One guy. Local. Built here.
I'm Paul Hanson. Born and raised in Fort McMurray. Fifteen years as a millwright in the oil sands, where safety decides how the work gets done. That's where I learned the gap between what works in an office and what works in the field, and that a tool nobody on the floor can keep running isn't finished. So the software I build runs on the computers you already own and stays readable without me. I'm one guy, I'm local, and I can come to your shop.
Most businesses I know have the same thing. Years of files. Quotes, contracts, safety records, inspection reports. Half of it named by a machine. It's all in there somewhere. And when a client calls, or an auditor shows up, somebody burns half a day digging. That's not a filing problem. That's payroll.
So I build search and filing for the records a business already has, on the hardware it already owns. The rules do the sorting. The records stay plain text. AI is a layer you can add or take away. And if we ever part ways, everything is still readable.
Winterforge is the company and the product — one word, one name. Winterforge Ltd. is the legal name on the paperwork. The emblem is a peak on an anvil: a place, and a way of working.
— Paul Hanson, founder
Peaks over a forge. A place, and a way of working.
How we build
Your records don't depend on us.
Plain text and ordinary files, readable in any text editor, with or without our software.
Honest about doubt.
When the rules aren't sure, the file is left for you. Nothing is filed by a guess.
AI is optional.
The product works with no AI at all. Add a model when it helps — yours, on your machine or your account.
AI can be wrong. Check anything that matters against the file itself.
Safety before convenience.
When a shortcut and a safe path disagree, the safe path wins. Every time.
We quote before we build.
Small jobs stay small. You see the scope and the number before any work starts.
Not your lawyer, auditor or regulator.
We help you find and prove what you have. Interpretation stays yours.
The name
Winterforge is the company and the product — one word, one name. Winterforge Ltd. is the legal name that appears on quotes, invoices and contracts. Winterforge™ is an unregistered trademark.
Based in Fort McMurray, Alberta. Working in person across Wood Buffalo.
Winterforge. Fort McMurray. Tell me what's slowing you down.
I'll reply within a couple of business days, and you'll have a number in writing before any work starts. If it's not a fit, I'll tell you.
paul@winter-forge.com · winter-forge.comFort McMurray. I can come to your shop.