Help AI find the right part, and the branch that has it.
For industrial and MRO distributors. Maintenance teams and buyers are starting to ask AI for a part by number, by nameplate or by dimensions, and where they can get it today. AI agents working for them will do more of that legwork. Lehvel keeps your part data, cross-references and branch information accurate and current, so they find the right part and reach your counter for a quote.
Can AI find the part?
A maintenance tech pulls a failed bearing off a conveyor, reads SKF 6205-2RS1 C3 on the shield, and asks ChatGPT where to get one near Toledo today. The answer is built from whatever it can read: catalog pages, manufacturer PDFs, marketplace listings, cross-reference sites, and other people's descriptions of you.
A good answer needs more than your company name. It needs the exact part, the replacements someone actually stands behind, which branch has one, and how to get it quoted.
| Compared | What AI needs to know | Where it usually lives today |
|---|---|---|
| Your company | The lines you carry, your branches and hours, will-call, repair and rebuild | Website, Google profiles, your buying group's member locator |
| The part | Manufacturer and part number, and what it is in words a buyer uses | Catalog pages, ERP descriptions like “BRG 6205 2RS C3 SKF DGBB” |
| Attributes | Dimensions, ratings and nameplate values, each with its unit | Manufacturer PDFs and data feeds, in whatever units each maker uses |
| Replacements | The maker's successor, and cross-references from other brands | Supersession notices, interchange tables, your inside sales team |
| Status | Active, last-time buy, discontinued or superseded | Manufacturer notices; rarely the website |
| Availability | Which branch has it now, or the lead time | Your ERP. On the site, often “call for availability” |
| Quote | Who prices it for this account | An RFQ form, the counter, an outside salesperson |
Where the information breaks
Your ERP was built to pick, ship and invoice. It stores the part as a compressed string a buyer would never type. The attributes are in the manufacturer's PDF. The cross-references are in an interchange table, a binder, or the head of someone who has worked your counter for twenty years.
Brands name the same thing differently. A double-sealed 6205 is 2RS1 at SKF, 2RSR at FAG, DDU at NSK and LLU at NTN. NEMA and IEC motor frames come within a few millimetres of each other and still aren't drop-in replacements. A part discontinued last spring is still on a page with no successor named.
Your inside sales team works around all of that. An AI assistant can't. It answers from what it can read, says it doesn't know, or sends the buyer to whoever's catalog was easier to parse.
A replacement has to be stated, not guessed
Close is not the same part. Two bearings with the same bore, outside diameter and width can differ in seal, clearance and speed rating. A match by dimensions alone is a question for a person, not an answer.
Every cross-reference has a source. The maker's successor, a manufacturer interchange table, your own engineering. The record keeps which one said it and when, and repeats the notes that come with it: an adapter plate, a different shaft length.
Unknown is an answer. If nobody has stated that two parts are interchangeable, the honest answer is “ask the branch,” with the number to call. Never a confident yes, and never a no that was really missing data.
AI agents will do more of the legwork
Repeat buying already runs through punchout, EDI and vending, and it should stay there. The unplanned order is different: the part that failed this morning, the first-time buy, the replacement for something discontinued. That's where a buyer searches, compares and calls around, and it's the work an AI agent is built to take over.
We expect people who already use AI assistants at home to use them on the plant floor too. That's our read of how useful software spreads, not a measured trend in MRO yet. When it happens, an unplanned order will look like this:
- A technician describes the failed part, or photographs the nameplate.
- An AI agent working for them identifies it.
- It looks for stated replacements if the part is discontinued or out.
- It checks which nearby branch has one.
- It sends a distributor a quote request with the part numbers.
- The buyer approves what comes back.
The distributor whose parts are easier to identify, whose replacements are stated, and whose stock and quote path are easier to reach has the advantage in that process. We can't put a number on it yet, and we won't pretend to.
