Above: P.S. Data’s Steel Service Center Software (SSCS) uses artificial intelligence to help users manage inventory.
February, 2026- Our core differentiation is our ability to rapidly adapt and tailor software to each customer’s specific operating model,” explains Ben Vaughn, vice president and AI solutions architect at P.S. Data Services. “We are intentionally not a one-size-fits-all solution, and that allows us to advance each of our customers to where they need to be. We do that through cutting edge technology and being ready for what lies ahead.”
This niche approach has served as the P.S. Data model for more than 30 years—a legacy that can be traced back to founder Paul Sivak. Sivak recognized early in his career a demand for software to address the particular needs of the metal industry and launched P.S. Data Services in Middletown, Ohio.
Today, the company serves more than 300 global metal companies through customized solutions tailored to both current and future needs. “P.S. Data is working with our client base to develop customized solutions to leverage these trends in two key areas: data entry and production planning,” says Vaughn. “We do this through collaboration, applying AI and automation where it creates the most immediate value.”
REDUCING DATA ENTRY
The P.S. Data team spends significant time with steel service centers, toll processors, tube mills, distributors, metals producers and plate processors. “We are continually asking these customers about their most pressing technology needs,” says Vaughn. “Our process allows us to create more efficient, more effective and more advanced solutions to get customers from Point A to Point B and beyond.”
This process and the resulting customer input led to the development of several timesaving features built into P.S. Data’s Steel Service Center Software (SSCS).
“We realized that many of the most skilled people in a service center were spending a disproportionate amount of time on administrative tasks like data entry—time that should be spent on much higher-value work,” explains Vaughn. “Our software, paired with AI, is designed to eliminate that inefficiency and bolster productivity.”
For example, SSCS scans a purchase order and uses AI to merge the content into a sales order in the service center’s ERP system. “This is all done without human intervention and at the speed of light,” Vaughn reports, also noting that each metals company is slightly different and processes vary. “So, each AI model is unique to how our client is using the software, where they want validation checks by humans and how much (or how little) data they want AI to capture and process.”
CUSTOMER PORTALS
Vaughn says there has been a strong uptick in the creation of customer portals, a topic within a recent webinar Vaughn hosted. “Our customers are engaging technologies like Microsoft Copilot, specifically trained on their database, built by P.S. Data, which uses AI to answer customer questions without human intervention,” he notes. P.S. Data software connects Copilot to a customer’s ERP system for a seamless enduser experience.
The result is an AI-enabled experience for the metal buyer that is an everyday occurrence for traditional business-to-consumer interactions. A homeowner buying wallpaper from a Swedish website can ask the virtual operator a question regarding the wall coverage of a double roll of paper. In a matter of seconds, the virtual operator has calculated the number of rolls required for the project.
Service centers are beginning to use a similar virtual operator to respond to customer metal queries in real time. “Using natural-language queries, Copilot can instantly provide real-time inventory responses—such as how many bundles of 4-inch-square tubing are on hand at a specific location—along with future mill rolling schedules,” explains Vaughn.
Using natural-language queries through SSCS, a virtual operator provides real-time inventory details.
IMMEDIATE MINDSET
Deploying AI-enabled customer portals and AI “agents” trained on specific company knowledge should allow real customer-facing staff to focus on greater priorities. “Instead of manually tracking down responses to customer queries, the sales team at a service center can spend time growing the relationship,” says Vaughn.
Not every customer takes advantage of Copilot, but the capability exists through P.S. Data software. “There’s an expectation of immediacy that has become embedded across the business landscape, and the metals industry is no exception,” Vaughn notes. As with many industries, meeting that immediacy at a service center is crucial to obtaining and retaining long-term customers. “In many cases, when buyers reach out to multiple suppliers simultaneously, the service center that responds first gains a decisive competitive advantage,” reminds Vaughn.
GENERATIONAL SHIFT
Winning the business is one driver of increased automation. A generational shift in leadership is another. “P.S. Data has a lot of long-time customers. We are seeing a generational handoff in leadership that is influencing software needs. A service center’s founder may have used pen and paper to track orders. The next generation introduced a Cardex system. Today’s generation of leaders are looking to completely automate,” explains Vaughn.
He cites one service center customer that had one location when they initially engaged with P.S. Data. “That was 14 years ago, when the younger generation of leadership was in college and working on the shop floor during the summers. Now they are in a leadership role, and adopting technology to grow the business,” states Vaughn. “Today, that service center has three locations and business is booming.”
PRODUCTION PLANNING
Other service center challenges P.S. Data software helps to solve include reducing scrap, increasing efficiency and improving lead times. “Based on our depth of customer engagement, we believe that P.S. Data has one of the most comprehensive solutions and databases in the world focused on steel service centers and distribution,” claims Vaughn.
The company leverages this data for each customer. “Each customer has a slightly different approach to production,” Vaughn continues. “For example, some customers use coated materials; some have light-gauge capabilities while others focus on heavy gauge. These factors all become considerations for specifications in production planning,” says Vaughn.
Production planning capabilities of SSCS include schedules for each operator and machine; shift production status displays on the shop floor; integrating handheld applications for inventory control and external systems like scales and gage devices; and daily tool calibration.
CUSTOMIZATION
Combining the massive volume of industry data and its knowledge of the steel industry is another market advantage that P.S. Data shares with its clients. “A big point of differentiation for P.S. Data is our founder’s experience in steel,” emphasizes Krishnan Padmanabhan, vice president operations at P.S. Data. “Most developers at other software companies don’t have that institutional steel knowledge,” adds Padmanabhan, who joined P.S. Data in 2000.
“Kris has been to more steel companies than anyone I have ever met— besides Paul [Sivak]—and that knowledge is pure gold,” observes Vaughn. As P.S. Data’s customers add more services or expand geographically, they ask Padmanabhan to design software to meet their growing needs. “We keep a focus on growing our programming development team to cater to our customers,” notes Vaughn.
P.S. Data is able to address a customer challenge with speed. “Competitors may take 18 months to develop a new software solution feature. At P.S. Data, we reduce this development time for a specific customer to 18 hours or days rather than months or years. Our programming team prioritizes customizing very, very rapidly to get a customer up and running with a new solution. We use an agile methodology to achieve this,” Vaughn says.
Once a new solution—P.S. Data calls it a change—has been built for one customer, the software provider pushes it out to all its customers. “When we develop a change for a customer, we work to push that change out to customers in that market segment within three months,” notes Padmanabhan.
Such market speed is possible because of the intentional design of P.S. Data software. “The genius of P.S. Data is baked into what Paul and Kris created initially. Through knowledge, foresight and adaptability, they’ve allowed for configuration to be placed into the business process, designing the system up front for customization down the road,” says Vaughn.
P.S. Data Services, 513/727-8888, mysteelsoftware.com.
