Watch Taking a Sledgehammer to Bottlenecks 🎥 as Ruth & Steph show how AI actually fixes margins.

Small & Medium Enterprises

AI Tools That Work for Smaller Manufacturers

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in metals manufacturing face the same paperwork problems as large operations. Without the IT department to fix them.

GoSmarter is built for that gap. The tools work alongside the systems you already have. No rip-and-replace. No six-month implementation project. No enterprise licence fee that makes the CFO wince.

The practical wins for manufacturing SMEs are:

  • Mill certificate processing: stop manually checking every certificate that arrives with a delivery
  • Inventory management: know what stock you have, where it is, and when to reorder without a dedicated stock controller
  • Compliance readiness: stay on top of EN 10204 and BS EN 1090 requirements without a quality manager buried in folders
  • Production reporting: get a clear picture of your output and scrap rates without a business analyst to pull the numbers

Posts in this section cover the tools, the workflows, and the real stories from smaller manufacturers who have cut their admin time without hiring more people.

You do not need a big budget to run a smart factory. You need the right tools.

Wales Tech Week 2025: Connecting, Showcasing, and Inspiring Welsh Innovation

Wales Tech Week 2025 brought together leading figures from the Welsh tech ecosystem to connect, share insights, and celebrate innovation. Highlights included discussions on digitalisation in manufacturing, honest conversations about the role of failure in entrepreneurship, and a strong focus on collaboration and funding for the sector. Nightingale HQ was recognised with the Best Greentech Award for its work in sustainable manufacturing, reflecting the event’s emphasis on impactful technology and the growing global reputation of Welsh tech.

CEO speaks at European Manufacturing Conference

CEO Ruth Kearney will speak at the 2024 European Manufacturing Conference to be held in Brussels this month.

STRADA Project Empowers Women in Manufacturing with Leadership Programme

Co-funded by EIT Manufacturing, Strada provides leadership tools to women in manufacturing to tackle the gender gap in the industry. Nightingale HQ is a core partner and also leads the Leading Digitalisation masterclass.

Northern Ireland Manufacturing & Supply Chain Conference highlights

It was great to contribute to the Northern Ireland Manufacturing & Supply Chain Conference & Exhibition Titanic Exhibition Centre last week. I was there to talk about our approach to greener software, to promote Strada and to network with the wider manufacturing community.

Wales tech scale-up collaborate with steel manufacturers to make production greener

Wales and Ireland-based technology business, Nightingale HQ (NHQ) has supported a major UK & EU consortium as it looks to make reinforcement steel manufacturing greener. The collaboration includes steel manufacturers Midland Steel and Bastal AS, Kuka Robotics, civil engineers OCSC and research partners VTT. The project is funded by EIT Manufacturing and Innovate UK.

NHQ joins consortium to make steel industry greener

Technology business Nightingale HQ have won funding with a European consortium to make steel manufacturing greener.

Nightingale HQ meets German manufacturers and tech founders

In an effort to increase visibility of UK technology start-ups the Welsh and UK governments participated in Start-up BW conference in Batten-Württemberg Germany this September.

Smart Data in Manufacturing - Germany

In our efforts to expand in the German markets and partner with the Mittelstand or SME manufacturers, our CEO Ruth Kearney will be presenting at the Smart Data in Manufacturing event in Darmstadt on the 7th of July 2022.

Nightingale HQ to speak at leading Irish manufacturing conference

This year the Nightingale HQ team will be attending the Conference on Digitalisation of Manufacturing lead by IDEAM Cluster and taking place in the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) in Limerick, Ireland. The event takes place on 15 – 16 June and will bring together a host of local and international manufacturers, and technology providers from across Ireland and the UK.

Advancing Digital Transformation of SMEs in the Midlands

Partnering on EI Digitalisation Vouchers with Irish manufacturers Midland Steel and Shabra Plastics.