AI in full focus at upcoming Smart Manufacturing Conference

Artificial intelligence has made significant strides in transforming the manufacturing industry by enhancing efficiency, quality and productivity across various processes.

Combined with automation and robotics, AI is widely believed to be the future of the industry, helping answer the “What’s Next For Manufacturers?” question posed by the upcoming Smart Manufacturing Conference, a feature event of the 2023 Modern Manufacturing Expo.

Marie Kinsella, CEO of the International Exhibition & Conference (IEC) Group, organisers of the expo, said it is designed to give manufacturers practical insights and strategies and help put learnings into practice to gain a competitive edge.

The theme of the 2023 Smart Manufacturing Conference is “Connected, Automated and Digital Transformation”, with AI playing a key role in these pillars. The conference will take place on Day 1 of the Modern Manufacturing Expo, on 20 September at the Sydney Showground in Sydney Olympic Park. Attendees of the conference will receive a certificate of attendance, all-day catering and access to the expo.

According to Kinsella, AI will come up in multiple sessions throughout the day, but there will be a focused presentation titled “The Future of Manufacturing According to AI”, by Mergen Pillay, Director of Factoryworx.

Benefits of AI integration include:

• Improved quality control
• Reduced energy consumption
• Mass customisation
• Enhanced human–robot collaboration
• Continuous improvement
• Shorter time to market

AI-powered predictive maintenance systems can detect equipment issues before they cause breakdowns, aided by the systems’ use of real-time data analysis, where data from sensors and equipment can give insight into production performance, pre-emptively anticipating breakdowns and allowing manufacturers to make adjustments.

Another concern for local manufacturers is supply chain optimisation. AI can have an impact on increasing efficiencies as it helps with better demand forecasting, inventory management and logistics optimisation, resulting in reduced stockouts and lower inventory carrying costs.

This is enabled by AI’s advanced algorithms which analyse manufacturing processes to identify inefficiencies and bottlenecks. By optimising workflows and resource allocation, manufacturers can increase production throughput and reduce operational costs.

There are, however, challenges that manufacturers need to address when adopting AI technologies into operations, including data quality and availability, data privacy, complexity and costs among others.

According to Kinsella, manufacturers should ensure they don’t become over-reliant on AI, which can lead to issues if AI models make incorrect decisions or encounter unforeseen situations.

Overcoming these challenges will be a focus at the Smart Manufacturing Conference.