For Mittelstand manufacturers and exporters
Your plant in Germany ships to the world. Why does the office still retype every order?
We build AI that reads order confirmations, delivery notes, and material certificates, checks them against your rules, and puts clean data into your ERP, the system that runs orders and billing. A person on your side signs off on anything that matters.
We reply within one business day. If a simple rule in your ERP would fix it, we'll tell you.
The machines are precise. The paperwork isn't.
A customer in Ohio sends a purchase order as a PDF, in English, with its own part numbers. A supplier in Bavaria moves a delivery date on page two of its order confirmation. A steel mill sends a test certificate that someone must check against the drawing. Each one is read by a person and typed into the ERP by hand.
You know your cycle times and your scrap rate. But the office depends on two or three people who know which customer uses which form. When one is on holiday, orders wait. When a US customer changes its order form, a date slips through.
A firm that holds tolerances in microns shouldn't depend on someone's memory to ship on time. Reading and matching routine documents is work software can do. Your people should spend their day on the calls that need judgment.
A US security firm that respects how you work
You've heard big promises about AI. You may have watched an ERP project run a year late. And you don't hand customer data to anyone lightly. So we start with one process you pick, built around the systems you already run. Nothing goes live until you've seen it work on your own files.
Network Kings is based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and CISSP-led. CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) is a senior security credential that requires years of hands-on work. Our lead engineer has 15 years in regulated financial services, where every change was tracked and checked. The scope is written down, each automated step is logged, and you can see who approved what. If AI is the wrong tool and something simpler would do, we'll say so.
Where we help Mittelstand firms
AI document processing is where most German exporters start. These four services fit what export manufacturers deal with most.
Three steps, starting with one process
-
Pick one process. Tell us which task eats the most hours, like order entry or certificate checks. We map it with the people who do it now.
-
See it work on your files. We test on real documents from your business, then send a written scope and price before we build anything.
-
Run it, then decide. We watch it, fix the odd cases, and report each month. If it pays off, we move to the next process.
Why this matters for firms in Germany
Germany's economy runs on firms that make things and sell them abroad: cars and car parts, machinery, and electronics above all. Much of it comes from the Mittelstand, the mostly family-owned small and mid-size firms. In 2025 the US was the top buyer of German goods. That means more orders in English and more paperwork that doesn't match your forms.
E-invoices help, since XRechnung and ZUGFeRD files (Germany's e-invoice formats) arrive as data, not paper. The harder part is everything else: order confirmations, US purchase orders, delivery notes, and quality paperwork that still gets keyed by hand.
More connections also mean more to protect. Each link between your ERP and an AI tool is one more way in. NIS2, the EU's updated cybersecurity law, now covers far more German firms. So security is part of every build.
- The US was the top destination for German exports in 2025: 146.9 billion euros of 1,569.6 billion euros in total. Source: Destatis (Federal Statistical Office), exports in December 2025 (opens in a new tab)
- Personal data sent outside the EU needs a legal tool, such as an adequacy decision or standard contractual clauses. Source: European Commission, data protection (opens in a new tab)
- Small and mid-size firms are 99.2% of German enterprises and held 54.4% of all jobs in 2024. Source: IfM Bonn, Institute for SME Research (opens in a new tab)
- In 2025, 23% of German firms with 10 to 49 staff used AI, against 57% of large firms. Source: Destatis, enterprises using AI (opens in a new tab)
- Germany's NIS2 law took effect on December 6, 2025, raising supervised organizations from about 4,500 to about 29,500. Source: BSI (Federal Office for Information Security), press release, in German (opens in a new tab)
GDPR, the BDSG, and the EU AI Act
Two data laws shape any AI project in Germany. The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation, EU Regulation 2016/679) sets the rules for personal data across the EU, including data sent to a firm outside the EU, like us. The BDSG (Federal Data Protection Act) adds German rules. For example, a firm must name a data protection officer, or DPO, once at least 20 people there routinely work with personal data.
The EU AI Act (Regulation 2024/1689) adds rules for AI itself. Some already apply, such as bans on certain uses and a duty to make sure staff who use AI understand it. In July 2026 the EU pushed most high-risk rules, such as those for AI used in hiring, back to late 2027 and 2028. Reading order paperwork is usually not high-risk, but your advisers should confirm that.
Before any work starts, we put in writing what data we touch, where it's stored and processed, and who can access it. Your DPO or lawyer can then assess it, including any transfer of data to the US. Sensitive data can stay on hosting you control. We don't certify compliance. Your DPO or counsel makes that call.
Working with a firm in Michigan
We serve clients in Germany remotely from Kalamazoo. Germany is six hours ahead of Michigan for most of the year, and five for a few weeks in spring and fall, when the clocks change on different dates. We agree meeting times when we scope the work, and the build happens by video and secure remote access.
We work in English and Spanish, not German. Your documents can stay in German, and we check how well the AI reads them on your own files first.
Prices are in US dollars: projects from US$4,999, professional services at US$250 an hour, and managed plans quoted to fit. If your project needs staff training or a meeting in person, we can travel to you. Travel and lodging aren't in any posted price. We quote them as their own line.
Questions from businesses in Germany
Can your AI read documents written in German?
Usually, yes, including documents that mix German and English. Accuracy depends on your files, so we don't quote a number up front. Send 3 to 5 real samples with the form, private details blacked out if you like. We show you what it read right and wrong, free, and delete your samples within 30 days.
Our supplier invoices already arrive as XRechnung or ZUGFeRD. Do we still need this?
Maybe not for those invoices. They're already structured data, so a direct import into your ERP may be enough, and we'll say so. The bigger win is often the order confirmations, delivery notes, and certificates that still come as PDFs or scans.
Will our data leave the EU?
That depends on the setup, and you see it in writing before work starts: where each piece of data is stored and processed, and who can reach it. We work from the US, and sensitive data can stay on hosting you control. Your DPO or lawyer decides whether the setup, including any transfer to the US, works for you.
Do you do penetration testing in Germany?
Yes, remotely. Penetration testing in Germany starts the same way as anywhere: nothing runs until you sign a written authorization and scope. A person approves each stage, and you get a plain report and a retest.
How do we pay, and what does it cost?
We quote and bill in US dollars, and you get a written scope and price before any build starts. Our pricing page has the details.
Tell us which paperwork slows your office down
Pick the one task that eats the most hours. We'll tell you plainly whether AI automation in Germany makes sense for it, or whether a simpler fix would do.
Free first conversation. We reply within one business day, and there's no obligation.