Case Study: Farmers are using AI + FileMaker to deliver eggstraordinary results

THIS HYBRID MEETING WILL BE ATTENDED, RECORDED AND REBROADCAST BOTH IN-PERSON AND ONLINE. Scroll down to get directions for how to attend this meeting, either in-person or remotely. In-person attendance is recommended, but not required.

A real world Claris FileMaker / AI use case
(plus some cool Filemaker optimization techniques)

Andrew Dam and Chris Conger of NaviCu will present a recently deployed, real-world FileMaker solution that saves a client more than 25 hours per week in manual data entry.

In this workflow, users email their weekly production reports to a dedicated address. An Amazon SES receipt rule triggers an AWS Lambda function that stores the attachment in Amazon S3 and initiates document processing. The file is then analyzed in parallel by Gemini 3.0 and Claude Opus 4.5 using their respective APIs.

Each model returns a structured JSON representation of the form data, along with confidence scores for every extracted value. FileMaker receives and stores this data and uses the Beezwax Sandbox technique to present a fast, responsive user interface.
Before any production records are created, the client’s data entry staff reviews and corrects the values as needed, ensuring accuracy while significantly reducing manual entry.

This session focuses on practical FileMaker integration patterns, performance UX, and how to responsibly incorporate modern document processing into real production systems.

We will go through all steps of the process, which will include:
· How we developed and fine-tuned our prompt
· Using Lambda
· Model comparisons between Open AI, Gemini and Claude
· FileMaker techniques and optimizations
· Decisions we had to make

Meeting Schedule:

• 9:15 AM — Room opens
• 9:30 AM — Coffee & social time
• 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM — Meeting & discussion with Andrew and Chris

HOW TO GET TO THE MEETING ROOM ON THE 20TH FLOOR OF THE EAST TOWER OF MARINA CITY (300 North State Street):
Getting yourself to a meeting downtown can be a fun and pleasant experience if you plan ahead!

METRA
If you are coming from the suburbs, taking the Metra train is recommended. Marina City is a 25-30 minute walk or a $10-12 cab ride from Ogilvie and Union stations. If you’re walking, cross the river and walk north on Wacker until it curves to the right (east). If the weather is nice, take the stairs down to the riverwalk to maximize your experience. Then, continue to follow the river to the east until you see two iconic buildings that look like giant corn cobs. The meeting is on the 20th floor of the East Tower, the building on the right.

DRIVING
If you would prefer to drive, discounted valet parking is available at $25 for 12 hours (Sully has passes). Use 300 N State St. as your destination in your preferred mapping app. Once there, pull into the large ramp upward toward the Hotel Chicago and House of Blues on the west side of State Street. Follow the yellow lines that curve left toward valet parking. Use any lane to pull up as far as you can toward the glass domed valet stand. Then, turn off your car and wait for an attendant.

CTA (the L)
The closest L stop is Clark and Lake. Find the river (north of the L stop), walk to it and look for the corn cobs. You're headed to the one on the right.

Getting Inside The Building:
To enter the landmark Marina City East Tower, you must first go to the concourse. This can be confusing, as the concourse is below street level. There are three entrances to the concourse level.

• On State Street, at 300 N State, below street level.
• On Dearborn Street, at 323 N Dearborn, below street level.
• In the glass dome that houses the valet stand.

Once on the concourse level, look for the EAST tower security office. Tell the lobby guard you are here for a CAFDA meeting on the 20th floor. Be prepared to show a photo ID and sign into a guest book. Then, use any of the five elevators to go to the 20th floor.

STATE STREET EMERGENCY BRIDGE REPAIR
Additionally, please note that the State Street Bridge has been closed for emergency repairs since April. Both cars and pedestrians will not be allowed on the bridge until it is completed. If you’re walking East along the river from the train station, use the Dearborn bridge and concourse entrance instead of State Street. Don’t just wait until you hit State Street and hope to cross there! There is currently no vehicle or pedestrian access to the State Street Bridge. Sorry! Pick another bridge (please don't try to swim).

Access to Marina City’s valet parking is indeed still open, albeit only by traveling through the intersection of State and Kinzie. Your destination address remains the same. Just be careful that your mapping app doesn’t try to route you over a closed bridge.

How to attend CAFDA remotely:
A zoom link for this CAFDA meeting will be posted on our free CAFDA forum at https://forum.chifm.dev/. Please take a moment now to ask Sully, Phil, Jeff and/or Chris for an invitation to the forum. We'd be glad to have you, no matter where you are.

Likewise, a recording of the session will be posted to the forum after the meeting for those who couldn't join us. Get plugged into the forum now so you don't miss out.