If you’re leading a legal department at a manufacturing company, you know the numbers all too well. The average manufacturing firm faces regulatory compliance costs, of $29,100 per employee annually, which are more than double what other industries pay. For small manufacturers, that figure jumps to a staggering $50,100 per employee. Add to that the rising tide of product liability litigation, with product liability cases climbing to 5,826 filings in 2022, and you’ve got a perfect storm of legal complexity that’s draining resources and demanding attention at the C-suite level.
However, here’s what’s changing: Manufacturing companies are no longer using AI solely to optimize production lines and improve quality control. Forward-thinking legal departments are leveraging the same technology to transform how they manage risk, regulatory, and internal investigations, respond to litigation, and drive strategic decisions. And the results? They’re game changing.
From production lines to legal timelines: The manufacturing legal challenge
Let’s be honest. The legal landscape for manufacturers has never been more complex. Your team is juggling product liability claims across global supply chains, navigating a patchwork of regulations spanning GDPR, CCPA, and industry-specific requirements protecting intellectual property in an era of rapid digital transformation, and managing cybersecurity incidents that require immediate legal response.
On top of that, there’s an information explosion. We’re talking about emails, contracts, presentations, text files, quality reports, and production documents. The unstructured data that’s critical when litigation hits, but overwhelming to review manually. And when that content is multilingual, the complexity multiplies exponentially.
Meanwhile, you’re being asked to do more with less. Legal budgets aren’t growing at the same pace as these challenges, and outside counsel fees continue to climb. It’s a pressure cooker situation that many of your peers are facing right now.
How can AI improve manufacturing legal operations?
This is where AI-powered legal technology fundamentally changes the equation. And we’re not talking about some theoretical future state—this is happening today, delivering measurable results for manufacturers who’ve made the leap.
The transformation extends beyond legal departments, too. Manufacturing companies are increasingly recognizing AI as a strategic imperative across operations. From optimizing supply chains and enhancing quality control to driving predictive maintenance, AI is reshaping how manufacturers compete. The legal department shouldn’t be left behind in this evolution. In fact, it’s uniquely positioned to demonstrate AI’s value in managing risk and protecting the business.
Speed to facts: How Bosch revolutionized legal decision-making
When Bosch’s legal team faced the reality of manual document review processes slowing their case strategy development, they knew something had to change. As one of the world’s leading manufacturing and technology companies, Bosch couldn’t afford to be reactive when it came to legal matters. They needed to be proactive, targeted, and fast.
Partnering with OpenText and our GenAI experts, they explored ways in which AI could streamline investigations, reduce costs, and deliver data-driven insights. This allowed the team to build on its use of OpenText™ eDiscovery, which has historically helped Bosch’s team process millions of documents and thousands of terabytes of data. By using OpenText eDiscovery, this is work that would have taken months with traditional manual review. The platform’s machine translation capabilities eliminated the need for human translators, a particularly critical feature for a global manufacturer dealing with multilingual communications across dozens of markets.
But here’s what really caught my attention: Franziska Fuchs, Bosch’s Vice President of eDiscovery, shared insight into the power and flexibility of the platform. During product shortage situations, something every manufacturer has dealt with in recent years, they used the technology to track and analyze communications patterns, giving them unprecedented visibility into how issues were being communicated and managed across the organization.
“We can see a significant return on investment,” Fuchs explained in relation to GenAI usage. “I estimate cost savings in the millions.” That’s not marketing speak; that’s peer reporting real results from a real implementation.
This shift is fundamental: Bosch is transforming from reactive firefighting to proactive, forward-thinking for its investigations. Their legal team gained the ability to assess cases faster, develop a strategy earlier, transform legal workflows, and make data-driven decisions that are aligned with business objectives.
Why is eDiscovery important for manufacturers?
Let’s talk ROI, because that’s what matters when you’re presenting technology investments to your CFO and CEO. Here’s what manufacturing legal teams should expect from modern eDiscovery and legal AI platforms: and legal AI platforms:
- Faster case assessment and strategy development: What used to take weeks now takes days or even hours. Early case assessment becomes truly early, giving you the strategic advantage of time.
- Dramatic cost reduction: Outside counsel fees for document review can be slashed. We’re talking about billable work that might have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars now being handled in-house for a fraction of that investment.
- Multilingual document review efficiency: For global manufacturers, this is huge. No more waiting for translators or paying premium rates for multilingual review. Technology handles it seamlessly.
- Enhanced risk management: Early visibility into case facts means better risk assessment, improved win-loss analysis, and more informed settlement decisions. You’re not flying blind anymore.
- Better business alignment: When you can quickly analyze data and present insights to business leaders, you become a strategic partner rather than just a cost center. Your legal decisions are grounded in data, not gut feelings.
- Scalability without headcount: Here’s the kicker: you can handle increasing volumes of legal work without proportionally increasing headcount. That’s a powerful argument in any budget discussion.
As noted in the Bosch success story: “Speed to facts is critical in the legal process and managing risk should be proactive, not reactive.”
And the numbers back up that urgency. Companies’ legal spending has jumped nearly 30%, with average litigation costs for companies with $1 billion+ in revenue reaching $4.3 million in 2024, which is up from $3.9 million just a year earlier. In this environment, having technology that delivers both speed and accuracy isn’t a luxury. It’s a competitive necessity.
Building legal technology capabilities that scale: Learning from Bosch’s success
So what can we learn from Bosch’s approach? A few key principles emerge:
- Maintain in-house control: While outside counsel will always have a role, bringing core eDiscovery capabilities in-house gives you control, reduces costs, and builds institutional knowledge. It’s your data, your cases, and your strategic decisions.
- Invest in AI literacy: Your team needs to understand not just how to use the tools, but how to think about AI-assisted legal work. Training and change management aren’t afterthoughts; they’re essential to success.
- Choose trusted technology partners: For high stakes matters, you need partners who understand both the technology and the legal landscape. This isn’t about buying software; it’s about building long-term capabilities.
- Integrate with business processes: The technology should fit into your existing workflows and systems, not force you to work around it. Think about how eDiscovery connects to your broader legal operations and business processes.
- Plan for change management: Be realistic, introducing AI-powered tools will change how your team works. Some people will embrace it immediately; others will need more support. Plan for that.
The future of manufacturing legal operations: Necessity, not luxury
Here’s the bottom line: AI-powered legal technology has moved from “nice to have” to “must have” for manufacturing legal departments. The complexity isn’t decreasing. The data volumes aren’t shrinking. The pressure to do more with less isn’t letting up.
But the good news? The technology is ready. It’s proven. Companies like Bosch are demonstrating that forward-thinking legal technology partnerships deliver measurable results. Not in the distant future, but right now.
The question isn’t whether to embrace AI in your legal operations. It’s how quickly you can move to capture the advantages it offers.
Ready to transform your legal operations?
Explore these resources to learn more:
- Read the full Bosch case study
- Watch Bosch’s legal transformation story (video)
- Find your eDiscovery solution for Manufacturing
- Discover how AI is driving efficiency across manufacturing operations
- Understand how we are leveraging GenAI with OpenText eDiscovery Aviator
