In a significant development for the industrial automation sector, Siemens has announced a collaboration with Microsoft that aims to elevate the capabilities of its Siemens Industrial Copilot, integrating advanced AI functionalities via Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service. This strategic partnership promises to revolutionize manufacturing processes, offering improvements in handling the rigorous demands of industrial environments at a scalable level.
Siemens, leveraging its extensive domain expertise, seeks to combine forces with Microsoft's AI technology to refine the Siemens Industrial Copilot's efficiency in industries ranging from automotive to battery manufacturing. With Microsoft Azure's AI capabilities, the Copilot is designed to answer the mounting challenges faced by industries such as labor shortages and the need for enhanced innovation.
Currently, over 100 companies, including industry leaders like Schaeffler and thyssenkrupp Automation Engineering, are already deploying the Siemens Industrial Copilot to optimize their workflows. For Siemens' extensive customer base—comprising 120,000 users of the TIA Portal software—the integration of AI provides a robust tool for enhancing engineering processes.
A notable aspect of the strategy concerns thyssenkrupp Automation Engineering, a co-creation partner that plans to expand the global use of the Copilot starting in early 2025. This planned worldwide rollout marks a pivotal step in fully realizing the potential of AI-assisted engineering across thyssenkrupp's diverse product range.
Moreover, Siemens is actively simplifying access to generative AI for automation engineering through its Siemens Xcelerator platform. As Judson Althoff, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Microsoft, remarks, this collaboration underscores a defining moment in the industrial sector, where AI technology becomes central to driving innovation and enhancing operational efficiency. This sentiment echoes Cedrik Neike, CEO of Siemens Digital Industries, who emphasized the initiative's role in empowering industries to be more resilient and sustainable.
Since its release in July 2024, the Siemens Industrial Copilot has demonstrated considerable efficacy in support of engineering functions, notably by reducing the time it takes engineers to complete tasks such as panel visualizations—now achievable in as little as 30 seconds. Additionally, the AI facilitates code generation requiring only minimal human adaptation, thereby streamlining complex engineering workflows.
The transformative nature of the Copilot is particularly evident in its application to battery quality assurance, an area of critical importance in the sustainable energy sector. At thyssenkrupp Automation Engineering, the Copilot automates key processes such as data management and sensor configuration, crucially enhancing the precision and reliability of battery testing procedures. This automation supports the engineers by managing routine documentation and allows them to focus on more complex problems, significantly reducing downtime and ensuring seamless production.
Dr. Volkmar Dinstuhl, CEO of thyssenkrupp Automotive Technology, highlights this innovation, stating that the AI-powered solution represents a significant advancement for the industry, particularly in addressing the pressing challenges of labor shortages and the growing complexity of battery testing. As companies like thyssenkrupp prepare to deploy the Copilot across their machines, Siemens and Microsoft's collaborative effort is poised to redefine the landscape of industrial automation.
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