The World Economic Forum (WEF) said that AI can enable a ‘new era’ in the digital transformation of industry, offering new opportunities as well as challenges.

A new white paper, published with the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Türkiye, has examined the opportunities, and proposes a step-by-step approach to overcome the challenges.

The paper, Unlocking Value from Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing, with input from industry, technology, and academic experts, highlights over 20 case studies from organisations on the impact, feasibility, and scalability of AI in manufacturing.

It identifies several opportunities and lessons on how to increase operational efficiency, sustainability and workforce engagement in manufacturing and value chains by using AI.

“The complexity of current challenges impacting manufacturers calls for the need to go beyond the traditional means of driving productivity,” said Francisco Betti, Head of Advanced Manufacturing and Production, Member of Executive Committee, World Economic Forum.

“Artificial intelligence can help companies unlock innovation, resilience, and sustainability. We look forward to working with the Network of Centres for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the global manufacturing community to support its deployment at scale.”

Kay Firth-Butterfield, Head of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at World Economic Forum, added: “This paper showcases the tremendous value potential of AI in manufacturing. Not only in terms of efficiency but also in terms of sustainability and worker engagement.

“The insights were generated thanks to a collaborative effort by the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution affiliate in Türkiye, the Forum’s Platform for Shaping the Future of Advanced Manufacturing and Value Chains and the Platform for Shaping the Future of Technology Governance: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.”

Over 20 use cases were collected from more than 35 senior executives and technology experts from more than 10 industries, including automotive, electronics, energy, textiles, cement, steel, food, and chemicals.

These cases demonstrate how leading manufacturers have successfully captured value from AI applications in manufacturing and cover six main areas: health and safety, quality, maintenance, production process, supply chains and energy management.

While opportunities enabled by AI in manufacturing are promising and attracting many leaders, the paper suggested, organisations are looking for a common framework on how to implement AI solutions and ensure a successful return on investment.

Based on the consultations, the paper summaries the six main barriers to the deployment of AI in manufacturing and presents a step-by-step process to overcome barriers.

Efe Erdem, Head of C4IR Türkiye and Executive Director of MEXT Technology Centre, said: “With a granular understanding of the industry pain points in their digital transformation journey and the need for the deployment of the AI use cases, we took a leading role in led [what does the quote say?] this initiative globally.

“For the next step, MEXT has been positioned as a global testbed. We are looking forward to conducting pilot studies and developing solution-oriented and scalable applications with the public, private, academia and start-ups.”

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Özgür Burak Akkol, MESS Chairman, added: “We completed more than 160 digital maturity assessments in over 10 industries, and we witnessed that industry leaders believe in creating value from AI, but they do not know how to start.

“As we initiated the AI in Manufacturing project together with the World Economic Forum and the network of Centres for the Fourth Industrial Revolution to accelerate the use of AI in manufacturing, we would like to increase the added value generated from AI as a continuation of digital transformation.

“We continue to work to keep our MEXT Digital Factory at the highest technology level by developing AI-oriented use case scenarios together with technology providers.”

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