Most mid-market leaders have stopped asking whether AI belongs in their business. The harder question comes next: where do we start? When an agent works across every system you run, the options look endless, and an endless list stalls a decision as surely as no list at all.
We see the pattern every week. More than 45 people now work in Forge every day, and their first reaction tends to sound alike: what else does Forge do?
The honest answer is almost anything you want, which is both accurate and not much help when you are deciding where to put your first budget and your team’s time. So we turned the answer into a starting list: ten use cases drawn from real companies, each with a reference code and a typical time to go live. For the full story on what Forge does across your business, see why Forge AI.
The Forge Startup Project is the way in. For a fixed $2,500, Third Wave gets your SAP Business One team live on Forge AI in as little as two weeks, with three preloaded finance dashboards, five handbooks, and a half-day Design Session where you choose what Forge builds next.
Ten Use Cases to Get You Started
Ten use cases cover the jobs we see most across manufacturers and distributors, in finance, supply chain, operations, and sales. Each one carries a reference code, so you bring the code to your Design Session and we map the build to your systems. Most go live in 30 to 60 days.
- FA-001 Supplier invoice three-way match: clean invoices post, exceptions go to the right person.
- SC-027 Text-message inventory assistant: stock answers by text, no ERP login needed.
- FA-006 Cost of quality: scrap, rework, and warranty costs on the P&L.
- SC-001 Delivery problem tracking: repeat shorts and damage traced to a cause.
- PR-004 Late parts expedite list: late purchase orders ranked by revenue held up.
- SA-024 Competitor price monitoring: overnight changes matched to your part numbers.
- EX-016 Capacity and backlog dashboard: promise dates the floor will keep.
- FS-004 Warranty claim review: approve, deny, or investigate, with the reason.
- RO-001 One source of truth: one set of numbers across every team.
- SA-032 Relationship intelligence: who knows whom at every key account.
Our guide to the top 10 Forge applications covers each one in detail: the problem, what Forge does, and the result your team sees. Two run in production today at Current Tools and Airgoods, and Harney & Sons grew Forge from one pilot to 15 people across four teams on SAP Business One.
What the Forge Startup Project Includes
The Forge Startup Project includes a guided launch from kickoff to live dashboards, one to two dedicated connectors, five reference handbooks loaded into Forge, three preloaded dashboards, training on chat, and a half-day Design Session after go-live. The price is a fixed $2,500, and the target is live dashboards in two weeks.
- Fixed price: a $2,500 quick-start package.
- Timeline: live dashboards in as little as two weeks.
- Connectors: one to two dedicated connectors, configured by our team.
- Handbooks: five reference handbooks loaded into Forge.
- Dashboards: three preloaded views, then a half-day Design Session.
Forge is the AI agent platform Third Wave built for SAP Business One. Forge reads your SAP Business One data live through the Service Layer, with no nightly export and no BI ticket. The Startup Project wraps setup, first reporting, and training into one guided project, so your team spends the two weeks learning Forge instead of configuring Forge.
Steps One and Two: Kickoff and Set-Up
The Forge Startup Project opens with project startup and set-up. Third Wave defines the project with you, names your stakeholders and Forge users, and lists the use cases you want. Then we set up team access, secure the connections, configure the connectors, and load five handbooks before testing live chat on your data.
Your use-case list matters from day one. Start with the ten above, add your own, and the list feeds the Design Session at the end. Handbooks, the documents capturing how your business runs, teach Forge your terms and rules, so answers come back in your language instead of generic software language.
Step Three: Live on Three Preloaded Dashboards
In step three your team goes live on three preloaded dashboards: a Rolling 12-Month P&L, Sales Analysis by customer and item, and AR and AP Aging. Each dashboard ties exactly to your SAP Business One reports of record, emails directly to stakeholders, and answers chat questions for related insights and drill-down.
The Rolling 12-Month P&L gives leadership a trended view, refreshed monthly, instead of finance rebuilding the same spreadsheet every close. Sales Analysis shows which customers are growing and which items are slowing. AR and AP Aging shows who is drifting past terms and which supplier payments are due, in one view.
