______________________ Artificial Intelligence
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w AI is shaping the future of nufacturing. By Mark Humphlett
AI technology is already transforming the manufacturing industry by automating routine tasks, accelerating data-driven decision-making, and improving quality control. All while enhancing efficiency by detecting defects and issues earlier providing insights into processes and workflows to help employees work more efficiently and systems perform better and increasing overall supply-chain visibility.
But the more important question for manufacturers is not just whether AI can be trusted with decisions, but how to introduce it in a way that keeps humans involved. Adoption will be gradual, with people supervising and approving AI actions until they gain confidence in the results. This means thinking about which decisions AI can handle best and how to choose use cases that deliver value quickly, build trust, and show a clear return on investment. Beyond the immediate promise of automation, AI also enables manufacturers to anticipate problems before they occur( e. g. predictive maintenance and analytics), optimize processes in real time( e. g. process intelligence), and respond to supply chain disruptions( e. g. tariffs, supply shortages) with greater agility. Manufacturers who understand where to leverage AI and deploy it strategically today will define the standards of operational excellence for the decade ahead.
Recent advances in artificial intelligence, such as Gen AI and agentic AI, have led to the emergence of new ways of utilizing the technology. Enterprise automation and AI agents can act autonomously to achieve specific goals. Agentic AI will allow manufacturers to gather data, analyze options, and support decision-making and actions in a continuous cycle. In manufacturing, for example, introducing AI agents will automate the process of identifying project delays, examining root causes, suggesting alternate solutions, and keeping timelines
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