Accenture heads agentic AI factory push

Eric Ashby, COO at paper producer Kruger, predicted agentic AI could significantly cut operating costs if it can reduce downtime by even small margins, as the company was named an early adopter of a system Accenture is developing. Ashby said cutting typical repair times on factory equipment by 10 per cent to 15 per cent could translate into multi-billion-dollar savings, along with improving safety, productivity and performance at its sites. He explained the agentic AI factory system Accenture is developing with Avanade and Microsoft provides the means for Kruger’s staff to “respond faster to issues, capture operational knowledge and continuously improve” factory operations. Nissha Metallizing Solutions is also testing the agentic factory system ahead of a general release later this year. Its global operations manager Edoardo Palmo said “prescriptive analytics and AI” are “strategic” imperatives and the Accenture-led development would “improve root cause exploration” to “significantly reduce scrap and unplanned downtime”. Accenture revealed the agentic AI factory move at the Hannover Messe event in Germany, stating it is working to push beyond “traditional manufacturing analytics, dashboards and oversight tools”. The goal is to provide AI agents capable of evaluating “operational context, historical machine behaviour and production data” to provide insight into possible causes of downtime and suggest remedies. Other capabilities include preparing maintenance tickets and ordering spare parts. Avanade was founded by Accenture and Microsoft to deliver specialist services using the US software giant’s products. The company’s global supply chain and engineering lead Michael Schleuss said the agentic factory system “combines Microsoft technology expertise with hands-on industry and manufacturing know-how”. Accenture explained manufacturers desire ways to reinvent shop floor operations using AI. The post Accenture heads agentic AI factory push appeared first on Mobile World Live .