While manufacturing has long deployed the use of machines and robots to increase efficiencies and improve the pace and quality of production, the integration of new artificial technology (AI) tools is anticipated to have a massive impact on the way the industry operates.
But the automation that we have typically associated with manufacturing in years past was often production lines, heavy machinery and, more recently, industrial robots,” Caglayan Arkan, global lead – Manufacturing and Resources Industry Group at Microsoft, states in the The Future Computed – AI and Manufacturing research report.
According to the report, manufacturers are already seizing the AI opportunity to reinvent themselves and ensure workplace safety and health, predictive maintenance, process efficiencies, intelligent supply chains, uptime, higher value, and higher-quality products.
In order to optimise AI’s value, the entire organisation must work together to embrace change, break down silos, and create a seamless information supply chain inside companies and leverage their full data estate,” the report states.
“We want customers to be agile and nimble by breaking down data silos within their organisations and creating a cognitive supply chain where AI can make 30 to 40 per cent of decisions, releasing time to do the things that humans do best,” it says.