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Precision-slit stainless steel coil passing through industrial rollers
Stainless International

The AI partner for UK business

Live ERP-integrated AI supporting sales and purchasing decisions

Stainless International has been supplying stainless steel since 1991, delivering coil, sheet, tubular and long products to customers globally. The business competes on the strength of its international supply network, its knowledge of stainless producers, and a consistently high service standard that its customers rely on. Quoting fast, buying well and delivering on time are daily requirements, essential to ensuring it stays competitive and delivers best value to its customers.

Established in the UK in 1991, Stainless International supplies stainless steel to customers globally, delivering coil, sheet, tubular and long products.

Precision stainless steel strip being slit into narrow coils

Instro is a UK-based technology business delivering AI solutions that integrate into existing business systems, enabling faster and smarter decision making without the need for a data or systems overhaul.

Everything is securely delivered within AWS infrastructure and fully backed up by Instro's UK-based support team.

The challenge

The metals market has become increasingly complex. Environmental impact (CBAM), Corporate Social Responsibility, commodity prices, foreign exchange, quotas, duties and hedging all influence buying strategy. Much of the information needed to price enquiries and order material was already in the business. The problem was making sure that information was complete and instantly available, so the business could compare costs accurately and quickly.

  • Pricing effectively in a changing market while managing risk meant bringing all of these factors together. The existing ERP system - the software that runs orders, stock, purchasing and invoicing - could not run the 'what if' comparisons those decisions needed.
  • Sales and margin analysis involved pulling together individual spreadsheets, building a combined view and then checking it back against the ERP system.
  • Enquiries relied heavily on experienced staff knowing which ERP report to look at and where to find the right information.
  • The business was also keen to support its next generation of employees with the kind of intuitive technology they increasingly expect to have available.

Top trial priorities

  • Sales and budget variance analysis - comparing actual sales and costs against budget
  • Testing the cost of individual activities and the cost per job against budget and source data
  • Enquiry handling through an Email Handler

The AI system deployed

Instro ran a controlled trial, embedding AI into live ERP data and focusing on the two areas the Managing Director considered the top priorities.

  • Sales and budget variance analysis compared actual performance with budget and checked activity and job costs back against source data.
  • The Email Handler read incoming enquiries and prepared a draft reply for staff to review.
  • Companies House data and website research gave the sales team a much better sense of who was making the enquiry.
  • The controlled environment tested the value of both workflows before they moved into live use.

Source data used

  • Selected live ERP datasets
  • Individual sales and management spreadsheets
  • Budget and source data
  • Incoming customer enquiries
  • Companies House data and company website research

From controlled trial to live use

As a result of the trial, Stainless International moved to live use on 1 June 2026, with further users due to be added later in the year. Instro records time savings and business value as they are realised in the business.

The impact

Existing data.

Unlocked greater value.

The AI delivered insights beyond management expectations and identified new opportunities to support growth.

Management view.

One trusted answer.

Instro reconciled spreadsheets with ERP data, providing consistent answers on performance, margin and demand.

Commercial decisions.

Access to live numbers.

Managers can access account, product, margin and consumption data in plain language, without waiting for reports.

Sales opportunities.

Pre-qualified prospects.

The Email Handler helped identify and qualify new prospects that Stainless International is now in dialogue with.

Data security.

Increased data security.

The trial exposed a response delay caused by email security controls, allowing the issue to be resolved before go-live.

Live rollout.

1 June 2026.

Stainless International moved into live use, with further users due to be added and business value recorded as it is realised.

In their words

“The metals market is more dynamic and complex than at any time in its history. Environmental impact, taxation (CBAM), Corporate Social Responsibility, foreign exchange, duties and quotas now all influence the customer's buying journey, and there is an enormous amount of information to process before a well-informed commercial decision can be made. That is where we see AI becoming increasingly important - bringing complex data together and turning it into clear, actionable intelligence. Embedding it in our systems also gives the next generation a more natural way to interrogate business data, helping us build on the knowledge and experience that already exists within the business.”

Andy Holland, Managing Director, Stainless International

“Working with Stainless International has been a genuine partnership. We developed the solution iteratively, working closely with their ERP data and their people to build and test something robust, with outputs the business can rely on. That confidence in the numbers is what has allowed the team to transform the way it approaches commercial trading.”

Phil Sanders, Commercial Director, Instro

What this means for Stainless International

Because Instro reads the selected ERP data, answers come from the numbers the business actually runs on. Managers can ask, in plain language, how an account is performing against budget and where margin is being won or lost without waiting for a report. It also prompts team members with improvements specific to their own role. The management team gets the same evidence on consumption, job costs and margin by product group to judge what to hold and what to buy against confirmed demand. Stock and purchase optimisation is the agreed next step for the modules already in live use.

Going forward

AI-embedded Coil Calc

The app will replace the company's legacy coil calculator, the tool at the heart of how the business generates profit margin and delivers customer value. It will let buyers compare total cost of ownership - the full cost of buying, processing and using the material - rather than price per tonne alone, giving Stainless International a clear way to evidence and assure best value. Because the lowest price per tonne does not always reflect the lowest overall cost, the business wants to highlight the hidden value and efficiencies that reduce the customer's unit cost.

Conversational website assistant

The assistant will sit alongside the Coil Calc on the website, pointing coil enquiries to the calculator and interpreting the results conversationally for buyers who would rather ask a question than fill in a form. Each conversation will shorten the route from first enquiry to firm quote, helping both the sales team and the buyer reach the right outcome faster.

Do you supply, process, recycle or finish steel?

Book a discovery call and we will map your use case, your data sources and a rollout plan.