Five Takeaways from QAD’s Champions of Manufacturing 2026

Posted on: October 6, 2026 | By: Courtney Xia | QAD Practice News

The Logan Consulting QAD team spent September 21–23 at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago for QAD | Redzone’s Champions of Manufacturing. A year ago, the industry question was “What can AI do for manufacturers?” This year, QAD answered with customers on stage showing what it’s already doing. Here are our five biggest takeaways.

1. QAD’s AI conversation has moved from hype to proof

More than 30 “Trailblazer Champions” shared real results. Molex simplified a complex ERP environment on Adaptive ERP and then picked QAD again for a new facility. Reyes put new tools directly in the hands of plant-floor workers. AmSafe used Champions AIto work smarter, not harder. While some of these results were part of a bigger plan, we viewed all of these as very positive and it re-enforced an important principle. You have to start somewhere and to get a measurable clear win is a solid start versus swinging for the fences with a transformational AI initiative. It also supports QAD’s CEO Sanjay Brahmawar’s message that outcomes matter, not AI for its own sake. QAD is now targeting measurable value within 90 days.

2. Champion AI is getting practical

Two announcements stood out for day-to-day users. Champion Assist is a conversational copilot built into Adaptive ERP. For example, instead of running a report, you can now ask which blanket orders are expiring or how you’re tracking to budget. The Accounts Payable Champion works in the background. It pulls in invoices from email, supplier portals and EDI, runs the three-way match, and flags only the true exceptions. QAD cites a 50% cut in invoice processing costs and a 90% auto-match rate. It also works alongside SAP, Infor, Epicor and QAD Enterprise Edition 2016+ with no system modifications.

3. Lynx Champion changes the upgrade math

Virtually every QAD customer we talk to has some level of (often significant) heavily customized legacy systems, and the people who built those customizations have retired or are close to retiring. Lynx Champion uses agentic AI to analyze those customizations and shrink modernization timelines from years to weeks. Our take: the tool speeds up the analysis, but someone who knows your business still has to decide which customizations to keep and which to retire.

4. Manufacturing Intelligence is the long game

QAD | Redzone introduced Manufacturing Intelligence, built with NVIDIA. It’s an intelligence layer that connects ERP, shop floor, supply chain, quality and workforce data without ripping and replacing anything. Planned capabilities include visual AI for quality inspection, natural-language questions about your data, and automated document processing. QAD summed it up this way: “Manufacturing does not have a data problem. It has an intelligence problem.” General availability is expected in spring 2027.

5. Community is still the multiplier

This year the Midwest, Southeast and West Coast user groups came together for the first-ever User Group Day. As QAD’s oldest services alliance partner, one of the most striking and impressive observations we admire is QAD’s management walking the walk when it comes to partnering with both clients and partners like us. A refreshing and welcome change that in conjunction with QAD’s realistic AI Strategy, makes us very optimistic about QAD’s future. While Keynotes from Scottie Pippen and Dr. Peter Diamandis drew the crowds,  the most valuable conversations happened in the hallways, where manufacturers compared notes on what’s actually working.

What this means for you

AI doesn’t replace the fundamentals. It rewards them. Before your next planning cycle, ask three questions:

  1. How much of your QAD environment is custom, and who still understands it?
  2. Is your data clean enough for an AI agent to trust it?
  3. Which one workflow, such as AP, could benefit from an AI assist?

Logan Consulting helps QAD manufacturers answer those questions and turn the roadmap into results. If Champions got you thinking, let’s have a conversation.