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AI’s hype hides practical benefits

By Bob Vavra, CFE Media September 3, 2018

In the discussion about artificial intelligence (AI) and its uses in everything from video games to shopping trips, the practical applications in the manufacturing realm may get overrun by the hype. As Plant Engineering discussed this month with Kazunobu Morita, chief strategy officer for industry and distribution business unit, Hitachi, Ltd., the use of AI on the plant floor will provide better data to workers and will help bolster the sagging workforce needs in the plant. "It is all about building awareness about the available data and need to unlock the potential of this data to address challenges faced by maintenance teams," Morita told Plant Engineering in the Mid-Year Report that focused on the Plant of the Future. The planning already has begun-Hitachi and Sullair have entered into a partnership that puts Hitachi’s AI technology in Sullair compressors.

Bob Vavra, content manager, Plant Engineering, CFE Media, bvavra@cfemedia.com.