The part is a maker and a number
An industrial part is identified by who made it and the maker's part number. Most never get a GTIN, so the barcode identity consumer retail runs on isn't there; that's a vendor's account, not GS1's. The distributor puts its own SKU on top. Its ERP stores the part as something like “BRG 6205 2RS C3 SKF DGBB”: everything a counter veteran needs, in a form a buyer would never type.
An AI assistant reading the web sees the part number in some places, the description in others, and the attributes in a PDF.
The same part has five names
A double-sealed 6205 deep-groove ball bearing is 2RS1 at SKF, 2RSR at FAG, DDU at NSK, LLU at NTN and 2RS at Timken, per a cross-reference site. Matching across brands means bore, outside diameter, width, seal type and internal clearance, not the name.
Motors are harder. NEMA's own comparison says IEC and NEMA dimensions are “very close”, within 3 or 4 millimeters, and that NEMA shafts tend to be longer. Close is exactly the trap. An assistant that treats near dimensions as interchangeable gives a confident, wrong answer.
Our read: a replacement is only as good as whoever states it. The maker's successor, a manufacturer interchange table and a distributor's own engineering are sources. A similarity score isn't one.
A cross-reference needs a source, not a similarity score.
Discontinued is a fact with a date
Parts are discontinued when a maker drops a line, a supplier fails or a design moves on, and the successor is not always a drop-in. The status is rarely on a distributor's web page. So an assistant finds the old part, in stock nowhere, with no successor named, and moves on to whoever's page was clearer.
The branch is in the ERP
The question that ends the search is “who has one today?” Distributors publish same-day cut-offs and will-call pickup for exactly this order. Branch stock lives in the ERP, and the site often says “call for availability”. That's honest for a person. An AI assistant can't call.
Where agents fit, and where they don't
Repeat MRO buying is already machine to machine. Grainger says EDI and eProcurement are “closer to 40%” of its sales. Fastenal's on-site bins and vending were 44.7% of its 2025 sales. Agents add little there.
The unplanned order is different: the failure this morning, the first-time buy, the replacement for something discontinued. That's where a buyer searches, compares and calls around. Our read, not a measured trend: this is where AI agents will do the legwork first. We found no evidence yet of meaningful MRO buying by third-party agents, and we won't claim it.
Manufacturers are already answering
3M's Ask 3M, launched in June, answers technical questions from 3M's own documentation and links product suggestions to authorized distributors. The maker owns the technical answer. The hand-off goes to a distributor.
Our read: the distributor that can answer the next question, which branch has it and can I get it quoted, gets the order. The one that can't becomes interchangeable.
What an agent needs from a distributor
Is this the part? Maker and part number in text, attributes labeled with their units.
What replaces it? Supersessions and cross-references stated, each with its source and notes.
Is it current? Lifecycle status with a date.
Which branch has it? Stock per branch with the time it was read, and “ask the branch” when the reading is old.
Can I get it quoted? A quote path that takes part numbers and quantities and reaches a person.
Prices aren't on the list. Industrial prices are set per account, and they should stay with the account.
What we're building
Lehvel keeps one record per distributor. Business Truth: lines, branches, hours, services. Product Truth: part identity, attributes, lifecycle, stated replacements. Operational Truth: branch availability with its read time.
Every fact carries its source and date. AI assistants can read the record, and one bounded action is allowed: a quote request a person answers. It's the same system we built for car dealers and building materials. Here, the hard part is the part number.
