Rockwell Automation, Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are accelerating industrial automation design and development through generative artificial intelligence (AI) by combining technologies to empower the workforce and accelerate time-to-market for customers building automation systems.
The first step will be adding Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service into Rockwell's FactoryTalk Design Studio—delivering industry-first capabilities and accelerating time-to-market for automation systems.
Rockwell and Microsoft recognize that using AI to enhance automation across various roles, from decision-makers to control engineers and operators, is a key area where they can come together to help customers streamline their processes and drive worker productivity.
Adding Azure OpenAI Service into FactoryTalk Design Studio will help engineers generate code using natural language prompts, automating routine tasks, and improving design efficiency. It will also enable seasoned engineers to accelerate development and mentor newcomers on a learning path more easily and effectively. Additionally, it will assist in finding relevant help from vast collections of information to further educate developers.
“The skilled labor shortage and ensuing lost productivity is the biggest challenge facing industrial organizations and their service providers today. These shortages are increasing the need, value, and complexity of automation projects when the ecosystem of service providers is less equipped to deliver on time, quality, and budget,” said Matthew Littlefield, President LNS Research. “Generative AI has already proven its ability to capture the imagination and enhance the productivity of workers in a range of IT and business scenarios. Rockwell Automation and Microsoft’s strategic partnership is an exciting and high-potential step forward in addressing these long-term structural challenges.”
Rockwell and Microsoft see a bright future in extending this integrated technology to solve other challenges, including quality management and improvement, failure mode analysis, and training frontline workers to execute manufacturing processes through chat-based collaboration with experienced human workers as well as Azure Open AI Service-based chatbots.
Additionally, the companies are continuing to explore ways to advance innovation in the industrial metaverse. Both companies are using their respective IoT capabilities, cloud datasets, simulations, and AI to design and build products more effectively, more efficiently, and more sustainably.
You can learn more about this collaboration here.