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Updated: April 20, 2021

Google Collaborate with Siemens On AI Manufacturing Solutions

By Lawrence Agbo
April 20, 2021
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(Photo Credit: Siemens Press Release)

Google Cloud and Siemens have signed an agreement to optimise factory processes and improve productivity on the shop floor.

Siemens plans to combine Google Cloud’s leading data cloud and AI/machine learning technologies with its factory cybernetic solution to help manufacturers innovate for the future.

Data pilot’s 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.

Also, manufacturers have struggled to implement AI at scale across their global operations while AI projects have been deployed by many companies in “island” across the plant floor.

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 by combining Google Cloud’s data cloud and AI/ML capabilities with Siemens’ Digital Industries Factory Automation portfolio. This enables applications such as visual inspection of products or predicting the wear-and-tear of machines on the assembly line.

AI deployed to the shopfloor and integrating it into automation and the network is a complex task, requiring highly specialized 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.

VP of control at factory automation of Siemens Digital Industries, Axel Lorenz said the company will want to change the norms of manufactures getting stuck in AI ‘pilot projects’ today.

“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,”

“Combining AI/ML technology from Google Cloud with Siemens’ solutions for Industrial Edge and industrial operation will be a game-changer for the manufacturing industry.”

Dominik Wee, managing director of manufacturing and industrial at Google Cloud, added: “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’re helping employees augment their critical work on the shop floor.”