
1. Technology overview
Operations1 is a German software company founded in 2017 in Augsburg by Benjamin Brockmann, Anian Ziegler and Daniel Grobe, who met at the Technical University of Munich. It replaces paper documents on the shop floor with a connected worker platform and reports more than 160 industrial customers, including ABB, Daimler Truck, Trumpf, Liebherr and Thyssenkrupp.
The platform delivers digital work instructions and checklists with images and video to tablets and smartphones, including an offline mode. It covers training and qualification checks, assembly documentation with mandatory steps, serial numbers and photos, quality inspections with custom test reports, maintenance and machine setup, task and error management with chat, and digital 5S or 6S audits. An AI Assistant answers questions from manuals, error logs and maintenance plans by text or voice with source references. It runs on Microsoft Azure with European data stored in Frankfurt.
2. Highlighted features & specifications
- Digital work instructions: step-by-step guidance with images, video and offline mode.
- Training and qualification: digital qualification checks before safety-critical tasks.
- Assembly documentation: mandatory steps, serial number capture and photo evidence.
- Quality and maintenance: custom test reports, maintenance planning and machine setup guides.
- Task, error and audit management: shop-floor chat, incident records and digital 5S or 6S audits.
- AI Assistant: answers from manuals and error logs by text or voice with page-level sources.
3. Potential application
A machinery or electrical cabinet assembler in Vietnam could record mandatory steps, serial numbers and photos for each unit shipped to Europe. A packaging plant could guide machine setup and changeovers with video instructions. A factory running 5S programs could move audits from paper to tablets.
4. Benefits
Operations1 cites up to 95% less documentation effort, training times cut by up to 75%, up to 21% higher assembly productivity and a 55% quality increase. Downtime can fall by up to 85% and 6S audit time by 80%. One customer reports its error rate dropped from over 50% to under 2% after digitizing work steps.
5. Market trends & opportunities
Machine builders and component makers are digitizing assembly records to meet traceability demands and cope with skilled labor shortages. AI assistants that search manuals are becoming a standard part of connected worker suites. Suppliers in Vietnam serving European machinery and automotive customers are increasingly asked for digital assembly and inspection records.
6. Other information
Operations1 was founded in 2017 in Augsburg. In July 2026 the European B2B software investor Fortino Capital invested in the company, with the founders remaining on board, to support expansion into more European countries and further AI development. Operations1 is ISO 27001 certified, an SAP partner and a German Customer Awards 2023 winner.
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