AI in project planning

From enquiry to line sketch – in hours instead of weeks.

We bring your next project into focus and get it started with AI. For the internal planning of a new production line as well as for the first project sketch on the machine builder’s side, used to prepare a better quotation. For executives, self-employed professionals and SMEs who have tried AI and now want results.

Request a call (30–60 minutes) View completed projects

Or call directly: +49 176 7620 4499

45 minto the first line layout
3 hto the complete planning package, checked by a second AI agent
40 yearsof experience from design engineering, mechanical engineering, international projects and many conversations have gone into every plan
You stay at the controls

The project manager and the client lead. The AI does the legwork.

In the planning of packaging lines, people always make the decisions. What changes is the time in between.

Until now

Hours spent on lists and slides

  • Correcting Excel lists and aligning columns
  • Updating every sub-item in PowerPoint
  • Gathering the current status for the next stakeholder meeting
  • Reconciling drawing revisions, parts lists and reports by hand
With AI

Checking interim results and fine-tuning

  • The AI produces the layout, throughput balance, parts list and report
  • You check interim results and outcomes
  • You fine-tune, the AI updates all the documents
  • The next meeting starts with an up-to-date status

The project manager and the client remain in the lead at every step. The AI makes no decision on its own.

From practice

AI projects you can try out

Not a concept paper: these tools have been built and are running on powerjo.de. Two of them are test environments that we are continuously developing. We will show you the project pre-planning in a call.

3D view of a planned biscuit tray line with five modules
Completed

Project pre-planning up to the tender

A tender or client conversation becomes a layout, pallet pattern, 3D view and planning report.

  • First layout after 45 minutes, complete package after 3 hours
  • Throughput balance with downtime analysis and parts list
  • Checked by a second AI agent
View five example linesPresentation (PDF)
Start screen of the packaging advisor with three steps
Completed

End-of-line packaging advisor

A guided conversation from the packaged product to the pallet.

  • 29 short click-through questions, approx. 8 minutes
  • Machine chain with reasoning, guide values and open points
  • PDF to take away, free of charge and without an account
Start the advisor
3D model of a configured conveyor
Test environment · approx. 40 h of development

verpackung.tech: Conveyor configurator

Configure conveyors online and see the result immediately.

  • 3D model that can be rotated in the browser
  • Data sheet, parts list and detail drawings
  • For belt conveyors and round-belt conveyors
Open the configuratorTest environment on powerjo.de
PackVis: folded box with euro slot in the 3D view
Test environment · approx. 50 h of development · in progress

PackVis: design and fold packaging

Design, fold and style folding cartons and corrugated boxes on screen.

  • 67 styles, including boxes to FEFCO code
  • Folding simulation from the flat blank to the finished box
  • Your own designs on the blank, controlled by hand gestures via the camera
Try PackVisTest environment on powerjo.de
Process

How an AI pre-planning works: as a control loop

The AI never works alone. The project manager, plant manager, production manager or managing director is involved in parallel at every step, checks the interim result and sends it back as often as needed until the result fits.

Control loop of AI pre-planning: the human (project manager, plant manager, production manager, managing director) leads in parallel at every step. Start, enquiry or tender, AI analysis and planning, check by a second agent, approval? If no: fine-tune and back to AI analysis. If yes: line sketch and short quotation, end.
done by the AIdecided by the humanFeedback: fine-tune until it fits
STEP 1

Input

A project request from management, a tender or a client conversation, exactly as it reaches you. Goal: to know quickly whether it is feasible and how much space and resources are needed.

STEP 2

Control loop

The AI extracts requirements, throughput, packaging materials and boundary data and plans. A second agent checks. You approve or fine-tune, then the loop runs again.

STEP 3

Result

Line sketch and short quotation, ready for coordination with your client or your management. Runs without training on your data; ideally trained internally with your data.

Project pre-planning

Five lines from pre-planning

All examples are brand-free. Two are anonymised; there the product and key figures have been changed. They are pre-plans, and assumptions are marked.

Isometric 3D view of the biscuit tray line

Biscuit tray line: 10,000 biscuits/min

Biscuits arrive from production and cannot be stopped. 3 × 3 in a three-compartment tray, flow pack, folding carton, 12 per case.

  • 1,307 packs/min design capacity, 29.2 pallets/h
  • 5 modules with 2 lanes each, central palletising overhead
  • N+1 redundancy for lanes, packers and palletisers

Pre-planning V0.1 · hall and performance figures are assumptions

3D overall view of a line with platform, flow wrappers and case packing line

Flatbread line: 9,600 pieces/h

The upstream production must never stop. Stack flat products, pack in flow-wrap bags, pack into cases.

  • Stack forming before packaging, with a buffer for disruptions
  • Flow wrappers with redundancy, case packing line with manual station
  • Open: buffer test with the original product

Pre-planning V0.1 · anonymised: product and key figures changed

Isometric 3D view of a tin line in a hall

Tin line: 100 tins/min

Sweets in metal tins, 115 tins/min design capacity, empty tins arrive palletised.

