The Challenge

A trade association representing over 1,500 manufacturing companies faced a recurring productivity drain in its primary inbox.

Each day, the communications team received hundreds of emails — only a fraction were actually relevant to their mission. While some messages were about membership or events, the majority came from end customers seeking product support, replacement parts, or manuals for machinery built by the association’s member companies.

Manually redirecting these messages was repetitive, time-consuming, and offered no strategic value. The staff’s expertise was being spent copying, pasting, and forwarding messages that should have gone directly to manufacturers. At the same time, users were frustrated by slow or misrouted replies.

The result was a clogged inbox, wasted time, and a poor experience for everyone involved.

What We Built

We implemented an AI Directory & Triage Agent designed to act as an intelligent inbox filter — separating internal business from external product support inquiries, and providing immediate, helpful responses on behalf of the association.

The agent connected directly to the organization’s primary mailbox, analyzing every incoming message in real time.

1. Intent Analysis

• • Used natural language processing (NLP) to classify emails as internal (e.g., membership, events, or partnerships) or external (e.g., equipment support, replacement parts, manuals).
  • Internal messages were automatically routed to the correct departmental inbox for human review.

2. Entity Extraction & Directory Search

• • When an email referenced a product, company, or brand, the agent extracted that entity using contextual text recognition.
  • It then queried the association’s structured database of ~1,500 verified member companies to identify a matching manufacturer and retrieve its public contact details.
  • If a valid match was found, the agent replied directly to the sender with the appropriate manufacturer’s contact information and a brief explanation that the association does not provide technical support.
  • If no match was found, the agent responded politely, advising the sender to verify the company name or contact their point of purchase.

3. User-Facing Enhancement (In Progress)

• • To further improve responsiveness for in-house inquiries (like “How do I become a member?”), the association is now extending this system to integrate directly with its public contact form and chat interface.
  • When users submit a query that the AI can address, the bot immediately opens a chat session and provides real-time guidance before a human reply is needed:
    “Your query has been submitted, but in the meantime, let’s see if I can help. To become a member, you’ll need to complete our application and submit your company profile for review…”
  • This enhancement transforms the triage system from a reactive inbox filter into a proactive customer support layer — reducing wait times and improving user experience without adding staff workload.

The Challenges We Faced

The main challenge was entity precision. Many users referenced manufacturer names inconsistently or included model numbers and nicknames instead of official company titles.
We implemented fuzzy matching, synonym recognition, and spelling correction to reliably match partial or misspelled company names.

Maintaining tone and consistency was another priority. Every automated response had to sound professional and empathetic, reflecting the association’s voice. A prompt-tuning layer ensured clarity, warmth, and consistency in every reply.

Finally, data accuracy was critical. To avoid misdirection, the agent synchronized nightly with the member database, ensuring the directory remained current and reliable.

The Outcome

• 90% Reduction in Manual Sorting: The agent now handles most inquiries autonomously, freeing staff for higher-value work.
• Instant External Replies: Users seeking manufacturer support receive the right contact within seconds.
• Improved Internal Focus: Staff now concentrate on membership, events, and partnerships instead of inbox management.
• Enhanced User Experience: Senders receive clear, timely responses — even when their requests fall outside the association’s scope.

Before: Each morning began with 1–2 hours of inbox triage and manual forwarding.
After: Only relevant messages reach human staff; all others are handled automatically or redirected within moments.

The result is a lean, intelligent communications workflow that saves time, improves response quality, and positions the association as both responsive and technologically forward-thinking.