Due Diligence Q&A

Procurement teams, IT managers, and finance leads ask the same questions before approving new software. This page answers them directly: no sales spin, no deflection. If your question is not here, contact us and we will add it.

Data, privacy, and compliance

How does GoSmarter support General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) reviews?

GoSmarter keeps core persistent data in the United Kingdom. Supporting processing runs in European Union regions only where needed. GoSmarter applies access controls and encryption throughout. The platform explains clearly what happens to customer data in artificial intelligence (AI) workflows and what does not happen. That gives your team the facts needed for a practical GDPR review instead of a vague sales answer.

How does GoSmarter reduce GDPR, intellectual property, and vendor lock-in risk?

Customer data stays under customer control. GoSmarter protects it with Azure-hosted infrastructure, encryption in transit and at rest, and clear handling rules for AI workflows. GoSmarter does not use customer data to train provider models. During security review, GoSmarter documents your data export and offboarding routes so your records and evidence do not end up trapped in a black box. If your questionnaire goes deeper, contact us and we will work through it with you.

Integration and compatibility

How does GoSmarter sit with or relate to SAP?

GoSmarter is not an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) replacement. It adds specialist AI capability that generic ERP systems handle poorly for metals: mill certificate reading, cutting optimisation, and live inventory tracking.

With SAP specifically: GoSmarter connects via Comma-Separated Values (CSV) import/export or the Representational State Transfer (REST) Application Programming Interface (API). The most common pattern is:

1. Export stock and open orders from SAP as a CSV file.
2. Run cutting plans or process mill certificates in GoSmarter.
3. Export the output back to SAP via CSV, or push it in real time via the REST API.

No dedicated SAP connector or middleware is required. GoSmarter outputs structured data in formats SAP can consume natively: heat numbers, grade, mechanical properties, and cut lists. See the integration strategy guide for step-by-step patterns.

Can GoSmarter connect to or integrate with existing Document Management Systems (DMSs) or ERPs?

Yes. GoSmarter connects to any ERP or Document Management System (DMS) via CSV export or REST API. GoSmarter needs no proprietary connector or middleware. The most common integrations are:

• CSV round-trip — export from your ERP, process in GoSmarter, reimport. Works with Infor, Epicor, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage, SAP Business One, and similar platforms.
• REST API — real-time push of structured data (heat numbers, cut lists, stock levels) directly to your ERP or DMS. API documentation is available at api-docs.gosmarter.ai without signing up.
• Standalone — many teams run GoSmarter as a separate system of record for production data and export only when needed.

Regulated sectors and safety

Can I use GoSmarter in a regulated sector?

Yes. GoSmarter is used by metals manufacturers operating under quality management standards including ISO 9001 and BS EN regulatory requirements. The platform handles traceability data (heat numbers, grades, mechanical test results) in ways that support, not replace, your compliance obligations. See the Quality Management System (QMS) glossary entry for what this means in practice for metals teams.

On product safety: GoSmarter does not make autonomous decisions about material suitability or production safety. It surfaces data and flags anomalies for human review. Your qualified personnel retain sign-off on material acceptance and production decisions. The platform is a data tool, not a control system.

On process safety: GoSmarter operates as a web-based planning and records tool. It does not connect to plant control systems, Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), or Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) networks. It has no operational interface with machinery or process equipment.

If your sector requires specific compliance documentation (ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials, or similar), contact us to discuss what evidence we can provide.

Environmental and sustainability

How does GoSmarter support environmental Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)?

GoSmarter reduces material waste directly and supports environmental reporting indirectly.

Direct impact — cutting scrap reduction: Cutting plan optimisation typically reduces rebar scrap by 30–50%. Less scrap means less material purchased, less energy used in production, and less waste to dispose of or recycle. If you report on material yield, scrap rate, or embodied carbon per tonne shipped, GoSmarter’s cut plan data feeds directly into those metrics.

Indirect impact — carbon reporting: Accurate mill certificate data (grade, heat number, chemical composition) supports supply chain traceability for Scope 3 carbon reporting. Knowing exactly which material was used in which job, and where it came from, is the foundation of credible environmental product declarations.

Efficiency gains: Fewer re-runs, fewer rushed procurement orders, and less over-stocking all reduce energy and transport emissions. GoSmarter’s live inventory visibility reduces panic buying and the associated logistics footprint.

See the related post: AI vs. Spreadsheets: Carbon Reporting in Metals.

Productivity and quality

How does GoSmarter improve productivity?

Productivity gains appear in three areas:

Admin time recovered: Processing mill certificates manually (inbox triage, data entry, filing, retrieval) typically takes 120+ hours per year for a team handling 200–500 certificates a month. GoSmarter automates extraction and filing, returning that time to production-facing work.

Planning speed: Cutting plans that previously took hours of manual calculation run in minutes. Planners move from building plans to reviewing and approving them. Throughput increases without headcount increases.

Decision speed: When production, sales, and despatch all see the same live order and stock data, the back-and-forth that delays decisions disappears. Customers using GoSmarter typically see measurable On-Time In-Full (OTIF) improvement within 90 days of go-live.

The productivity gain is fastest for teams currently working from spreadsheets or paper. Teams with existing ERP systems see more modest admin savings but stronger planning and visibility gains.

Can GoSmarter improve materials quality?

Directly, yes. GoSmarter improves quality through better traceability and earlier anomaly detection.

Certificate validation: GoSmarter cross-checks extracted mill certificate values against known valid ranges for the stated grade and standard. GoSmarter flags anything outside expected ranges for human review before it enters your inventory record. Material that would previously have passed without scrutiny gets a second check at the point of receipt.

Grade assurance for cutting: When a cutting plan runs against verified, grade-confirmed stock, the risk of cutting the wrong material for a specification-critical job reduces. The plan knows exactly what it has and what each job requires.

Traceability for audits: GoSmarter gives you full heat-to-job traceability on demand: which material was cut for which order, from which mill, with what test results. In sectors where traceability is a regulatory or customer requirement, GoSmarter makes audit preparation a search rather than a reconstruction.

Indirectly, faster identification of non-conforming material reduces the risk of it progressing through production before anyone catches it.

Time savings and return on investment

How much time does GoSmarter save?

It depends on your current process and which products you adopt. Here are representative scenarios based on measured customer workflows:

At a loaded staff cost of £30/hour, 120 hours saved equals £3,600 per year. That is more than the annual MillCert Reader subscription cost.

For cutting, the financial saving comes primarily from scrap reduction (30–50% on optimised runs) and working capital released by reducing buffer stock. A team holding four weeks of buffer on 100 tonnes/week at £600/tonne that drops to two weeks frees roughly £120,000 in tied-up capital.

Run your own numbers in the Business Case Calculator — no account required. Or book a scoping call and we will work through the maths with your actual volumes.

Case studies with measured before/after data: Case Studies →