Qualify a substitute when a material runs short.

When a material runs short, the substitute is compared on total cost and tested before it ships, with the decision kept against the revision.

Start with a development review How it works

Thread substitutes · CAT-042

Candidate	Cost a jacket	Tests before it ships	Decision
Thread A · approved, short	$0.40	Already passed	Unavailable
Thread B · same fiber, new mill	+$0.10	Wash, shrink, seam strength	Test first
Thread C · polyester core	+$0.25	Wash, shrink, seam strength	Test first
The factory’s stock thread	—	No test on file	Refuse

Candidates for one material, compared on what each costs and what it must pass.

Sound familiar?

The mill is out of the canvas and the factory suggests “something similar”.
A substitute gets swapped in on a line and nobody files it.
Nobody can say what a cheaper material really costs once tests and returns are counted.

A substitute nobody qualified is a change nobody approved. It can surface months later, as returns from one lot.

What changes.

TodayWith the engine

Candidates: Whatever the factory suggestsAlternatives drawn from your approved materials and past tests
Cost: Price per meterTotal cost: price, tests, rework and expected returns
Testing: A swatch and a hopeA test plan sized to the risk, run by qualified people
Approval: A phone callA decision on record, against the revision

How it works. 6 steps, 4 stages.

AI1
Rules and automation3
Your team2
Approval

1Trigger
1. Rules and automation
  Catch the shortage
  A mill delay, price rise or lot change flagged against every style that uses the material.
  - NetSuite
2Compare
1. AI
  Find qualified alternatives
  Approved materials, past test results and supplier alternatives compared with the spec.
2. Rules and automation
  Total the cost
  Price, tests, rework and expected returns for each candidate.
3Test
1. Your teamApproval
  Choose the tests
  Quality and development decide what each candidate must pass before it ships.
4Decide
1. Your teamApproval
  Approve or refuse
  The decision is recorded against the revision, with its conditions and the supplier.
2. Rules and automation
  Tell everyone it touches
  An approved substitute goes out through the change process.

Approved substitutes join the material library

What you get. Real work, every week.

Decision · thread BConditions

Use thread B once the wash, shrink and seam tests pass.

Why: Thread A is short for the next lot
Tests: Wash, shrink and seam strength, run by the lab
Condition: The approved lot only, with the supplier acknowledging
Recorded: Against revision E and the factory order

The decision, with its conditions, kept against the revision and the supplier.

How you’ll know it’s working.

Days from shortage to a qualified alternative
How long a production plan waits on a material.
Total cost per unit against the original
The comparison that includes tests, rework and returns as well as the price.
Substitutes shipped without a test on file
The number that should be zero.

Baselines agreed before we build.

Works with what you have.

Commerce

NetSuite

PLM & specs

FlexPLM
Centric PLM
Specright
Techpacker

We configure first: Your PLM or spec platform already holds approved materials. We start there and add the shortage trigger and the test plan.
We build when: A shortage reaches you by phone or email, and the alternatives aren’t on one record.

What a first build includes.

Built in your accounts, around your team. Scope, fee and baseline agreed before we start.

1Design
2Build
3Run it, or hand it over

Start with a review Scope this build

We build

A material trigger tied to every style that uses it
A candidate comparison on total cost and tests
Test plans for qualified people to approve
A decision record tied to the revision and supplier

We start from

Approved materials and past test reports
Supplier alternatives and price lists
Returns by material or lot

From your team

Owner: Head of development or quality lead
Involves: Development
Quality
Sourcing
Factory partner

Questions teams ask.

Does AI choose the substitute?

It finds and compares candidates. Quality and development choose the tests and approve the substitute, and the record shows who did.

Do you handle formulations or engineered parts?

Not on our own. Scientific formulation and engineered-product CAD are specialist work, so we’d work with a specialist partner and keep the evidence and the decision on your product record.

Who owns it once it’s running?

You do. It’s built in your accounts, documented, with training for the people who run it. Ownership usually sits with your head of development or quality lead. We can keep running it with you, or step back.

How do we start?

Usually with a development review: two to four weeks, a fixed fee credited to the build, and a plan that’s yours. If the job is already clear, we can scope the build directly.