  • Fully automatic depalletising, multihead weigher for filling
  • Pallet pattern: 33 trays per layer, 14 layers
  • U-shaped layout in a hall of about 50 × 15 m

Pre-planning V0.1 · hall dimensions estimated

Layout 1:100 and isometric view of a fruit gum bagging line from the CAD sheet

Fruit gum bagging line: 2.35 t/h

2.0 t/h net reliably onto the pallet. Bags of 200 g, in future 120 to 300 g.

  • Two lanes with multihead weigher, 98 bags/min each at 77 % load
  • CAD sheet A1: layout 1:100, isometric view, parts list with 39 items

Pre-planning V0.1 · hall and continuous output of the weigher are assumptions

706capsules/min design capacity at 85 % availability
70,6packs/min, 10 capsules per pack
1,2pallets per hour, 12 packs per case, 300 cases per pallet

Capsule line: 600 capsules/min

  • One packaging machine carries the design capacity
  • Second lane as an option in case of failure

Pre-planning V0.1 · anonymised: product and key figures changed

For the head of the project department

What your project department has in hand

A pre-planning V0.1 that lets you decide early: Is the line feasible, how much space does it need, where are the risks, and what do we ask suppliers for?

Scope of delivery
Throughput balance
Design capacity with availability, utilisation per machine and what remains if one lane fails.
Layout
Hall layout 1:100 and isometric view as CAD sheet A1, with parts list.
3D view
In the browser, to click through with your client. Hygiene zones, buffers and routes are colour-coded.
Pallet pattern
Layers, cases per pallet and pallets per hour.
Planning report
Assumptions, candidate manufacturers and evidence status per element, plus the open points.
Regulatory matters
Where it affects the project, as a separate chapter, for example the EU Packaging Regulation PPWR.
What we need from you

The tender or your meeting notes, product and packaging materials, the required throughput and, if available, the hall dimensions. Anything missing is marked as an assumption and not quietly invented.

How it is checked

First the functions and the process flow, then machines and conveyor technology. A second AI agent checks the package; open points are clearly visible in the report.

Where the limit is

A pre-planning does not replace detailed design or approval. It is the basis for deciding quickly and with good reasons and for making targeted enquiries.

  • Assess tenders before your team puts days into them
  • Quotations with a line sketch instead of a plain text description
  • Compare variants, for example with or without an additional lane
  • Supplier enquiries based on the parts list and candidate manufacturers
  • Align with the client on the 3D view instead of on drawing revisions
  • Make risks such as missing redundancy visible early
AI workshop

Working with AI on your project

Live with your team: the AI takes on the legwork, you decide. Choose the depth: one day for the first idea, three days for first models, five days including follow-up work.

On site in GermanyBy video conference
Package 1 · Impulse day

1 day

  • find a pilot project together
  • first ideas and a first example model
  • ideas recorded for further use
  • on site or by video conference
1.900 €*
€1,900 per day
Package 2 · Workshop

3 days

  • think through a project of your choice
  • first models and prototypes for it
  • on site including accommodation and travel there and back
4.500 €*
€1,500 per day
Schedule of the 3 days below
Package 3 · Workshop plus

5 days: 3 + 2 follow-up work

  • everything from the 3-day workshop
  • two days of follow-up work: one model or prototype developed further
  • on site including accommodation and travel there and back
7.000 €*
€1,400 per day
Package 3 · Workshop plus: 3 days + 2 days of follow-up work
Package 2 · Workshop: how the 3 days run

Each day has two sides: AI on one, creative discussion and building prototypes on the other.

Day 1

Understand

AIEvaluate documents, structure requirements.
TeamDiscuss the goal, framework and open questions.
Day 2

Develop

AIGenerate variants and first models.
TeamAssess variants, build prototypes.
Day 3

Check and define

AISummarise and document the results.
TeamTest prototypes, fine-tune, define next steps.
Package 3 · Days 4–5

Follow-up work

We develop one model or prototype further, with:

  • Documentation
  • Description
  • Versioning
Tip

No clearly defined project yet? Then start with the Impulse day (Package 1): together we find a pilot project.

Request an Impulse day

* All prices plus statutory VAT.

Request a workshop Product data sheet (PDF, German)
Your contact

Joachim Quantz

Managing Director of POWERJO GmbH

  • Around 40 years in special-purpose machinery and packaging technology
  • From technical draughtsman via design engineering to CAPEX project management
  • Managed projects from €500,000 to €20 million
  • POWERJO since 2017, network of more than 60 on-demand specialists

Let’s talk about your next project.

30 to 60 minutes by video or telephone. You describe your project, we tell you where AI helps, where it does not, and what the next step would be.

Request a call (30–60 minutes) +49 176 7620 4499