One request, five steps
Here is the kind of request a maintenance planner could hand an AI agent: “Find a replacement for a failed SKF 6205-2RS1 C3 that I can pick up today near Toledo, and get it quoted.” For your branch to be the answer, five things have to be true.
| Compared | The agent's job | What has to be true about your company |
|---|---|---|
| Discover | Find distributors that carry the part near Toledo | AI knows you exist, which lines you carry and where your branches are |
| Understand | Read the part exactly | The manufacturer and part number are in text on the page, with labeled attributes and units |
| Qualify | Check it, or a stated replacement, and whether a branch has one now | Cross-references carry their source; stock carries the time it was read |
| Contact | Find the counter that can help today | Branch address, hours and will-call cut-off are published and agree with Google |
| Act | Send the part number and quantity for a quote | A structured request reaches the branch with what they need. It's a request, not an order |
What Lehvel does
One record of your company. Lines, branches, hours, will-call and services, kept consistent across your website, Google and the AI assistants buyers use. We call it Business Truth.
A part record AI can read. Manufacturer, part number, attributes with their units, lifecycle status and documents, read from the catalog pages and data you already have. Every value keeps where it came from and when. We start with what you publish, then add your ERP export. We call it Product Truth.
Replacements with their source. Supersessions and cross-references are stated with whoever stands behind them. Anything inferred stays a question for your branch.
Stock with a time on it. Branch availability and lead times are answered only from a current reading. An old reading becomes “ask the branch,” not “in stock,” and a missing one never becomes “out of stock.” We call this Operational Truth.
You decide what's public. Each fact is marked public, on request, or internal. Account pricing never reaches an AI assistant through Lehvel.
A check on what AI actually says. We ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity about your company, your lines and sample part numbers, and compare their answers with your record. Lehvel Observatory keeps watching after the first fix.
A controlled way to request a quote. Read-only answers first: is this the part, what replaces it, which branch has it. Then one action: a quote request with the part numbers, routed to the right branch or desk. It never shows a price, holds stock or commits a ship date.
What's live and what isn't
Live today. Websites, search presence, checks of what the major AI assistants say about a company, and one managed record of the business behind all of it.
Building. The part record for industrial distribution, with a source and a date on every fact; read-only part, replacement and branch answers for AI assistants; and a quote request that lands with your branch the way a web RFQ does today. We want one distributor to build this with first.
Not on the table yet. Orders, account prices, stock holds, ship dates or accepting a substitute through an AI assistant. Those need your rules, account identity and a person approving each one.
We can't promise that any assistant will recommend your branch. We can make sure that when one asks, your company has a correct, current answer and a way to take the request.
Find out where you stand
Check My Business shows what AI assistants say about your company today, where your website and listings disagree, and what to fix first. A person at Lehvel reviews the findings before they're sent. No credit card required.
Or start with a workshop: one hour, live online, looking at what AI tools understand about your business.
Questions
Is this a PIM or a catalog-enrichment service?
No. Your PIM, your content subscription and your ERP keep doing their jobs. Lehvel reads from them and from what you publish, keeps the source and date on each fact, and answers AI assistants from that record. Cleaning up data is sometimes part of the work. It's not the product.
Do we need to replace our ERP, PIM or e-commerce platform?
No. We start from the catalog pages and data you already publish. An ERP export comes next, for stock and lead times, and only where it's the right source for a fact.
Will AI see our account pricing?
Not through Lehvel. Industrial prices are set per account, so no price is given to an AI assistant. The step it can take is a quote request, and your team prices it.
Can an AI agent place an order through Lehvel?
No. Contract buying belongs in punchout and EDI, where it already runs. The one action here is a quote request that a person at your branch answers.
How do you handle cross-references?
We only state a replacement when a source states it: the manufacturer's successor, a manufacturer interchange table, or your own engineering, each recorded with its date and notes. A match on dimensions alone goes to your branch as a question.
We're a component manufacturer, not a distributor. Does this apply?
Yes, from the other side. You own the part numbers, the attributes and the supersessions, and buyers' AI assistants need to reach the distributor that stocks them. The record keeps who made a part separate from who stocks and quotes it.
How do we see what AI says about our company now?
Run Check My Business. It compares what ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity say with your own facts, and a person at Lehvel reviews it before it's sent.
Check My BusinessWant to discuss your industrial distribution business with Lehvel?
Book a time with Lehvel and we’ll go through what your business actually needs.