Building an AI agent that runs a physical manufacturing shop

Hey everyone — new here, just joined yesterday. Figured I'd share what I'm working on instead of just lurking.

I run Inspire Applied, an advanced prototyping shop in Massachusetts. Lasers, 3D printing, CNC, the works. Last year I started building an AI agent that handles the front end of the business — quoting, qualifying projects, routing work, logging, follow-ups, even content.

The agent lives at https://makerasaservice.defyimpossible.tech/ — if you visit, you're talking to it directly. It quotes your project, qualifies the work, and when you're ready, the physical shop executes. No chatbot handoff to a human. The AI is the interface between the customer and the machines.

What it does right now:

Takes project descriptions and generates quotes in minutes
Connects to Gmail, Calendar, Drive, GitHub, Notion, YouTube, LinkedIn
Logs everything, remembers context across sessions
Routes work to the right machine/process
Handles the full customer conversation

What I'm working on:

Tighter integration with shop floor systems (machine status, scheduling)
Automated content generation from completed jobs
Deeper qualification logic (material selection, tolerances, cost optimization)

Would love feedback from people who've built or are building persistent agents — especially ones that connect to physical systems. What's working? What's breaking? What would you do differently?

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Building an AI agent that runs a physical manufacturing shop