The end of one-size-fits-all plant software?
In 10 seconds
- Every plant runs differently, but plant software is sold one-size-fits-all. So plants bend their process to fit the software.
- AI can now build software. It can build what your plant needs on top of a solid base.
- The hard part is no longer building features. It’s keeping the result safe, versioned and maintainable. That’s where vMaint is going.
The problem with off-the-shelf plant software
Every plant has its own machines, shifts, downtime reasons, PM routines and ways of working. Off-the-shelf CMMS and MES tools give everyone the same screens and the same workflow. You pay for features you never use, and you’re still missing the ones you need. Custom software used to fix that, but it cost a fortune and took months.
What AI changes
AI coding tools can now add a screen, a report or a workflow in hours, not months. A plant engineer can describe what they want and get working software.
But there’s a catch. If AI writes everything from scratch, every plant ends up with a one-off app nobody can maintain. Updates break it, security is an afterthought, and when the person who prompted it leaves, nobody knows how it works.
The answer: a solid template, plus the boring parts done right
Start from a template that already works, and let AI build on it:
- A trusted core. Work orders, assets, downtime, OEE, users and permissions are already built and tested.
- AI builds on top. Plant-specific screens, reports and workflows are added on the core, not by rewriting it.
- Version control. Every change is tracked and can be rolled back. You always know what changed, when and why.
- Security hardening. The core is reviewed and hardened. AI-built additions run inside its rules, not around them.
- Safe updates. Core improvements can be applied without wiping out your plant’s custom work.
The template is the foundation, and AI is the builder. What a plant needs from a partner is the engineering discipline that keeps it all running.
Where vMaint is going
vMaint is moving to that model: a local template installed on your plant network, so your data stays on your floor. Your team, or AI, builds what your plant needs on top. I help with what’s hard to get right: the core, version control, hardening, and connecting it to your machines and SCADA.
The limits I won’t skip
- AI doesn’t touch machine control. PLC logic and safety systems stay with qualified people, as they should.
- Someone owns every change. AI drafts it, and a person reviews and approves it before it runs.
- This is early. I’m building it now, and I’ll write about what works and what doesn’t.
Local install is coming soon.