At Anderson Foundries, we're bringing some of the newest technology to one of the world's oldest industries. And Google noticed.
In 2026, Google Workspace selected Anderson Foundries — a family-owned network of three American manufacturing companies — to be featured in a national campaign showcasing how small businesses are using AI to transform traditional industries. The feature, produced by Google and distributed across its platforms, highlights how Kory and Ali Anderson are using Google Workspace and Gemini to modernize foundry operations that have remained largely unchanged for generations.
The recognition is part of Google's broader effort to document how AI is reshaping American manufacturing — and Anderson Foundries is one of the companies leading that charge.
Watch the Google Workspace Feature
Google's campaign video — "How an Iron Foundry Preserves Legacy Knowledge with Gemini Notebook" — follows Kory Anderson through the foundry floor, documenting how a foundry operation is using AI to capture decades of institutional knowledge and make it accessible to every new hire.
"How an Iron Foundry Preserves Legacy Knowledge with Gemini Notebook" — produced by Google Workspace
The Challenge: Modernizing a 150-Year-Old Industry
Iron foundries have operated largely the same way for over a century. The knowledge required to pour a quality casting — the metallurgy, the mold preparation, the pour temperature, the cooling time — lives in the heads of experienced workers who have spent decades on the floor. When those workers retire, that knowledge often walks out the door with them.
For Kory Anderson, CEO of Anderson Foundries, this wasn't an abstract problem. It was an existential one. Running a network of three manufacturing companies — Dakota Foundry, Muncie Castings, and Spartan Pattern — with a lean team, the risk of losing institutional knowledge was real and immediate.
The solution wasn't to hire more people. It was to make the knowledge that already existed more accessible — to every employee, on every shift, in every situation.
"Google Workspace helps us compete on a global scale."
— Kory Anderson, CEO, Anderson Foundries · as featured by Google Workspace
How Anderson Foundries Is Using AI
Anderson Foundries integrated Google Workspace and Gemini across multiple areas of their operations — not as a replacement for skilled workers, but as a force multiplier for the people already doing the work.
- Quoting and Estimating: Gemini AI supports the quoting process by helping Kory draft, organize, and communicate proposals more efficiently — reducing the administrative burden so more time can be spent on the technical work that wins business.
- Quality Control and Defect Reduction: AI-assisted workflows help the team document and review quality processes, supporting consistent standards across casting runs and making it easier to identify and address issues as they arise.
- Institutional Knowledge Capture: Using Gemini Notebook, decades of foundry knowledge — pour temperatures, alloy specifications, mold preparation techniques — have been captured in a searchable, AI-accessible format that any employee can query in real time. This is the centerpiece of Anderson Foundries' AI initiative and the focus of the Google Workspace campaign video.
- Employee Training and Onboarding: Ali Anderson uses Gemini Notebook to support HR documentation, employee handbook management, and onboarding — making it easier to bring new team members up to speed and ensuring consistent, accessible information for every employee.
- Preventive Maintenance: AI tools help the team track equipment performance and support maintenance planning — contributing to the operational reliability that underpins Anderson Foundries' strong on-time delivery record.
By the Numbers
Metrics reported in Google's published Economic Impact profile for Anderson Foundries.
Customer growth and on-time delivery reflect overall company performance and should not be attributed solely to AI adoption.
Source: Google Economic Impact — South Dakota · Anderson Foundries profile
Why This Matters for American Manufacturing
The foundry industry is at an inflection point. Decades of offshoring have hollowed out domestic casting capacity. The skilled workforce is aging. And the institutional knowledge that makes American manufacturing competitive is at risk of being lost entirely.
Anderson Foundries is proof that the answer isn't to give up on American manufacturing — it's to give American manufacturers better tools. AI doesn't replace the ironworker who knows how to read a mold. It gives that ironworker a way to share what they know with everyone who comes after them.
That's the vision behind the Iron Warrior program — Anderson Foundries' workforce development initiative designed to attract the next generation of skilled manufacturing workers and give them the training, tools, and career path to succeed.
About the Google Workspace Feature
Google Workspace's campaign highlights businesses across industries that are using Google's tools in innovative, real-world ways. Anderson Foundries was selected as a featured company for its demonstrated use of Gemini AI in a traditional manufacturing environment — one of the most challenging and consequential sectors for American economic competitiveness.
The feature was produced by Google and published across its platforms. Anderson Foundries is featured by Google Workspace — this recognition reflects Google's documentation of how the company uses its tools, and does not imply a formal certification or corporate partnership.
Featured by Google Workspace · National AI Campaign
Anderson Foundries · 2026 · AI in American Manufacturing
Part of a Larger Story of Recognition
The Google Workspace feature is the latest in a series of national recognitions for Anderson Foundries. The company has been named to Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies list (#9 in Manufacturing, 2026), recognized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as a CO-100 Top 100 Small Business, won the American Foundry Society's Casting of the Year award twice, and been featured on Fox Business News, in Casting Source magazine, and in Google's Economic Impact Report.
Together, these recognitions reflect a consistent pattern: Anderson Foundries is not just surviving in a challenging industry — it's setting the standard for what American manufacturing can look like in the 21st century.
About Kory & Ali Anderson
Kory Anderson
CEO, Anderson Foundries · Dakota Foundry · Muncie Castings · Spartan Pattern
Kory Anderson is the CEO of Anderson Foundries and the featured voice in the Google Workspace campaign video. He led the company's AI initiative — from identifying Gemini as the right tool to implementing it across quoting, knowledge capture, and operations. A manufacturing entrepreneur, national speaker, and advocate for American industry, Kory speaks nationally on AI in manufacturing, workforce development, and the future of American industry.
Ali Anderson
Operations & HR, Anderson Foundries
Ali Anderson manages HR documentation, employee handbook development, onboarding, and employee experience across the Anderson Foundries network. She uses Gemini Notebook to keep critical HR knowledge organized, accessible, and up to date — ensuring every team member has what they need from day one.
The Anderson Foundries Companies
Anderson Foundries is the parent brand for three American manufacturing companies, each a specialist in its domain:
Source: Google Economic Impact Report — Metrics are sourced from Google's published Economic Impact profile for Anderson Foundries (economicimpact.google/state/sd/). Customer growth and on-time delivery reflect overall company performance. Google Workspace is a trademark of Google LLC. Anderson Foundries is an independent company featured by Google Workspace and is not formally certified or partnered with Google.
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