Page 14 - EngineerIt April 2021

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Siemens and Google Cloud to

cooperate on AI-based solutions

in manufacturing

The new cooperation aims to enable the scaled deployment of AI-based solutions for
industrial manufacturing.

Google Cloud and Siemens simplify the deployment of artificial intelligence to the
shopfloor, empowering employees and improving overall quality.

oogle Cloud and Siemens have Deploying AI to the shop floor and integrating it into automation and the network
entered into a new cooperation is a complex task, requiring highly specialised expertise and innovative products such
Gto optimise factory processes as Siemens industrial edge. The goal of the cooperation between Google Cloud and
and improve productivity on the shop Siemens is to make the deployment of AI in connection with the industrial edge – and
floor. Siemens intends to integrate Google its management at scale - easier, empowering employees as they work on the plant floor,
Cloud’s leading data cloud and artificial automating mundane tasks, and improving overall quality.
intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) “The potential for artificial intelligence to radically transform the plant floor is far from
technologies with its factory automation being exhausted. Many manufacturers are still stuck in AI ‘pilot projects’ today – we
solutions to help manufacturers innovate want to change that,” said Axel Lorenz, VP of control at factory automation of Siemens
for the future. digital industries. “Combining AI/ML technology from Google Cloud with Siemens’
Data drives today’s industrial solutions for industrial edge and industrial operation will be a game changer for the
processes, but many manufacturers manufacturing industry.”
continue to use legacy software and “Siemens is a leader in advancing industrial automation and software, and Google
multiple systems to analyse plant Cloud is a leader in data analytics and AI/ML. This cooperation will combine the best of
information, which is resource-intensive both worlds and bring AI/ML to the manufacturing industry at scale. By simplifying the
and requires frequent manual updates deployment of AI in industrial use cases, we’re helping employees augment their critical
to ensure accuracy. In addition, while AI work on the shop floor,” said Dominik Wee, managing director, manufacturing and industrial
projects have been deployed by many at Google Cloud. n
companies in “islands” across the plant
floor, manufacturers have struggled
to implement AI at scale across their
global operations.
For more than 170 years, Siemens
has built its business on pioneering
technologies that have led the
manufacturing industry forward. By
combining Google Cloud’s data cloud and
AI/ML capabilities with Siemens’ digital
industries factory automation portfolio,
manufacturers will be able to harmonise
their factory data, run cloud-based AI/
ML models on top of that data, and
deploy algorithms at the network edge.
This enables applications such as visual
inspection of products or predicting
the wear-and-tear of machines on the Siemens and Google Cloud to cooperate to transform manufacturing by enabling scaled
assembly line. deployment of artificial intelligence.

EngineerIT | April 2021 | 12