Google Cloud and Siemens, an innovation and technology firm in industrial automation and software announced a new cooperation to optimise factory processes and improve productivity on the shop floor. Siemens intends to integrate Google Cloud’s leading data cloud and artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) technologies with its factory automation solutions to help manufacturers innovate for the future.
Data drives today’s industrial processes, but many manufacturers continue to use legacy software and multiple systems to analyse plant information, which is resource intensive and requires frequent manual updates to ensure accuracy. In addition, while AI projects have been deployed by many companies in “islands” across the plant floor, manufacturers have struggled to implement AI at scale across their global operations.
Deploying AI to the shop floor and integrating it into automation and the network is a complex task, requiring highly specialised expertise and innovative products such as Siemens Industrial Edge. The goal of the cooperation between Google Cloud and Siemens is to make the deployment of AI in connection with the Industrial Edge and its management at scale easier, empowering employees as they work on the plant floor, automating mundane tasks, and improving overall quality.
“The potential for artificial intelligence to radically transform the plant floor is far from being exhausted. Many manufacturers are still stuck in AI ‘pilot projects’ today. We want to change that,” said Axel Lorenz, VP, Factory Automation of Siemens Digital Industries.
“Siemens is a leader in advancing industrial automation and software, and Google Cloud is a leader in data analytics and AI/ML. This cooperation will combine the best of both worlds and bring AI/ML to the manufacturing industry at scale. By simplifying the deployment of AI in industrial use cases, we are helping employees augment their critical work on the shop floor,” said Dominik Wee, Managing Director Manufacturing and Industrial, Google Cloud.
