Anthropic's Claude for Manufacturing plugs into factory software

Anthropic's move puts Claude inside the software factories already run on, rather than asking manufacturers to adopt a new standalone tool. By connecting to Autodesk Fusion, Oracle NetSuite, Microsoft 365 and Infor through four universal interfaces, the plugin targets everyday workflows like quoting from inventory, comparing suppliers and generating quality reports. The addition of an Infor plugin lets Claude order from backup suppliers and reschedule production when deliveries are delayed, but only after human approval, and all results link back to source documents for employee review.

The release stops short of physical control. For that, Anthropic is separately developing the Model Hardware Standard as a research preview, which would connect AI agents to devices like robotic arms and microscopes via standardized drivers. Anthropic says this cuts setup time from weeks or months to hours or minutes, but human oversight is still required because the AI has a limited grasp of physical processes.