Ukraine's Military Tech and unmanned systems manufacturing sector is experiencing rapid growth. However, as companies scale production by two, ten, or even more times, many encounter new operational challenges. Traditional management approaches—including expanding headcount, coordinating workflows through messaging apps, and managing operations in Excel spreadsheets—eventually reach their limits. The shortage of qualified engineering talent, increasingly complex production coordination, and fragmented data have become the primary obstacles to sustainable growth.

Experts from the Ukrainian product IT company IT-Enterprise shared practical approaches to addressing these challenges during a dedicated webinar hosted by UA Tech School. Roman Yavorskyi, Chief Commercial Officer, and Taras Kakhnii, Head of DefTech Projects, presented real-world examples of digital transformation across defense manufacturing enterprises using ERP technologies and artificial intelligence.

During the webinar, the speakers demonstrated digital solutions already helping Ukrainian MilTech companies expand production capacity, improve operational efficiency, and mitigate workforce shortages.

Without ERP, Scaling Only Multiplies Chaos

According to IT-Enterprise experts, many production issues emerge long before a company begins scaling. When product specifications are maintained manually, engineering changes are distributed across multiple files, and production data is fragmented between Excel spreadsheets and disconnected software solutions, increasing production volumes inevitably leads to more errors, downtime, and operational losses.

For this reason, a modern ERP platform has become far more than another business application. It serves as a unified digital environment that integrates manufacturing, procurement, warehouse operations, finance, human resources, and engineering into a single ecosystem.

With real-time visibility into materials, equipment, personnel, and production resources, manufacturers gain the ability to optimize planning, respond rapidly to engineering changes, and maximize the utilization of existing production capacity.

According to IT-Enterprise, companies implementing an integrated digital platform typically achieve:

• Up to a 50% reduction in Time-to-Market through ERP integration with CAD systems such as SolidWorks, Creo, and other engineering platforms, eliminating duplicate data entry and automating technical documentation.

Case Study: Ukrainian control systems manufacturer Impulse successfully restored its production operations in less than one month after relocating its facilities, supported by the implementation of a digital manufacturing platform.

• Up to a 30% increase in production throughput by leveraging APS and MES planning systems that mathematically optimize equipment loading and production scheduling.

Case Study: FED Kharkiv Machine-Building Plant reduced production rescheduling time from two days to just ten minutes through APS planning while achieving 95% on-time order fulfillment.

• Up to a 50% reduction in inventory levels through automatic synchronization between WMS solutions, production schedules, and actual material demand.

AI Agents: Addressing the Engineering Talent Shortage

According to IT-Enterprise, the shortage of qualified design engineers, process engineers, and technical specialists remains one of the most pressing challenges facing Ukraine's defense industry. Under these conditions, scaling production simply by increasing headcount is no longer a viable strategy. Instead, manufacturers are turning to automation and artificial intelligence to improve productivity and make more efficient use of existing expertise.

Today, IT-Enterprise is deploying a digital AI ecosystem across MilTech enterprises that includes more than 45 specialized AI agents. These solutions automate up to 85% of repetitive operational tasks, allowing engineers and production teams to focus on product development, manufacturing, and process optimization rather than routine administrative work.

One of the key solutions is DocAI, which automatically recognizes, validates, and uploads contracts, invoices, delivery notes, and other primary documents into the ERP system with an accuracy of over 99.5%.

Case Study: Ukraine's largest military charity, Come Back Alive Foundation, uses DocAI to automatically process approximately 70,000 documents every month, reducing manual document processing by up to 90%.

Another area of application is AI-powered engineering documentation. These solutions automatically extract data from engineering drawings, standardize technical information, generate manufacturing routings based on 3D models, and significantly accelerate production preparation.

As a result, companies can reduce technical documentation processing time by up to 90% while shortening engineering approval cycles by up to 50%, enabling faster product iterations and more agile manufacturing.

To improve equipment reliability and production continuity, IT-Enterprise also offers SmartEAM together with the AI Anna Maly predictive maintenance solution. By continuously analyzing machine performance through mobile applications, QR-code identification, and operational data collected in real time, the system detects potential failures before they result in equipment breakdowns.

