We are being confronted every day with issues in both our professional and private lives that make us wonder how we are ever going to solve them. These problems always arise when things refuse to go according to plan, for example:
- Schedules are reshuffled or deadlines can’t be met
- Jobs have to be re-prioritised at short notice
- Crucial resources have gone AWOL
When you find yourself up the creek without a paddle, having a system that can recommend a smart way out can be worth its weight in gold. It means you can skip the part where you have to come up with a solution and go straight to its implementation.
Artificial intelligence makes processes dynamic.
Conventional systems are at a disadvantage because all the parameters they work with (say workloads, turnaround, setup) are static, which means it is practically impossible to react to unforeseen events quickly. On the other hand, a learning system gives continuous feedback and is consistently optimising itself.
Illustration: Traditional Programs vs. Machine Learning.
If a process parameter unexpectedly changes, it is able to orchestrate process steps in such a way that it can ensure maximum efficiency. Typically, artificial intelligence is better and faster at this than human intelligence by a large margin, delivering knowledge on how to optimally retune a running process in real-time.
Artificial intelligence and digitalisation.
Typically, the digital transformation refers to the translation of analogue processes into ones and zeroes, without changing the processes themselves. But this isn’t what gains you extra efficiency. The biggest benefit of digital processes is that they create transparency and generate data, and it is precisely this data that can be the biggest asset. Artificial intelligence extracts information from raw data, generating knowledge.
Illustration: Digital value chain.
Within the digital value chain, it is artificial intelligence that is creating real value. Visibility into digital processes enables you to identify ways to optimise these processes which ultimately lead to increased efficiency. Optimisations can be made for any number of performance indicators so that quality improvements are also achievable.
Measuring digitalisation.
AI services can enhance practically every area of a business, supporting people by making recommendations for improvements or by taking over complete cognitive processes meaning they can independently perform tasks such as visual quality checks. Each AI process is matched to a performance indicator to be improved and improvements will make the benefits of the entire digitalisation project transparent so you can clearly see the return on your investment.
Digital transformation using artificial intelligence leads to measurable effects that are essential for decision makers evaluating digitalisation projects from an economic point of view.
