The manufacturer Alliance Foundation recently reported that 93% of US manufacturers use AI tools within plants to help solve everything from labor shortages to production bottlenecks. This year, factories are expected to spend $7 billion on AI, with the number expected to rise 40% by the end of the decade.
In Minnesota, businesses use AI to detect wasteful practices and increase efficiency in their factories and supply chains.
One of the big things factories are doing is using AI to extract data from factory machines and develop other AI processes that automate tasks, finding efficiencies that save money.
Vivek Saxena, CEO of Factorytwin at Hopkins, founded in 2017 with support from the National Science Foundation Grant, said AI can help factories increase profits and revenue by 10% to 20% and cash flow by 50%. Today, it helps small manufacturers embedded in AI tools and automated plants.
“It's cutting edge technology,” Saxena said, especially for small businesses that don't have large software or engineering staff, such as Boeing Airlines and Caterpillar. Demand has grown very large. The company currently has a three-month backlog.
According to Saxena, artificial intelligence can be built for factories of any size, whether it's factory robotics or software coding that automates high-speed data analysis.
