"[A transition to Dirac can reduce the time spent developing work instructions by 95%!]"

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Challenge

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Ancra operates in a high-mix aerospace environment with more than 500 unique assemblies across multiple systems. While engineering was fully digital, production remained document-driven.

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Days of documentation lead time

• Long lead times to generate shop floor documentation from engineering models slowed production readiness.

50%+ Engineering time on the floor

• Heavy engineering time spent supporting builds on the floor rather than higher value optimization work.

High tribal knowledge risk

• Build knowledge lived in screenshots, PDFs, and technician experience —never formally captured.

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Work instructions were manually authored. This created risk at the exact point aerospace demands certainty: variability during NPI and production ramp.

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For a company scaling complex aerospace programs, the discontinuity between design and execution became the primary operational constraint.

Solution

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Ancra deployed Dirac's AI-driven, model-based production planning platform to transform the product model into the operational source of truth on the factory floor.

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Within six weeks, production was live.

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Dirac enabled Ancra to:

• Generate shop floor-ready workflows directly from the 3D product model.
• Standardize tools, sequencing, and assembly methods across stations.
• Capture experienced operator knowledge within production workflows.
• Replace static drawings with model-based execution.
• Establish a continuous engineering-to-production feedback loop.

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Engineering intent now flows directly into execution.

Production no longer depends on manual translation.

Impact

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95% Faster documentation

• Work instructions that previously required several days now take hours to generate. Engineers translate design intent into executable workflows with speed and clarity. What once took days of manual authoring — screenshots, markups, and tribal handoffs — now flows directly from the 3D model to the floor.

50% Less engineering time

• Engineering effort shifts away from manual observation and troubleshooting toward higher-value optimization. Time on the floor is reclaimed for process improvement, not firefighting.

20% Throughput improvement

• Early prototype build throughput improved through reduced downtime and fewer disruptions. By creating and validating work instructions directly from the CAD model before assemblies reached the floor, typical downtimes from tool shortages and unclear instructions were minimized. In several cases, assemblies were effectively ready for build before physical components arrived, with long-lead tooling ordered ahead of time.

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Ancra shifted from document-driven assembly to model-driven production. Engineering intent now governs execution, tribal knowledge is institutionalized, and teams can execute complex assemblies with a shared understanding of how each unit should be built. From initial engagement to live production use in just six weeks.

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About Dirac

Dirac is a manufacturing technology company building the AI-driven system of record for production orchestration. Their product BuildOS is the first AI-driven work instruction platform that replaces document-driven manufacturing with an AI-driven, dynamic, model-based system. Dirac’s mission is to rebuild the industrial capacity of the West by turning manufacturing facilities into context-aware, adaptive, dynamic environments.

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