Bringing generative AI to the plant floor

15 January 2024

At the last SPS exhibition, Siemens and Schaeffler together demonstrated how it is possible to harness the power of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to help drive innovation and efficiency across the design, engineering, manufacturing and operational lifecycle of products.

They showcased a production machine augmented with Siemens Industrial Copilot to highlight how this solution can augment Siemens’ industrial automation engineering and operation solutions.

To support engineers with various automation tasks, the AI-powered assistant is connected to Siemens’ engineering framework Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) Portal via the open API TIA Portal Openness. The Industrial Copilot helps Schaeffler’s automation engineers to generate code faster for programmable logic controllers (PLCs). Engineering teams can significantly reduce time, effort, and the probability of errors by generating PLC code through natural language inputs.

Industrial Copilot can help help automate repetitive tasks, freeing up engineering resources for higher-value work. It also empowers less experienced shop-floor employees to grow into engineering roles.

Industrial Copilot has access to all relevant documentation, guidelines and manuals to assist shopfloor workers with identifying possible errors. These capabilities enable maintenance teams to identify errors and generate step-by-step solutions more quickly. This will help to significantly reduce machine downtime, make industrial companies more efficient and thus support sustainability efforts.

“This is the beginning of a new era: In the past, we had to speak to machines in their language. With the Siemens Industrial Copilot, we can speak to machines in our language,” said Cedrik Neike, Member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and CEO Digital Industries.