Six AI Manufacturing Lighthouses to Take Notice of, pt 2

Welcome to part two of our coverage of how manufacturers recognised by the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Lighthouse Network are using AI. 

Our last article covered the successes of Siemens, Beko and the Jubilant Bhartia Group, with comments from key executives at the organisations.

This piece today examines how three new manufacturers- AstraZeneca, Midea Group and Mengniu Dairy- are pursuing AI integration to improve manufacturing operations and maximise results. 

Speaking to the WEF in a blog, here's what three key executives from these companies had to say.

Jim Fox, Vice President Sweden Operations and Executive Sponsor for Digital, AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca has had two of its most advanced manufacturing sites - one in Sweden and one in China - awarded WEF Global Lighthouse Network status. 

It's site in Wuxi, China has integrated more than 30 digital tools and AI-powered solutions, boosting output by 55% and lead times by 44%. 

Today it is independently ranked in the top 10% of more than 800 world class pharmaceutical sites in quality, speed and efficiency.

"Today, AstraZeneca is using AI to revolutionise how we develop, make and supply medicines," says Jim Fox, Vice President Sweden Operations and Executive Sponsor for Digital, AstraZeneca.

"In drug development, predictive modelling helps optimise the physical and chemical properties of our active pharmaceutical ingredients and predict the performance of formulated products during manufacturing.

"Generative AI (GenAI), machine learning and large language models are already helping reduce development lead times by 50% and reduce the use of active pharmaceutical ingredients in experiments by 75%."

At AstraZeneca's other site in Södertälje, Sweden the company is utilising more than 50 digital solutions and has upskilled the digital capabilities of 3,000 employees. At this site AI-based digital twins and machine learning has helped boost productivity by 56% and reduced development lead times for launching new products by 67%.

"In manufacturing, AI-powered process digital twins optimise the conditions for yield and productivity while reducing the use of raw materials and minimising tech transfer requirements," says Jim.

"The digital twins simulate the relationship between drug substance properties, process conditions and product quality to optimise operating conditions. Combined with continuous manufacturing, we’ve reduced manufacturing lead times from weeks to hours. And with GenAI-human synergy, we are accelerating regulatory filings, cutting the time to create some documents by more than 70%."

Södertälje accounts for 40% of AstraZeneca’s global production volume and is one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturing sites in the world. The progress made with AI at this site will be replicated across AstraZeneca's manufacturing and influence the wider sector.

"As we head towards a net zero carbon footprint, AI-powered tools will also help us achieve this by allowing us to interrogate life-cycle data for our medicines and providing visibility of deviations and emissions “hotspots” so that we can mitigate these across the whole supply chain," concludes Jim. 

Guoxin Yao, General Manager of Supply Chain, Ambient Business Unit, Mengniu Dairy

Mengniu Dairy was recognised by the WEF for its creation of the world's first fully-intelligent dairy factory in Ningxia, China. 

"Mengniu’s “digitalisation 1.0” focused on digitalising dairy farms and factories to achieve comprehensive digital coverage on the supply side, from raw milk to production," says Guoxin Yao, General Manager of Supply Chain, Ambient Business Unit, Mengniu Dairy.

"Digitalisation 2.0 shifted to optimising management by building a digital marketing and consumer-side operations system, creating precise consumer profiles to enhance service experiences and marketing."

At the Ningxia factory over 30 advanced Industry 4.0 use cases were explored, from flexible automation to intelligent decision-making. These initiatives spanned milk testing, processing and packaging and resulted in a 60% decrease in quality defects, 32% reduction in operational costs and a 55% reduction in delivery lead time. Frequently incorporating AI, they significantly enhanced product quality and efficiency. 

"With digitalisation 3.0, Mengniu integrates AI across the supply and consumer sides to optimise supply chain processes and boost efficiency," adds Guoxin Yao, highlighting three specific AI use cases that have emerged.

"In its one-stop Laboratory, AI modules like neural network image recognition and reinforcement learning-based intelligent scheduling replace manual testing, ensuring accuracy and efficiency in critical test stages.

"For procurement and cyclic delivery, AI automates supplier order scheduling and vehicle dispatching, increasing inventory turnover by 73% and operational efficiency by 8%.

"In predictive maintenance, AI algorithms analyse equipment data to forecast faults and prevent downtime. These systems have enhanced overall production decision-making and operational efficiency."

Simon Zhang, Vice President and Chief Data Officer, Midea Group

Midea Group, the leading electrical appliance manufacturer has been recognised by the WEF three times for pioneering the adoption of Industry 4.0 tools in manufacturing. 

It's factory in Jingzhou, China which specialises in smart home appliances embraced digital transformation when it found traditional manufacturing processes didn't allow them meet customer needs quickly enough. 

Flexible automation. loT and AI was adopted at the factory, with more than 2,000 digital transformation initiatives pursued.

These initiatives have increased labour productivity by 52% and reduced failure rates by 53%, production lead time by 25% and the utility consumption per unit by 20%.

Many of these initiatives focused on using technological innovation to enhance the performance of key products, like Midea's washing machines. 

"Midea washing machines explore and restructure end-to-end green and sustainable new capabilities, widely deploying a variety of digital technologies integrated with AI applications in product design, manufacturing – quality, equipment and energy – and logistics, promoting intelligent operation in various sub-scenarios," says Simon Zhang, Vice President and Chief Data Officer, Midea Group.

"We have achieved a 25% reduction in development cycles, a 53% reduction in poor quality and a 29% optimisation of logistics paths. The company is witnessing factory-scale adoption through the use of AI."

AI has played a significant role in Midea Group's results, integrated across factory operations. 

"The deep application of AI in the entire factory process covers 457 sub-scenarios, mainly through self-developed small sample intelligent algorithms and open AI cloud platforms, significantly reducing sample collection and training time and lowering scale promotion and operation costs," adds Simon Zhang. 

These manufacturers recognised by the WEF speak to the sheer benefits that come with embracing Industry 4.0 technologies like AI.

Understanding how to harness it's potential and tailor its benefits to your distinctive manufacturing needs is what sets the trailblazers like the companies above apart. 

Click here to read part 1 if you missed it, where you'll hear from leaders at Siemens, Beko and Jubilant Bhartia Group about their use of AI.

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