Artificial intelligence is becoming a vital part of the manufacturing industry, particularly in certain sectors. Indeed, the manufacturing industry has been one of the early adopters of AI technology and application. It is important in all facets of operations, from product design to workforce planning. AI helps to improve product quality, employee safety and efficiency in manufacturing.
How AI Can Create New Manufacturing Jobs
Some who work in the manufacturing industry may fear that AI will take over their jobs, rendering them useless. This is the exact opposite of what is predicted to happen, however. Artificial intelligence can add new jobs to the manufacturing sector.
By utilizing a virtual replica of an industrial process, operators will be able to gain the ability to delve into novel scenarios and configurations that could arise within factories. This tool enables them to test hypothetical situations, improving their decision-making skills, all without causing any disruption to ongoing production. This innovation opens new avenues for recruitment. Rather than being restricted to seeking operators with prior experience, manufacturers will now be able to consider hiring individuals with less experience and use AI to swiftly and effectively raise them to a working proficiency level.
In the realm of the manufacturing labor shortage, there is also a noticeable scarcity of data scientists. With manufacturers striving to unlock the full potential of the manufacturing industry incorporating AI, the need for individuals who can interpret the wealth of data generated by sensors with the factory, and translate that data into workable insights becomes paramount. In this area, artificial intelligence can make a significant contribution. Machine learning software is able to absorb and process all of the data that is produced within the factory, discerning the most favorable configurations in real-time, thereby essentially transforming operators and engineers into data scientists.
Artificial intelligence is not intended to eliminate the need for data scientists, however. Rather, it allows data scientists to engage in more intellectually stimulating, innovative, and creative tasks. Data scientists within the manufacturing industry have traditionally invested a significant part of their time in mundane data analysis. However, keeping in mind that machine learning software can handle tasks such as data cleaning and data processing, data scientists can now dedicate most of their time at work to exploring more engaging problems and innovative use cases.
Amidst the concerns over automation and job displacement, the mere mention of AI can often trigger alarm. Yet, if applied in the proper ways, AI can serve as a catalyst in aiding manufacturers to train and enable their human workforce.
Maintenance
The manufacturing industry uses machine learning and neural networks in maintaining industrial equipment. AI can be used in predictive maintenance, to foresee malfunction in certain equipment, shortening the time it takes to repair that equipment and preventing unplanned downtime that can cost businesses millions of dollars.
Production
The manufacturing industry has been using AI-powered robots for years, and these are immensely important in the production process. Industrial robots powered by AI are more stable than robots of previous generations, taking instruction from humans and working productively with them in a collaborative effort.
Optimizing Processes and Efficiency
Artificial intelligence has been used to make the manufacturing processes more efficient. The optimization and automation of certain processes, like inventory management, assembly line operations, and materials handling, has helped to improve efficiency and overall productivity, reducing errors and production times. AI algorithms can gather date from supply chain systems, inventory management, and production lines to improve the efficiency of manufacturing processes. AI can propose improvements to the processes, reducing waste and improving the efficiency of operations by finding areas of inefficiency, logjams, and patterns.
Quality Control
Manufacturers can use AI to make inspection and quality control processes run automatically, saving time and cost as well as freeing up human workers to do other things. Even more importantly, AI and machine learning systems can find aberrations in the manufacturing processes in real time. Products that are manufactured using AI quality control meet quality standards more quickly and more uniformly, improving the overall general quality of the products and making for happier consumers.
Supply Chain Management
Maintaining an effective global supply chain is crucial to the success of the manufacturing industry. Systems that are powered by artificial intelligence can analyze data about demand trends, inventory levels, and suppliers. In this way, manufacturers can forecast demand in a more accurate manner, letting them know how much product to keep in stock and when to order more. This improves efficiency, speeds up delivery, and saves manufacturers money.
Smart Factories
More and more smart factories are being developed, and will be developed in the future. Within these factories, machines and systems are interconnected by AI to communicate with each other in real time. Smart factories will optimize production even more, get rid of waste, and allow manufacturing processes to coordinate seamlessly. Overall, this will result in improved productivity, improved customer satisfaction, and reduced costs for manufacturers.
Intelligent Automation
AI-powered automation is already being used in many manufacturing processes and will become even more sophisticated in the years ahead. Tasks that were once only able to be handled by human workers can now be done by AI, streamlining operations, reducing costs, and increasing efficiency. Humans will have more time to focus on innovation and creativity as AI takes over the more mundane tasks in manufacturing.
AI Jobs in the Manufacturing Industry
As AI becomes more prolific within the manufacturing industry, more and more jobs and career options will arise. As examples of what types of jobs you could find within manufacturing, we did a quick check of the classifieds as of October 2023 and found the following AI-related jobs available within the manufacturing industry:
- Optical Production Engineer, ASML, Wilton, CT: $78,100 to $98,900 annually
- Chief Engineer, Undersea Systems, MORSE Corp, Cambridge, MA: $126,000 to $159,000 annually
- IoT Systems Engineer, Honda Development and Manufacturing of America, Marysville, OH: $97,300 to $123,000 annually
- Machine Learning Engineer Co-Op, Etegent Technologies, Ltd., Beavercreek, OH: $63,800 to $80,800 annually
- Automation Controls Engineer, RD Industries, Omaha, NE: $82,400 to $104,000 annually
- Automation Specialist, Doncasters Group, Groton, CT: $60,600 to $76,700 annually
- Senior Manufacturing Engineer, Tech Veda, Inc., Cambridge, MA: $70,436 to $135,052 annually
- Industrial Engineer, Vision Systems, Invisible AI, Remote: $105,000 to $133,000 annually