How to integrate AI into manufacturing and keep humans in charge

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In today's fast-paced economic landscape, the manufacturing and process industries are leveraging the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Augmented Reality (AR) to achieve higher production yields, reduced operational costs, improved product quality, and increased competitiveness in the global market.

Leading industry players, research institutions, and technology providers have collaborated on AI-PROFICIENT, an ambitious R&D project aimed at combining human expertise with AI capabilities to unlock new levels of plant productivity, quality, and profitability across the manufacturing sector.

By developing proactive control strategies, AI-PROFICIENT aims to empower plant operators by providing them with recommendations, decision support, and automation capabilities. It focuses on process optimization through various means, including:

  • Event detection and prediction — Utilizing predictive deep learning analytics for the early detection of faults, diagnostics, and the prediction of quality issues, as well as monitoring resource and waste material flows.
  • Simulation of operational scenarios — Applying digital twin technology and AI-based evaluation to simulate different production process scenarios in order to minimize the occurrence of unexpected events.
  • Transparent decision-making and optimal control — Integrating operation parameters, maintenance plans, and AI decision-making capabilities to facilitate the identification of optimal production execution and scheduling, with support for human interaction.
  • Personalized assistance on the shop floor — Providing role-specific human-machine visualization, extended reality, and conversational interfaces to enhance connectivity and support for workers.

The project is designed with ethical considerations in mind, ensuring that human operators remain in command. It recognizes the importance of maintaining human involvement in supervisory roles and executive decision-making while leveraging technology to provide valuable insights and assistance.

The ultimate goal is to enhance manufacturing processes across three key areas: production efficiency, quality, and maintenance, targeting a 10% increase in Overall Production Efficiency (OPE) and a 50% decrease in low-quality product output.

AI and wearable technology: Reducing errors and enhancing efficiency in chemical production

One of the major achievements of AI-PROFICIENT is the successful integration and deployment of AI technology in real-world production environments. Rigorous testing and validation have demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of AI models and algorithms in optimizing production lines across diverse manufacturing sectors.

At a chemical plant in Belgium, TenForce has implemented an innovative combination of EHSQ software, intelligent image recognition and AI-enabled algorithms to optimize the use of raw materials on-site by addressing the challenges operators face when manually adding additives to feeders.

Due to a lack of label uniformity, damaged or absent labels, and operator fatigue, the existing process was error-prone, with the potential for operators to pour the wrong additive into feeders, leading to significant product loss. 

In response, TenForce developed a groundbreaking solution where operators utilize wearable devices to scan labels. Machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) combine to interpret the label information and compare it with the feeder requirements, providing immediate feedback to the operator.

This practical application of AI-PROFICIENT has significantly reduced the risk of human error and the associated product loss, showcasing the potential of wearable devices and ML/AI to operational challenges and improve efficiency in continuous chemical production.

The future of manufacturing: Blending human expertise with AI

By harnessing the power of data-driven insights and leveraging automation where appropriate, AI-PROFICIENT helps optimize manufacturing processes while respecting the central role of humans in making critical decisions. Ultimately, it represents an ethical solution that empowers plant operators and drives improvements in production efficiency, product quality, and maintenance practices.

As AI technology continues to advance, its integration into the manufacturing sector holds immense promise. AI-driven production line optimization not only enhances operational performance but also sets the stage for innovation, sustainability, and global competitiveness. With the continued collaborative efforts of manufacturing industry leaders and technology partners, AI-PROFICIENT paves the way for a future where AI technology becomes an integral part of the manufacturing landscape, transforming production lines and shaping the industry's trajectory.

AI-PROFICIENT is made possible through the collaboration of the following project partners:

  • UNIVERSITE DE LORRAINE, France
  • CONTINENTAL, France
  • FUNDACION TEKNIKER, Spain
  • INEOS, Belgium
  • TENFORCE, Belgium
  • VTT, Finland
  • INOS, Greece
  • IBERMATICA, Spain
  • INSTITUT MIHAJLO PUPIN, Serbia
  • ATHENS TECHNOLOGY CENTER, Greece

To learn more about how AI-PROFICIENT is bringing AI technology to the production line, visit the TenForce blog.

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