Building Efficiency into Assets Management – Can AI help the Process?

A feasibility study investigating how intelligence-based technologies can be used to connect predictive maintenance software to stock management software has received over £250,000 from UKRI's Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) 'Made Smarter innovation challenge' to evaluate emerging smart technologies. The collaborative research project driven by supply chain management company The NBT Group, Northumbria University and industrial software developers Senseye will provide outcomes and knowledge for what could be'a game-changer' in the Industry 4.0 journey – by increasing productivity, up-skilling work roles and effecting more economically, socially and environmentally sustainability. Toby Bridges, Executive Chair at The NBT Group, said: "NBT's ambition is to utilise automation and Industry 4.0 thinking in all its activities, generating more and better jobs within our business and drive operating efficiencies for our clients and suppliers," said Toby Bridges, Executive Chair at The NBT Group. "This funding allows us to work closely with a leading predicative maintenance company in Senseye and Northumbria University's Global Operations and Supply Chain Competitiveness (GLOPSCO) research interest group to widen our thinking on how we integrate our own supply chain technologies into other systems and technologies across the manufacturing plant." Initially the study will assess the use of intelligence – based systems to connect NBT Group's stock management software to Senseye's predictive maintenance software - a platform that allows prediction of upcoming issues with machinery so that failures can be avoided.