Operations Blueprint: a plan and a starter repo for the small manufacturers software forgot

Most writing about operational software, the smart factory, AI in manufacturing, quietly assumes you are big. It assumes a budget for six-figure systems, an IT team to run them, and clean data already sitting in a warehouse. A small manufacturer has none of that. And small manufacturers are not a niche: about 99% of US manufacturers are small, most with fewer than twenty people. I came to this from inside one, trying to build the kind of operation that is supposed to require a team and a budget…