“There’s just a bunch of repetitive stuff we get and it’s a waste of time for a human being to put our name into it… In the perfect world, I guess, have some library of forms we have already filled out and have AI be able to read this library and just go, okay, here’s a new form. Auto populate it and then a human can review it and make sure everything looks good before sending it.”
– Brandt Kwiram, CEO & Owner, Hardcraft Industries, Inc.
Company: Hardcraft Industries, Inc.
Location: California, United States
Industry: Construction / Precision metal fabrication
Use case: Automating supplier onboarding, quality surveys, and commercial credit applications received from customers and vendors
Forms automated: Parpro PTI Supplier Quality Survey (FRM-35 Rev G), AWG Sales Credit Application
Form volume: Recurring vendor onboarding and customer credit packets for new and existing partners
At a glance
Hardcraft Industries, a family-owned precision metal fabricator serving major utilities and industrial customers, was spending valuable time re-typing the same company information into every new vendor packet and credit application.
With Instafill.ai, Hardcraft Industries:
- Converted flat PDFs into reusable, fillable PDF forms
- Centralized their company profile in a spreadsheet and used it to populate multiple forms
- Reduced repetitive data entry and made it easier to keep vendor packets consistent and complete
About Hardcraft Industries
Hardcraft Industries, Inc. operates a metal fabrication facility in San Jose, California. The company focuses on custom sheet-metal and CNC-machined products, including enclosures and racks used by power utilities and other industrial customers.
As part of working with large organizations and distributors, Hardcraft Industries regularly completes:
- Supplier qualification surveys
- Vendor setup packets
- Commercial credit applications and agreements
Each new relationship brings another set of documents to fill out before any work can begin.
The challenge: Re-typing the same company details into every packet
Hardcraft regularly receives vendor setup packets, supplier quality surveys, and credit applications from partners like Parpro PTI and American Wire Group. Each form is short but dense – a few pages of boxes and tables that all ask for roughly the same information:
- Legal business name and address
- Tax IDs and registration details
- Contacts in accounting and purchasing
- Bank and trade references
- Credit acknowledgments and signature blocks
Most of these documents arrive as flat PDFs with no interactive fields. There’s no way to map data into them automatically, so the only option is to open the attachment and fill it out by hand, which takes 15-20 minutes per form.
That creates a few predictable problems:
- Repetitive work. The same company profile must be typed or pasted into every new packet, even though almost nothing changes from one form to the next.
- Room for small but costly mistakes. It’s easy to miss a reference line, mistype a number, or leave a checkbox blank when copying information into yet another layout.
- No sense of reuse. Each new supplier survey or credit app feels like starting from scratch, even though 90% of the answers are identical.
Hardcraft Industries needed a way to turn these PDFs into proper forms, store their company details once, and reuse that information across whatever vendor or customer packet came in next.
The Solution: Profile-based form automation
Hardcraft Industries implemented an AI form filler to eliminate repetitive form entry:
Implementation process:
- One-time profile creation: Created a comprehensive company data profile containing all commonly requested information in a structured Excel spreadsheet:
- Company details (legal name, DBA, EIN, establishment date)
- Contact information (phone, fax, addresses)
- Bank reference details
- 3-5 trade references with complete contact information
- Standard business information (D&B number, business type)
- Form upload: Uploaded blank vendor forms as received
- AI analyzes form layout and detects all fillable fields
- Conversion of flat/scanned PDFs to fillable format when needed
- One-time setup per unique form
- Automated completion:
- Select the form to fill out
- Attach the company profile
- AI extracts relevant data and completes all fields
- Review and adjust if needed
- Download completed PDF
Key features used:
- Profile management: Store company data once, reuse for all forms
- Multi-format support: Handle Word documents, PDFs, and scanned forms
- Unstructured data handling: AI intelligently maps data to correct fields regardless of form layout
- PDF conversion: Automatic conversion of flat forms to fillable format
- Field correction feedback: Flag incorrect fields to improve future accuracy
Results: From 20 minutes to under 1 minute
Efficiency gains:
- Form completion time: 15-20 minutes → 30-60 seconds
- Time savings per form: ~95% reduction
- Consistent data entry: Zero transcription errors
Workflow improvement:
- No more hunting for company information across files
- All vendor forms are completed with the same stored profile
- Can process forms immediately upon receipt
Business Impact:
- Forms are no longer a procrastination task
- Can quickly respond to new vendor qualification requests
- Administrative burden eliminated from vendor onboarding
- More time focused on core manufacturing operations
Implementation experience: Profile creation and form setup
The implementation required minimal upfront work:
Initial setup (One-time):
- Created a comprehensive Excel spreadsheet with all company data
- Organized data in clear categories (company info, contacts, references)
- Uploaded 2-3 most common form templates
- Tested first form completion and refined profile data
Key learning: The system handles unstructured data effectively. The company can maintain one comprehensive spreadsheet with 200+ rows covering data for multiple form types, and the AI automatically identifies and uses only relevant information for each specific form.
Ongoing process:
- Receive new vendor form via email
- Upload to Instafill.ai (one-time per unique form)
- Fill using the stored company profile
- Review completed PDF (typically no changes needed)
- Download and submit to the vendor
The AI’s ability to handle various data formats meant the company could include data from previously filled forms, bank statements, and other documents in their profile, making the system increasingly comprehensive over time.
Why this matters for manufacturers and fabricators
Vendor qualification and credit applications are a universal requirement in manufacturing, but they create a disproportionate administrative load. Every vendor wants the same information, only in their own format. Most fabrication and construction businesses have limited administrative staff, so time spent on forms is time not spent on production, sales, or customer work. Manual entry also introduces the risk of typos and inconsistencies that can slow down onboarding or raise questions.
Automating this layer of work has clear advantages. Businesses can scale their business development and partnerships without needing to scale administrative headcount at the same pace. They can respond faster to vendor onboarding requirements, reduce the chance of human error in critical business information, and store their company data in a reusable, organized format instead of being scattered across different files and emails.
For companies like Hardcraft Industries that process 1-2 forms weekly, automation saves 25-40 hours annually – time that can be redirected to revenue-generating activities.
Technical details: Forms automated
1. Parpro PTI Supplier Quality Survey (FORM 35 Rev G)
- Multi-page supplier qualification questionnaire
- Sections covering quality systems, certifications, and capabilities
- Requires detailed company information and quality documentation
- Complex layout with multiple data categories
2. AWG Sales Credit Application
- 3-page credit application with terms and conditions
- Company information section (name, DBA, type, contact details)
- Bank reference requirements
- 3 trade references with detailed contact information
- Standard terms and conditions agreement
- Signature and date fields
Both forms were converted to fillable PDFs and configured to pull data from the company profile, enabling completion in under a minute per form.
Looking ahead: Scaling the solution
Future plans include:
- Adding more vendor form templates as new partnerships develop
- Expanding profile data to cover emerging form requirements
- Using API integration to auto-process forms received via email
The system’s flexibility means Hardcraft Industries can continue adding forms and data sources without rebuilding workflows, making it a long-term solution that grows with the business.