Because each dashboard ties to your reports of record, nobody spends the first ten minutes of a meeting arguing about the number. We close step three with training on chat, so your team knows how to ask Forge for the next layer of detail.
Step Four: The Design Session, Where the Ten Use Cases Come In
Step four is a half-day Design Session, held once your team is live and comfortable with Forge. This is where “what else does Forge do?” gets a real answer. Third Wave works with you to pick from the ten use cases, or your own, and scope bespoke, custom-built pipelines for your business.
Some teams choose more reporting. Others move to automation, such as three-way invoice matching, a late parts expedite list, or production data captured at the line. You leave the session with a scoped plan, a reference code for each build, and a clear next step.
Harney & Sons Fine Teas followed this path on SAP Business One. Harney started with one production workflow, then extended Forge across four teams on the same foundation, with nothing posting to SAP until a person approves. A clean first project makes every later project faster.
Why Reporting Is the Right First Forge Project
Reporting is the right first Forge project because the data already lives in SAP Business One, every leadership team needs the same three views, and the payoff shows in the first meeting. A trusted P&L, sales, and aging view also tests your data quality before you automate anything bigger.
We understand the hesitation. Many mid-market teams have watched a BI project run for months and deliver a dashboard nobody opens. The Startup Project caps the scope, fixes the price, and puts working dashboards in front of your team in weeks. Across 500+ SAP Business One implementations with 98.7% client retention, we have learned where data tends to get messy, and our ERP data readiness check walks through the signs.
Waiting has a cost. Every month without a trended P&L means another close spent rebuilding spreadsheets. Every quarter spent debating where to start with AI is a quarter your team works the old way, while 45+ people already work in Forge every day.
Get Started with the Forge Startup Project
Getting started takes three steps. Contact your Third Wave representative or call 201-703-2100. Join a kickoff to define the project, stakeholders, and use cases. Then go live on three dashboards in as little as two weeks, with a Design Session to choose what Forge builds next.
- Contact Third Wave. Talk to your representative or call 201-703-2100.
- Kick off. Define the project, users, and use cases with our team.
- Go live. Three dashboards in two weeks, then the Design Session.
Two weeks from kickoff, your next leadership meeting opens on a trended P&L everyone trusts. A few weeks later, your team is asking us the same question as everyone else: what else does Forge do? By then, you will have the plan to answer.
Book a conversation with our team or call 201-703-2100 to start your Forge Startup Project. Want to see Forge first? Explore Forge, the AI agent for SAP Business One, and book a demo on your own data.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Forge Startup Project?
The Forge Startup Project is the Third Wave quick-start package for Forge AI on SAP Business One. For a fixed $2,500, Third Wave runs a guided launch from kickoff to three live dashboards in as little as two weeks, followed by a half-day Design Session.
What else does Forge do beyond dashboards?
Almost anything you want. To give you a starting point, Third Wave developed ten top use cases, from three-way invoice matching and late parts expediting to warranty review and relationship intelligence. Most go live in 30 to 60 days.
How long does the Forge Startup Project take?
The Forge Startup Project targets live dashboards in as little as two weeks from kickoff. The half-day Design Session follows once your team is live and comfortable with Forge.
Which dashboards come with the Forge Startup Project?
Three preloaded dashboards: a Rolling 12-Month P&L, Sales Analysis by customer and item, and AR and AP Aging. Each one ties to your SAP Business One reports of record and emails directly to stakeholders.
How much does the Forge Startup Project cost?
The Forge Startup Project is a fixed $2,500 quick-start price. Ongoing Forge access runs on the standard plan at $500 per month for three user seats. Your Third Wave representative confirms how the two fit your team.
What happens at the Design Session?
Third Wave works with your team to pick from the ten use cases, or your own ideas, and scope bespoke pipelines for your business. You leave with a plan and a reference code for each build.