Indiana limestone was laid down about 340 million years ago. The way it is cut, shaped, and set has been handed down by people for well over a century. So it may seem strange for a stone shop in Spencer, Indiana to write about artificial intelligence. But that is exactly what has been happening on our floor, and we wanted to share it.
This special edition is a little different from the usual Stone Doc. It is less of a technical reference and more of a thank-you note: to the people who visited, to our team, and to a set of tools we never expected to be using.
A Day We Won’t Forget
A few weeks ago, we had the honor of hosting nearly 60 guests at our facility. They walked the mill, watched stone move from block to finished piece, and met the people who do that work every day.
What got the most attention that day was not a saw. It was a handheld scanner and a TV screen on the mill floor. Our guests saw MillWrite, the production tracking system we built in-house with the help of Claude, an AI model made by Anthropic. We were humbled by how many people stopped, asked questions, and wanted to know how a limestone shop ended up building its own software.
What MillWrite Does
For years, we tracked production by hand. Finished work was entered into Excel sheets from paper shop tickets, one line at a time. It worked, but every entry was a chance for a typo, and the numbers were only as current as the last time someone sat down to type them in.
MillWrite replaced that process. Each shop ticket now carries a barcode, and pieces are scanned as they move through the mill. The name is a nod to the millwright, the tradesperson who keeps a mill running, and to the fact that it writes the record of every piece we make.
- Every scan has a name and a time. Each team member signs in with a PIN and picks their station, so every piece is tied to who handled it, where, and when.
- Jobs track themselves. The barcode on each shop ticket carries the job number, piece mark, and cubic feet. MillWrite counts pieces against each job and flags it if a count goes over.
- The floor can see the day. A display on the mill floor shows daily and weekly production against our goals, along with the jobs in progress.
- Remakes are visible. When a piece has to be remade, it is scanned with a reason. Remakes show up as waste, because that is what they are, and seeing them is the first step to reducing them.
- Shipping is connected. Finished pieces are assigned to pallets, pallets to yard locations, and yard locations to trucks.
Lean manufacturing teaches you to see waste. MillWrite didn’t make our people better at their craft. It helped all of us see the work more clearly.
Where We’re Exploring Next
Since that visit, we have started exploring how AI can support other parts of the business. Some of this is in use, and some of it is early. All of it is being tested carefully, with our people checking the results.
Exploring how AI can help prepare and check programs for our CNC work, so our operators spend more time on the stone and less time on setup.
Using AI to help organize takeoffs and quantity surveys from drawings, giving our estimators a faster, more consistent starting point. Every number is still reviewed by a person before it goes to a customer.
Connecting AI to our website and content tools. Stone Doc itself is drafted with Claude’s help, then reviewed and corrected by us for technical accuracy before anything is published.
Dashboards for the office, shipping paperwork, raw material ordering, and the day-to-day reports that keep a fabrication shop moving.
What Hasn’t Changed
None of this cuts stone. A sawyer still reads a block. A finisher still knows by feel when a surface is right. A carver still brings a drawing to life. The knowledge in our building belongs to the people who carry it, and no software replaces that.
What AI has done is take some of the clerical weight off of those people: the double entry, the hunting through spreadsheets, the paperwork that pulls skilled hands away from skilled work. If it gives our team more time to do what they are best at, it has earned its place.
A Path I Never Expected
I spent my career in education, as a teacher, coach, building leader, and district administrator. I never imagined I would leave schools for a limestone mill, let alone find myself building software. I am not a trained programmer. What I bring is knowledge of how our shop works. Claude helped me turn that knowledge into tools.
Looking back, the two worlds aren’t as far apart as they seem. Good schools and good shops both run on people, clear systems, and a willingness to keep learning. I am grateful every day for the chance to keep doing that here.
— Donovan Garletts, President & CEO
Several of our guests asked whether tools like MillWrite could work in their own shops. We don’t have all the answers, but we would be glad to talk. If you run a fab shop, quarry, or anything where you need to track production and are curious about what this could look like for you, reach out. We are happy to share what we have learned and explore building something together.
Call 812-828-0701 or email info@limestonefab.com.
Thank You
- To our guests, for your time, your questions, and your encouragement.
- To our team, for being willing to try something new, testing it on the floor, and telling us honestly what worked and what didn’t.
- To our customers, whose projects give all of this a purpose.
- To the generations of Indiana stone workers whose craft we are trying to carry forward.
- Nearly 60 guests visited ILF and saw MillWrite, our in-house production tracking system built with the help of Claude.
- MillWrite ties every scan to a person, station, and time, tracks jobs, shows daily production, and makes remakes visible as waste.
- We are now exploring AI in CNC programming, estimating, our website and content, and more, with people reviewing every result.
- AI supports the craft. It does not replace the skilled people who cut, finish, and carve the stone.
- Other shops are welcome to reach out and explore building together.
Indiana Limestone Fabricators supplies custom cut Indiana limestone for architectural projects of every scale. Whether you have a project or just want to talk shop, we’d love to hear from you.
Indiana Limestone Fabricators · 2400 State Hwy 43, Spencer, Indiana 47460