According to the company, predictive maintenance enables manufacturers to reduce equipment downtime and maintenance costs by up to 30%, while increasing the overall reliability and availability of critical production assets.

Transparency as the Foundation for Scaling and Investor Confidence

IT-Enterprise experts note that as Ukraine's MilTech industry matures, expectations from investors, international partners, and government customers continue to evolve. Today, competitive advantage depends not only on advanced technologies or product performance but also on transparent corporate governance, financial accountability, and efficient business operations.

A modern ERP platform therefore serves not only as a manufacturing management system but also as the foundation of a unified corporate information environment. Financial and management accounting compliant with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) provides real-time visibility into business operations, strengthens cost control, and increases transparency for investors, auditors, and strategic partners.

According to IT-Enterprise, digital transformation also creates new opportunities for Ukrainian manufacturers to expand into international markets. For defense companies in particular, operational transparency has become just as important as technological innovation.

Case Study: Ferrexpo implemented a transparent financial management system based on the IT-Enterprise platform, successfully completed audits conducted by one of the Big Four global auditing firms, and subsequently listed its shares on the London Stock Exchange, demonstrating how digital transformation can support international business growth and investor confidence.

Where to Start Digital Transformation in MilTech

According to IT-Enterprise experts, the success of digital transformation depends primarily on the quality of enterprise data. One of the fundamental principles of digitalization remains the well-known GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out) concept: if inaccurate or incomplete data enters the system, no level of automation can deliver reliable business outcomes.

For this reason, IT-Enterprise recommends implementing digital technologies in stages. The first step is establishing a unified digital environment based on an ERP platform, followed by data governance, process standardization, and operational optimization. Only after these foundations are in place can organizations fully unlock the value of artificial intelligence.

"Digital transformation has become one of the key prerequisites for scaling modern defense manufacturing. However, AI should not be the starting point. Companies must first establish a reliable digital foundation by implementing ERP, organizing corporate data, and standardizing business processes. Once this foundation is in place, AI technologies can automate routine operations, improve productivity, accelerate decision-making, and help address the shortage of qualified engineering talent," said Roman Yavorskyi, Chief Commercial Officer at IT-Enterprise.

According to the company, the implementation approach depends on the scale and maturity of each enterprise. Fast-growing manufacturers typically benefit from an Agile-based deployment model, enabling a minimum viable ERP solution to be launched within weeks. Larger defense manufacturers, meanwhile, usually adopt a phased enterprise-wide implementation strategy that gradually expands platform functionality while minimizing operational risks.

IT-Enterprise is a Ukrainian product IT company and one of the country's leading developers of enterprise digital transformation solutions. For more than 35 years, the company has been supporting the digital transformation of Ukraine's largest industrial enterprises and public sector organizations.

Its customer portfolio includes leading companies such as Interpipe, Ferrexpo, Nibulon, Ukrposhta, Ukrnafta, and Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia).

Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, IT-Enterprise has worked closely with government institutions to deliver mission-critical digital solutions, including humanitarian aid management systems, procurement process recovery initiatives, and business relocation support.

The company's Co-founder and CEO, Oleg Shcherbatenko, is a recognized advocate of Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0 technologies and actively promotes digital transformation across Ukraine's industrial sector.

IT-Enterprise continues to expand its technology ecosystem through strategic partnerships with Microsoft Azure, Oracle, Qlik, and Google. Since 2014, the company has been investing in Industrial AI and has delivered more than 40 Industrial AI implementation projects.

Today, IT-Enterprise has completed more than 1,450 digital transformation projects across defense manufacturing, industrial production, agriculture, energy, retail, logistics, and other industries.

Its digital platform is used daily by approximately 1.2 million users, while the company has successfully delivered more than 50 digital transformation projects for Ukraine's defense industry.

The IT-Enterprise platform complies with leading international information security and compliance standards, including ISO 27001, GDPR, and SOC 2, providing enterprise-grade security for mission-critical business operations.