Increased defense spending is a boon for Germany's ailing industrial sector. Numerous companies, even those with no previous military experience, are now hoping to get in on the act. Visiting the works of Ilsenburger Grobblech GmbH is like taking a trip back in time. Way back in the 16th century, copper used to be produced at this site in the northern Harz Mountains, not far from eastern Germany' tallest peak, the Brocken. Today, slabs of steel up to 35 centimeters thick are piled up in front of the factory halls, delivered from the blast furnaces and converters of parent company Salzgitter, less than an hour's drive away. What is happening behind the factory walls, though, is part of a new hype that has gripped Germany's crisis-ridden industrial sector. A hype which many are hoping will be enough to revive it.

The basic machine for grinding a steel ball bearing has been the same since around 1900, but manufacturers have been steadily automating everything around it. Today, the process is driven by a conveyor belt, and, for the most part, it's automatic. The most urgent task for humans is to figure out when things are going wrong--and even that could soon be handed over to AI. The Schaeffler factory in Hamburg starts with steel wire that is cut and pressed into rough balls. Those balls are hardened in a series of furnaces, and then put through three increasingly precise grinders until they are spherical to within a tenth of a micron.

Identified as the key for further enhancing competitiveness and workforce reinforcement, AI has the potential to be included in various operation processes. One such field, AI in visual inspection – with computer vision and machine learning on the rise – has been becoming more popular thanks to the engagement of top players across industries. In the recent online sharing, experts from FPT Corporation, FPT Software, Landing AI, and Schaeffler discussed their visions for the future of'AI in Real-time Quality Inspection'. All parties emphasised on the use of data-centric approach to shorten AI training duration in machine learning and addressed critical issues faced by brownfields factories. Until just recently, factory owners were equipped with rule-based vision inspection, which required IT experts to write pages of rules for the algorithm to detect product defects.

In the coming years, the automotive and industrial supplier, Schaeffler, wants to recruit up to 600 experts across the world to work on digital solutions for tomorrow s mobility. The planned new positions are part of a digitalization offensive the company started last year. A central pillar of the strategy is the development of intelligent products. At CES 2017, Schaeffler is showing how visions of automated driving, electrification and networking can be turned into reality. Automobiles are part of the Internet of Things where machines share data with each other to provide better solutions for people.

The venerable 105-year-old IBM may be a global company, but while it has operated important labs and offices overseas, its business units have always been headquartered in the U.S. Until December of last year, that is, when it opened the new global headquarters for the IBM Watson Internet of Things (IoT) unit in Munich, Germany. Now, faced with dramatically increasing global demand for Watson IoT solutions and services, Big Blue is doubling down on that investment. On Tuesday, IBM announced a 200 million investment in the Watson IoT headquarters, marking one of the company's largest investments in Europe in its history. The investment is part of the 3 billion IBM has earmarked to bring Watson cognitive computing to IoT. IBM says the move is a response to escalating demand from customers who are looking to transform their operations using a combination of IoT and artificial intelligence technologies.

IBM said today that it will invest 200 million in a new global headquarters for its Watson Internet of Things business in Munich Germany. The move is part of the strategy of combining Watson -- the supercomputer that beat the world's best human Jeopardy player -- with the Internet of Things (IoT), or using sensors to make everyday objects smart and connected. It's also part of a global plan to invest 3 billion to bring Watson's cognitive computing to IoT. The investment in Munich is one of the company's largest ever in Europe and is in response to growing demand from customers who want to transform their operations with A.I. and IoT. IBM said it has 6,000 global clients using its Watson IoT solutions and services, up from 4,000 eight months ago.

IBM is betting big on internet of things and setting aside 200 million for its Watson IoT division's headquarters in Munich. The company says this investment, one of the biggest it's ever made in Europe, is a response to the growing demand for AI technologies and the capability to connect everything to the internet. Part of the money will go to setting up hands-on labs where its clients can work with a thousand researchers, engineers, developers and business experts in the city. In fact, the tech corp has already secured new partnerships with German automotive parts supplier Schaeffler, Netherlands-based dronemaker Aerialtronics and three facilities at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals in Philadelphia. Schaeffler will use the Watson-powered IoT platform to give the various products it manufactures for the wind turbine, train, auto and other industries a way to monitor their own conditions.