Planning & Asset Management: Siemens & IFS’s Industrial AI

Global technology company Siemens has partnered with industrial AI software company IFS to close the loop across the manufacturing lifecycle. 

The companies say their partnership is focussed on delivering productivity and adaptability for manufacturers by connecting AI-native production planning and asset management systems.

McKinsey has argued that as the costs of cloud storage and processing and pre-packaged tools decrease, AI is becoming more accessible for manufacturers, helping them improve efficiency, yield and margins.

However, many manufacturers are operating with siloed, disconnected systems, with only 29% of manufacturers having a global production system implemented across all sites, according to the consulting firm's survey. 

The Siemens and IFS partnership

The partnership is centred around industrial AI and is focused on delivering productivity and adaptability for manufacturers by connecting leading AI-native production planning and asset management systems.

Tony Hemmelgarn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Digital Industries Software, says: “Industrial AI only delivers value when it is grounded in both engineering intent and real-world performance.

"Together with IFS, we are bringing these domains together by connecting design, manufacturing and asset lifecycle data in a secure, contextualised data fabric. 

“By converging our combined strengths in industrial AI, together we will empower our customers with our vision of an executable Digital Twin that will enable them to accelerate innovation with confidence.”

Industrial AI in manufacturing

Research from McKinsey shows that 88% of companies now use AI in at least one function and 62% are either experimenting with or scaling agentic AI.

Even as manufacturers have rolled out various digital tools and improvements initiatives, some have reported results not in line with expectations. 

A McKinsey survey of more than 100 manufacturing COOs found that while 74% say their company has a global production system, just 29% report that it is fully implemented across all sites. 

A global production system is an interconnected, international network that designs and manufactures goods.

Siemens argues that the problem is siloed systems, where manufacturers' production, maintenance planning and supply chain management systems are fundamentally disconnected.

This means that engineering intent, real-world performance and service strategy remain disconnected too. 

Siemens says the two companies aim to help manufacturers close a persistent gap: the disconnect between how factory operations are designed and how they run in reality.

The massive German technology company cites unplanned downtime, disconnected maintenance schedules, siloed production data and supply chain disruption as key reasons that continue to erode throughput, agility and margin.

Combining collective strengths

Siemens is a leader in the field of industrial AI, offering a comprehensive digital twin to its partnership, while IFS will bring service history, asset behaviour and operational lifecycle data. 

Mark Moffat, Chief Executive Officer of IFS, says: “Manufacturers need their factory floor to behave the way it was designed. 

“This partnership with Siemens brings together two companies that each own a critical piece of the puzzle. Agentic AI is the critical frontier and industrial leaders need solutions with closed loop models and data and a rich set of context that will not hallucinate in active operations.

“By combining our collective strengths in Industrial AI, we can help manufacturers close the loop between design and reality and unlock real, measurable performance gains.”