Founder Builder

I built an AI-powered aerospace compliance software with the expert behind SpaceX's QMS and 300+ manufacturers use it.

I'm Andrew Steele, manufacturing quality engineer turned AI builder. I take what subject-matter experts know, encode it into AI, and ship it to the people who need it.

FactoryQA

The company I built and run on AI.

FactoryQA is the quality management system (QMS) regulated manufacturers use to run documentation, audits, corrective actions, supplier quality, and compliance in one place, replacing the spreadsheets, paper, and costly legacy tools most quality teams are stuck with.

Shipped to customers
300+ manufacturers
AI runs the business
sales · marketing · eng · support
Built with experts
domain SMEs & consultants
Specialized verticals
aerospace · auto · medical · electronics
app.factoryqa.com/compliance
FactoryQA Compliance module — framework readiness, AI Auditor findings, and upcoming audits
The Compliance module — framework readiness, evidence, and the AI Auditor in one view.
AI built into the product

The hardest parts of a quality manager's job, done by AI.

FactoryQA helps regulated manufacturers stand up a compliant quality system, prove it in audits, and run the daily quality work, with purpose-built AI handling the specialized, high-stakes tasks at every step.

AI QMS Generator · flagship we built an AI-powered AS9100 Consultant

An AS9100-compliant QMS, generated by AI.

It interviews a user the way a top aerospace QMS consultant interviews a client, then generates their complete quality system: the manual, policies, and procedures.

Why it matters

Compresses a months-long, $25,000 consulting engagement into a single guided session.

10,000
template-kit downloads
~34
documents generated
How it was built
utilizes industry-leading
template kit · 10,000 downloads
SME Consultant
Interview Process
built with the consultant behind SpaceX's QMS
AI QMS Generator
AI interviews the user like a consultant
Compliant AS9100 + ISO 9001 QMS
1 quality manual · 3 policies · ~30 procedures
AI QMS Auditor

Compliance, checked requirement by requirement.

The AI Auditor audits a customer's documented QMS against every major standard: AS9100, ISO 9001, IATF 16949, and ISO 13485. For each requirement it returns a compliance verdict, points to where the QMS documents it, and surfaces the in-app evidence proving it's followed in practice, not just on paper.

All major
standards covered
per-requirement
compliance verdict
evidence-backed
not just documents
What it checks
AS9100
ISO 9001
IATF 16949
ISO 13485
scans the customer's QMS against each one
AI Auditor
per requirement, with linked evidence
Audit Results & Gap Analysis
Quality Focused AI Assistants

A subject-matter expert in every module.

Domain assistants that analyze quality data and recommend specific actions. Each one ingests a real artifact a quality manager already works with and returns a structured proposal the user reviews, picks, or edits.

The assistants
CA
Corrective Action
NCR reportroot causes + CA/PA

Reads a nonconformance and proposes root causes plus corrective and preventive actions.

FMEA
FMEA Assistant
process stepfailure modes + RPN

Identifies what can go wrong in a process and scores it by risk.

CP
Control Plan
process + featurescontrols + measures

Specifies how to keep critical characteristics in spec, with measurement methods and reactions.

PPAP
PPAP Review
submission packagegaps + approval rec.

Validates a supplier's PPAP submission for completeness and flags gaps before approval.

+ a domain assistant for every core quality workflow
AI that runs the business

A whole company, operated by a fleet of agents.

The same approach runs the business itself. Sales, marketing, engineering, and support each run on agents, with a human in the loop where judgment matters.

Sales · BDR/SDR Agents

From a thousand leads to a hundred good ones.

Scans the internet for buying signals, scores each lead, enriches the data for all high-quality leads, collects contact data, and generates customized email sequences.

~1,000/day
leads scanned
~100/day
qualified out
Pipeline
Scan internet · buying signals
Score each lead
Enrich high-quality leads
Collect contact data
Generate and send customized email sequences
Pipeline
topics · brand voice
content agent
website · video · LinkedIn
~1 LinkedIn post/day
auto-scheduler · monthly
in LinkedIn
Marketing

A multi-channel content engine.

Works in the brand voice across channels. It generates website content, video content, and LinkedIn posts, then auto-schedules roughly one LinkedIn post a day.

website · video · social
channels
~1/day
posts auto-scheduled
Engineering & reliability

Bugs found and fixed before they spread.

Agents read production telemetry across four services, isolate the root cause of recurring failures, and draft fixes, with a human reviewing before anything ships.

10–20/wk
issues found & fixed
Pipeline
Honeycomb
root-cause agent
bug-fix agent
human review
Customer support · 3 agents

Onboarding, answers, and guidance.

Q&A agent

Reads from product documentation and the customer's live QMS data to answer questions in context, from "how do I close this CAR?" to "does this satisfy AS9100 §8.5.1?", citing the source clause or doc.

Onboarding agent

Ingests legacy quality records from Excel, PDFs, and old systems (suppliers, NCRs, PPAP packages, audits), maps them into the right modules, flags inconsistencies for review, and stands up the workflows. ~40 hrs saved per onboarding.

In-app guide agent

Context-aware walkthroughs that know the user's role and the screen they're on. Explains the next step in the user's own QMS terms instead of generic product copy, and adapts as the customer's setup changes.

Experience

Before FactoryQA.

It's the same discipline I apply now: working with people outside my own team to turn messy, high-stakes data into something a system, or a model, can be trusted with.

Rockwell Automation
Milwaukee, WI · Bend, OR · Remote
May 2013 – Jun 2025
Supplier Quality · Global PMO Lead · Software Product Security
  • Managed technical relationships with external suppliers, running on-site process audits, reviewing PPAP data packages and engineering drawings, and defining incoming inspection plans to ensure data quality at the source.
  • Defined and led the global Supplier Quality PMO strategy; ran monthly program reviews across all projects, surfaced roadblocks, and coached teams.
  • Helped build a third-party software and product-security program from the ground up.
  • Led issue escalation and root-cause analysis (RCFA and robust 8Ds), driving recurring defects out of the supply base.
  • Owned supplier development and transfer projects and the associated risk.
Columbia Vehicle Group
Reedsburg, WI
Nov 2011 – May 2013
Test Engineer
  • Created and executed new-product development test plans; scheduled and managed outsourced testing.
  • Ensured vehicle compliance with industry standards and resolved open issues.
  • Led future-development testing of Li-ion battery and drive systems; supported production with QA checklists and controller programming.
Oshkosh Corporation, Defense
Oshkosh, WI
Jun 2011 – Nov 2011
Manufacturing Engineer (Contract)
  • Programmed laser and plasma cutting machines across shifts; handled minor CAD design responsibilities.
  • Authored visual work instructions for the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles.
  • Led a weld-cell restructure that added welding stations and increased production volume.
Education
B.S., Manufacturing Engineering / Sustainable Design & Development
University of Wisconsin–Stout · Menomonie, WI
Associate of Computer Science (partial)
Central Oregon Community College · Bend, OR