QAD | Redzone, the company that is behind the world’s number one platform for manufacturers, announced on September 22, 2026, Manufacturing Intelligence, which is an intelligence layer built to operate across various manufacturing processes, workflows, and systems, further solidifying its leadership position in assisting manufacturers in utilizing AI in order to move from systems of record to systems of action.

Manufacturing Intelligence is built to assist manufacturers move from asking what took place to responding to what the business should do next – and then taking action on it. QAD | Redzone announced a slew of bold announcements on AI-powered innovations, including Manufacturing Intelligence at its annual Champions of Manufacturing event being held September 21-23 in Chicago.

Manufacturing Intelligence is the next frontier in QAD | Redzone strategy in order to help manufacturers move from systems that mostly store and handle information to systems increasingly able to understand, make decisions, and create action. The vision utilizes the QAD | Redzone Manufacturing Platform, which is accessible to manufacturers today, combining Adaptive ERP, Redzone Connected Workforce, Supply Chain as well as ChampionAI to link the systems, people, processes, and decisions that influence manufacturing success, from the shop floor to the top floor.

Intelligence will be distributed throughout the manufacturing environment rather than intelligence tied to a single application. Over time, it will merge QAD | Redzone’s manufacturing domain knowledge with manufacturing data, workflows, and AI to aid manufacturers in earlier detection of changes, understanding the implications, determining the correct response, and executing that response within the systems where work gets done. It is designed to broaden beyond the QAD | Redzone technology stack so manufacturers may utilize manufacturing-specific intelligence throughout diverse environments without modifying the systems they already have.

As per the CEO of QAD | Redzone, Sanjay Brahmawar, “Manufacturers don’t need more AI for the sake of AI. They need better outcomes to protect margin, respond faster to disruption, improve execution, and help their people perform at their best by leveraging intelligence to create for customers manufacturing environments that can continuously understand what is happening, determine what should happen next, and turn those decisions into action. Manufacturing Intelligence is our vision for bringing intelligence across the systems, workflows, and decisions that determine outcomes. We didn’t back into this name; we’re purposefully claiming it for the industry because it has the potential to help all manufacturers become faster, more resilient, and more competitive as champions in their field. And manufacturers don’t have to wait for that future to begin. All of the innovations we’re announcing today give them practical ways to create value now, wherever they are in their transformation.”

QAD | Redzone also announced plans to integrate technology from NVIDIA, combining the company’s accelerated computing and AI capabilities with QAD | Redzone’s manufacturing skills and operational setting across ERP, interconnected workforce, supply chain, production, and quality. This blend of technology and expertise in manufacturing will assist in helping create a federated intelligence layer that can comprehend manufacturing context across various systems without forcing manufacturers to substitute the technology they already run, connecting intelligence no matter where it lives.

No other provider can offer the same combination of depth and reach for that mission, said QAD | Redzone. Manufacturing Intelligence is built on QAD | Redzone’s basis for deep manufacturing domain knowledge, real operating data from over 6,000 plants globally, and decades of experience within the most regulated, most unforgiving manufacturing environments in the world – be it automotive, life sciences, food and beverage, industrial, or advanced tech.

Says industry 4.0 and digital transformation expert and founder Jeff Winter, “Anyone can make AI look smart in a demo; making it useful inside a real plant is much harder. That takes critical manufacturing expertise: a real understanding of operators, processes, constraints, and what actually improves performance. QAD | Redzone has built that foundation across thousands of manufacturers,” said Jeff Winter, Industry 4.0 and digital transformation expert and founder of Jeff Winter Insights. “QAD’s vision for where this can go is highly compelling and closely aligned with my own. It combines real ambition for AI with the manufacturing depth needed to make it useful.”

Attendees at Champions of Manufacturing in Chicago will get their first look at Manufacturing Intelligence with live demos, workshops, and an environment to test drive the innovation. Manufacturing Intelligence is scheduled to be released in spring 2027.

Leading Edge Innovation for Manufacturers

QAD | Redzone continues to differentiate itself with industry-leading innovation, unveiling major new offerings at Champions of Manufacturing 2026, as well as the launch of Manufacturing Intelligence and the integration of NVIDIA, QAD | Redzone –

• The company announced Champion Assist, bringing intelligence directly into everyday ERP as it expands AI across Adaptive ERP and introduced new persona-based Champions across procurement, sales, sourcing, and accounts payable.
• Agentic AI hits ERP with Lynx Champion, an app that speeds modernization by analyzing legacy customization with AI so as to reimagine the transformation.
• Redzone is introducing AI directly to the manufacturing frontline with new purpose-built Champions integrated into the flow of work for execution-related roles such as Line Lead, Ops Manager, Inspector, Kaizen, Yield, Recognition, and Skills agents, all with an interest in promoting better manufacturing performance. This innovation is one of many integrations between Redzone, QAD ERP, and other critical systems.
• Introducing agentic AI into global trade compliance with a dedicated champion, a critical innovation that turns global trade from reactive compliance to proactive trade intelligence.

Opines Robert Kramer, founder and managing partner of KramerERP, a boutique advisory firm specializing in AI, ERP, SCM, data, and security, with an emphasis on real-world results, “AI value doesn’t arrive alongside ERP; it arrives through it because the business context is already there, something the QAD team intuitively understands. These kinds of AI-powered innovations, now further enhanced by a strong vision for manufacturing intelligence, are the whole idea behind moving from ERP systems of record to systems of action. When combined with shop floor systems, we can see how technology enables transformation, while empowered people determine outcomes.”

The innovations presented at Champions of Manufacturing come at a time when manufacturers are grappling with rising challenges from labor shortages, margin pressures, supply chain instability, volatile global markets, and increasing operational challenges, while at the same time being asked by boards and leadership teams to show how AI will deliver measurable business value.

QAD | Redzone’s methodology is to begin by identifying the manufacturing problem, based on deep expertise and over 40 years of manufacturing experience and data, not the technology: Find a meaningful workflow, comprehend the obstacles and economic impact, apply intelligence where it may enhance the result, establish the value, and grow from there.