect rate means higher material efficiency and lower production costs for the manufacturer.
3. Supply chain forecasting
Material costs contribute significantly to the overall tooling and production costs. However, material cost is rarely constant and can vary widely from one supplier to another. Disruptions from natural disasters or geopolitical instability can further complicate the problems for manufacturers.
First Mold has identified the possibility of employing AI agents to analyze market trends, historical data, and real-time information to better predict demand fluctuations and disruptions more accurately. This will help to optimize inventory management and avoid costly overstocking and stockouts.
4. Design optimization
The efficiency of any product starts with the design. AI agents can assist with creating highly optimized designs using the fewest possible steps and materials. For the best result, the AI agent will consider the production material and technique when optimizing the design. Businesses can cut down on material requirements without affecting the integrity of the product.
5. Production scheduling optimization
As a global company, dealing with customers from different time zones and managing order priorities has been one of the challenges faced by our employees. Intelligent automation using AI agents will allow our employees to stay on top of order priorities to ensure we always beat pre-agreed deadlines.
Phased Integration of Smart Management
Although First Mold has identified several key areas where AI agents can improve efficiency in the company's production and quality assurance, the company's first stage of AI agent integration will take place in three phases, according to Liu. The phased rollout will focus on the following areas in the first stage.
- Order prioritization: By analyzing order priorities and equipment status, the factory will establish an AI scheduling system that automatically generates optimal production plans.
- Quality assurance: First Mold will deploy a digital quality inspection system that optimizes inspection processes through machine learning.
- Supply chain optimization: First Mold will develop supply chain agents to enable intelligent forecasting of material requirements.
"Take our rapid prototyping serviceas an example, in the future, AI agents will swiftly complete production scheduling upon receiving orders," Liu envisions. "This will ensure urgent deliveries while maintaining progress on other orders. This management efficiency boost will significantly enhance our market competitiveness."
First Mold will continue to sharpen research and investment in AI agents, with phase 2 rollout of more AI agents for various other areas of the company planned for 2026 and beyond.
Digital Workers Bring Positive Impact to Management Structure
Following ongoing internal testing, the company identified a positive impact on the use of AI agents on employees. Some employees said it has helped them to overcome the constant burnout and the feeling of being overwhelmed by order priorities and production plans. Liu believes the introduction of digital workers will change traditional factory management models.
"Currently, our production supervisors spend hours creating production plans. In the future, digital workers will rapidly generate optimal production solutions by comprehensively considering multiple factors like equipment status and material inventory."
Liu added, "Digital workers will reduce the tedious workload of daily decision-making for managers. As a result, they can focus on more strategic tasks. In our CNC milling processes, digital employees will eventually predict tool wear and automatically schedule replacements."
The Future of First Mold Smart Manufacturing
First Mold has always been receptive to positive industry changes. With the ongoing AI revolution, the company is yet again demonstrating that culture by being one of the first in the molding and machining industry to roll out AI workers for optimized production in ways that benefit employees and customers. First Mold will be participating in the upcoming IAIC 2025 conference.
"Our leadership actively monitors AI-driven transformations and embraces this industrial revolution," Liu said. "In the near future, digital employees will handle most routine management decisions."
"Today's mature manufacturing systems must control and optimize management and production processes to reduce costs and improve efficiency. The growing adoption of AI agents addresses this pressing need. First Mold's pioneering efforts in the industry will provide valuable references for the digital transformation of the sector."
About First Mold
First Mold was founded in 2010 and has its headquarters in Zhongshan, China. The company specializes in rapid prototyping, precision rapid tooling, and injection molding. The company recently leased a new building that sits on over 64,500 square feet, allowing it to bring all its services under one roof. First Mold also has a production facility in Mexico.
Business Contact:
Name: Christine Hong
Position: Sales Manager
E-mail: christine.hong@firstmold.com
Phone: +86 13726029355
Website: https://firstmold.com/
