How manufacturers can take advantage of generative AI
In their journeys to combat rising operational costs, mitigate labor shortages, and lower energy consumption, the industrial manufacturing industry has adopted solutions including simulation, IIoT, and AI. Many of the businesses that leverage these technologies have reaped the benefits of becoming more flexible, resilient, and competitive.
These days, many OEMs understand the importance of adopting these relatively new technologies; in fact, according to a survey from MIT, 64% of manufacturing companies are researching the use of AI and 35% of them have already started to put AI use cases into production. As these companies become more comfortable with traditional AI, generative AI (gen AI) is starting to establish itself as the next major innovation.
Traditional vs generative AI
While both traditional and gen AI fall under the same AI umbrella, they have distinct functionalities and applications. Simply put, traditional AI facilitates data analysis and is typically used for decision making and predictions. Meanwhile, gen AI can create new data based on training data.
However, the most significant difference between traditional and generative AI is that gen AI is more accessible compared to traditional AI. Previously, only a handful of experts had access to AI capabilities and technology. Whereas gen AI’s capabilities have been democratized and now a large majority of the workforce has some AI functionalities at their fingertips. Gen AI platforms can be trained to work with natural language prompts, making the technology open to almost anyone. Due to this, workers on the shop floor can easily incorporate it into daily tasks such as code generation, document analysis, and even designing.
Despite their differences, both gen AI and traditional AI have critical roles in the business process. Traditional AI excels in analysis and forecasting while generative produces new content. Organizations can use both traditional and generative in tandem to increase productivity, reduce errors, and overall improve equipment operations.
The many uses of generative AI
Manufacturers have been putting gen AI to use in a myriad of ways. Some organizations now deploy chatbots and AI assistances to aid operational efficiency and maximize productivity. Using these readily available AI technologies, businesses can more quickly:
- generate, optimize, and debug code
- summarize dense maintenance documentation
- troubleshoot issues within machinery and pinpoint the root cause
- create maintenance schedules
When combined with the analysis capabilities of traditional AI, technicians can cut down maintenance times considerably, thereby reducing downtimes and costs. Moreover, machine builders can ensure these benefits even as early as the design phase. Utilizing gen AI, OEMs can perfect their machines’ designs based on certain parameters, guaranteeing improved performance during their lifetimes.
Not only can gen AI enhance equipment productivity, but it can also help make machines more energy efficient—which is a crucial step in an organization’s journey towards sustainability Gen AI can optimize energy utilization to improve carbon footprint. Using a factory’s past energy data, spend data, and new production plans, gen AI can augment throughput to reduce energy usage and ultimately decrease CO2 emissions.
Unlocking Gen AI for endless growth
AI technology has made big waves in the manufacturing industry. Now with the advent of gen AI, manufacturers can reveal even more value from utilizing AI in their factory operations. Before the widespread use of solutions like Copilot AI and ChatGPT, AI solutions were typically in the hands of a select few experts. But now, gen AI boasts easy access and a low-learning curve, allowing just about anyone to leverage it effectively.
Gen AI simplifies and expedites data creation, enabling it to perform mundane tasks such as code debugging and documentation summarization. Companies can see further gains by blending traditional and generative together to build on both their capabilities, enabling them to increase productivity on the shop floor.
As usage of gen AI improves, more capabilities will be discovered, and its potential to revolutionize the industry will increase with them. AI is a fast-moving train and jumping onboard early will help keep companies resilient and competitive. Learn how to jumpstart your journey into gen AI integration by listening to our experts.
Siemens Digital Industries Software helps organizations of all sizes digitally transform using software, hardware and services from the Siemens Xcelerator business platform. Siemens’ software and the comprehensive digital twin enable companies to optimize their design, engineering and manufacturing processes to turn today’s ideas into the sustainable products of the future. From chips to entire systems, from product to process, across all industries. Siemens Digital Industries Software – Accelerating transformation.
