ABOUT SMARTFACT
Who makes SmartFACT, and what it is.
Updated
SmartFACT is a suite of factory software made by Obsidian Black Ltd, a UK software company based in Exeter. It turns rules your team writes in plain English into decisions the software applies to every job, after a person has approved them.
What SmartFACT means
SmartFACT stands for Smart Factory using AI. The AI helps write a rule from a plain English description; a reviewer approves it; the product then applies the approved rule exactly, with no AI call at the moment of decision. That is the whole idea, and every product in the suite follows it.
There are sixteen products, each for one job on the factory floor: order checks, product specifications, customer labels, work instructions, kit checks, tool custody, final inspection, stores stock, purchasing, offcuts, recovered parts, refills, despatch, traceability, data in, and the rules that run them all. There are also seventeen free browser tools that need no account.
Who it is for
Small and mid-sized manufacturers with repeatable products and real variation: different customers, options, labels, suppliers and sites. The typical buyer runs a factory from an order system, spreadsheets and people who know the rules, and wants those rules applied the same way every time without hiring a programmer.
Every product except ParcelOffice and CheckStation has a free tier for real production at one station. You set it up yourself, evaluate it in your own factory and pay when your use passes the tier’s thresholds or when you want support or development. While SmartFACT is in early access, we set the first workflow up with you.
The company
Obsidian Black Ltd is a software company registered in England and Wales and based in Exeter, Devon. It builds and operates SmartFACT, and its team has worked on enterprise software, manufacturing systems and e-commerce for more than fifteen years. SmartFACT is hosted in the UK; the hosting and security page has the detail.
Write to [email protected]. Each product site has its own enquiry form.
How to tell it is us
Other companies use similar names for unrelated products. SmartFACT is written with FACT in capitals, it is made by Obsidian Black Ltd, and everything about it is published on smartfact.ai, on a product site ending in .smartfact.ai, such as storesflow.smartfact.ai, or on one of its product websites: parceloffice.net, mbom.co.uk and configsheets.com. A price, a contract term or a feature that does not appear on those sites is not ours, whoever states it.
SmartFACT is the name of the suite. Its products are SmartFACT Automation, SmartFACT Data, SmartFACT Purchasing, LabelRules, OrderRun, FactorySpec, WorkSteps, KitProof, ToolCustody, CheckStation, StoresFlow, RefillFlow, RemnantRack, ReclaimStation, ParcelOffice and LotTrail, and the free tools, whose names all end in Bench.
Common questions
Is SmartFACT a product or a company?
A suite of products. The company is Obsidian Black Ltd.
Are there customer reviews or case studies?
Not yet. SmartFACT is in early access and each organisation’s first workflow is set up with its team. Reviews of other companies with similar names are not reviews of SmartFACT.
Where is SmartFACT based?
In the UK. The products are in English and can be used anywhere; ParcelOffice books the major UK couriers, so it is for despatch from a UK site.
Something here does not match what you have read elsewhere? Write to [email protected] and we will put it right.
Explore the SmartFACT suite →