A Buckingham manufacturer is investing in AI and digital technology to transform how made-to-measure curtain track systems are specified, ordered and manufactured.
Bradbury Tracks, based in High Wycombe, specialises in bespoke curtain tracks for retail, trade and commercial customers across the UK.
With support from Made Smarter South East, the business is developing a proprietary digital platform that streamlines the flow of information from customer enquiry through to production, reducing measurement errors, missing information and costly remakes while improving efficiency.
Alongside the investment, Bradbury Tracks explored AI-powered tools through the digital internship programme, while Managing Director Kris Theophanous completed the Leading Digital Transformation programme to help shape the company's future growth strategy.
We're at the beginning of an exciting transition. Our vision is to evolve into a fully integrated, digitally enabled manufacturer, offering a seamless experience for customers while improving internal efficiency. Working with Made Smarter is helping us shape a roadmap for that transformation and deliver it.
Kris Theophanous, Managing Director, Bradbury Tracks
Bradbury Tracks is a family-run manufacturer of bespoke curtain track systems for retail, trade and commercial UK customers.
The company has built its reputation on precision engineering, rapid lead times, and continuous improvement.
While this approach has helped the business develop its own technology and maintain a competitive edge, the team recognised an opportunity to do more with digital technology.
At the same time, the business faced a common challenge within the made-to-measure curtain track industry. Complex installations, particularly bay windows, rely on accurate measurements and detailed specifications, with errors or missing information often leading to delays, additional administration and avoidable production issues.
The challenge was finding the time, capacity, and specialist expertise needed to explore new technologies, develop digital skills and identify practical improvements that could simplify the ordering process, reduce errors and support future growth.
Bradbury Tracks' Made Smarter journey began with a Digital Transformation Workshop, delivered by Technology Adviser Jez Heys, which created a roadmap for improving efficiency, skills and future growth through digital technology.
Managing Director Kris Theophanous joined the 14-week Leading Digital Transformation (LDT) programme, gaining the tools and confidence to develop a digital strategy, lead change and take a more structured approach to technology investment.
The roadmap identified opportunities to use AI to support customer engagement, product specification and sales processes, resulting in Bradbury Tracks recruiting Adam Ahmed-Keyte, a master's student in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Southampton, through the Made Smarter digital internship programme.
Adam supported the development of an AI-driven chatbot to guide product selection and improve recommendations.
The project also captured decades of specialist product knowledge and explored future customer-facing AI tools. By creating a digital knowledge base, Bradbury Tracks began making that expertise more accessible across the business.
Bradbury Tracks also secured a £20,000 grant towards a £40,000 investment in Bradbury Order Buddy (BOB), a proprietary digital order wizard that simplifies the specification and ordering of made-to-measure curtain track systems.
Integrating product logic, measurement guidance and data validation with the company's ERP and production systems, BOB creates a seamless flow of information from customer enquiry through to fulfilment.
Through Made Smarter South East, Bradbury Tracks has developed new digital skills, invested in new technology and created a roadmap for future growth.
The digital internship gave the business access to specialist AI expertise that would otherwise have been difficult to source internally. The placement was such a success that Adam was offered a contract to continue working with the business after it ended.
Kris Theophanous, Managing Director, said: “Bringing in somebody with specialist AI knowledge gave us fresh thinking and helped us turn ideas into something practical for the business. The support has been invaluable, both technically and strategically.”
The investment in the BOB platform is expected to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the company's made-to-measure ordering process, reducing the risk of measurement errors, missing information and costly remakes, particularly for complex bay window installations.
By capturing and validating information at the outset, the system will reduce manual intervention and create a seamless flow of information from customer enquiry through to production, helping ensure customers receive the right product first time.
The project is forecast to create seven new jobs, upskill nine existing members of staff and increase profits by £600,000 over the next three years.
As a member of the Made Smarter South East programme's Steering Group, Kris is also helping shape future support for manufacturers by sharing lessons from the company's digital transformation journey.
Bradbury Tracks is continuing to explore opportunities to improve efficiency and enhance the customer experience through technologies such as ERP systems, automated picking and production processes, CNC tooling and digital product configuration.
The business is also exploring opportunities to license its proprietary track systems and commercialise elements of the BOB platform as a standalone solution for the made-to-measure sector.
Kris added: “BOB is about removing the barriers that make made-to-measure products difficult to order. It helps guide users through complex decisions, improves the quality of information coming into the business and reduces the risk of errors before they reach production.
“At Bradbury Tracks, we believe technology should support people, not replace them. This investment will give our team better tools, free up valuable time and allow us to focus more energy on problem-solving, customer service and continuous improvement.”
