Case study, real client
MAX: AI Voice Assistant for Hormax
Voice assistant trained on the full Hormax catalog. Answers technical questions about concrete hands-free, from the job site, in seconds. Installable as a PWA.
Tech stack
The technologies used and why.
Screenshots
The problem
Hormax manufactures concrete products and construction materials. Its technical teams and customers need fast answers about product specifications, mix ratios, curing times and on-site procedures.
The worker on site
A worker needs to know the right ratio for a specific Hormax mix. The options: call support (if there is signal and someone picks up), search an 80-page PDF, or guess. None of them is fast or reliable.
The cost of a mistake
A badly prepared mix is not discovered on the spot. The problem shows up days or weeks later, when the result is already in place. Fixing it costs materials, time and credibility with the end client.
Scattered knowledge
Hormax had technical sheets, manuals and procedures in different formats, updated at different times. There was no single source of truth that everyone could check quickly and reliably.
Dependence on key people
The knowledge was concentrated in two or three senior technicians. When they were busy, traveling or off-hours, the whole chain stalled waiting for an answer only they could give.
The solution
A voice assistant trained exclusively on Hormax knowledge. The worker speaks, MAX answers.
Answers in seconds
Technical teams resolve field questions in seconds. A question that used to require a support call or a PDF search now has an answer on the spot.
Available 24/7
MAX has no schedule. It works on any shift, at any job site, without a technician available on the other end.
Installed on the worker’s phone
As a PWA, each worker installed MAX from the browser. No App Store friction, no IT permissions, no manual distribution.
Technical architecture
The full voice flow
The system runs three real-time steps: STT to LLM to TTS. The full chain completes in under 3 seconds from the moment the worker stops talking.
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Groq Whisper (STT): The microphone audio is sent to Groq for transcription. Groq had the lowest STT latency on the market at the time of implementation, which was critical for the voice experience to feel natural.
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Anthropic Claude (LLM): The transcription reaches a Next.js API route that builds the prompt with the active job site context and the conversation history. Claude responds with text.
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ElevenLabs (TTS): Claude’s text is converted to audio with a voice configured for Hormax. The audio is streamed back to the client for immediate playback.
Why PWA and not a native app
The decision to build MAX as a PWA (Progressive Web App) was pragmatic: Hormax has no IT team to manage app distribution. The PWA installs from the browser with a banner, appears on the phone’s home screen and works like a native app. No App Store, no manual updates, no corporate permissions.
Context per job site
Each job site has its own space in Supabase. When a worker opens MAX, the system loads the specific context for that site: project name, materials in use, relevant specifications. This makes Claude’s answers specific, not generic.
Auth with Clerk
Clerk handles worker login. Each account is linked to a job site. The Hormax admin can create accounts, assign sites and disable access from a panel without touching code.
Features
- Voice queries: The worker speaks a question and gets the answer as audio from any device. No keyboard, no manual search.
- Context per project/site: Each job site has its own space with specific memory. Answers adjust to the context of the work in progress.
- Conversation history: Every query is organized and saved. Full audit of what was asked, when, and how the system answered.
- Installable as a PWA: Works as an app installed on the worker’s phone. No App Store or Google Play. It installs from the browser in seconds.
- AI specialized in Hormax: Trained exclusively on Hormax products, technical sheets and processes. It does not answer with generic information.
- Owned by the client: All accounts, data and code belong to Hormax. No vendor dependency, no vendor lock-in.
Result
MAX is in production and used by the Hormax technical teams on site. The average response time for technical queries went from minutes (call, wait, search) to seconds. The company’s technical knowledge no longer depends on people being available within a specific schedule.