The Relationship Between AI and Machine Monitoring

While buzzwords such as predictive maintenance, artificial intelligence, digital twin and augmented reality have promised to enable the fabled digital transformation of manufacturing, when it comes to Industry 4.0, most practical applications start and end with machine connectivity. And when it comes to driving value, look no further than answering these questions; "What's happening?" Simply put, most manufacturers are unable to see what's actually happening on the shop floor in real time because their machines are not connected to any sort of data collection or data visualization system. This inability to both see and use data to drive continuous improvement leads to massive inefficiencies that affect every component of a company's operations, from the shop floor all the way to the C-Suite. That said, as the excitement around the opportunity presented by AI continues to grow, we conducted an interview with our very own Lou Zhang, Chief Data Scientist at MachineMetrics, so he could give us his perspective on where AI lands within the Analytics Journey and its relationship to technologies such as machine monitoring and data collection. How far along is the manufacturing industry as a whole when it comes to taking advantage of AI, for machine monitoring and/or other applications?