This week in industrial innovation: Coperion is consolidating U.S. operations to boost efficiency, while Yokogawa partners with UptimeAI to streamline asset management. Additionally, Celanese collaborates with Radix and Cognite on AI-powered solutions for operator and maintenance optimization. Read more below.
Coperion To Streamline U.S. Operations
Coperion, a Hillenbrand, Inc. company headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, announced it will streamline its North American operations in an effort to improve operational efficiency.
The company will relocate its Salina, Kansas, operation in the coming months to its facilities in Whitewater, Wisconsin; Sabetha, Kansas; and Kansas City, Missouri. These facilities manufacture similar products and have the capacity to handle larger volumes. The Whitewater and Kansas City facilities are equipped with state-of-the-art test centers and offer customer trials, the company said in a press statement.
Coperion provides compounding and extrusion systems; and sorting, shredding and washing equipment and conveying, mixing and feeding technology. The company employs 5,000 people at 50 locations worldwide.
Companies Forge AI Collaborations for Asset Management
Yokogawa Electric Corp. and artificial intelligence (AI) company UptimeAI Inc., announced a strategic agreement designed to enhance asset performance management in industrial plants.
In a similar move, chemical company Celanese has announced it’s collaborating with Radix, a global technology solutions company, and Cognite, a provider of data and AI solutions for industry, on the development of a generative AI-powered solution for asset-intensive industries.
Under Yokagawa’s agreement, the company will integrate UptimeAI’s AI-powered platform into Yokogawa’s OpreX Asset Health Insights service. The combined solution will provide the oil and gas, chemicals, cement, power, and renewable energy industries with a seamless approach designed to optimize plant operations, reliability and maintenance, according to the company.
The collaboration will merge AI agents, subject matter knowledge, self-learning workflows, maintenance analysis, and industrial asset library models into a comprehensive AI assistant for plant operators.
Radix and Cognite have developed JO.AI, an AI platform that provides intuitive, natural language interaction via the Cognite Data Fusion to make complex data easier to access. According to Radix, the platform’s data management and AI infrastructure allow the application to carry out more complex operations with greater accuracy.
The platform is engineered to optimize operator rounds by providing data-driven checklist management that balances workloads and streamlines maintenance.
What People Are Saying
Yukihiro Funyu, senior vice president and head of the Digital Strategy Headquarters at Yokogawa: “Global manufacturers want to go beyond basic monitoring and predictive analytics. They seek intelligent applications that identify root causes, extract best practices, and drive continuous improvement. UptimeAI uniquely fits the bill with a proven track record amongst global industry leaders.”
Sameer Purao, senior vice president and CIO at Celanese: “AI has proven to be a valuable business catalyst in today’s dynamic manufacturing landscape, offering unparalleled opportunities for optimization and innovation. . . . AI enables smart production through real-time data analysis, facilitating data-driven decisions, process optimization and swift response to market demand. Incorporating AI into our manufacturing operations is not just a technological advancement, but also a competitive advantage.”
Bill Hendricks, president of Cognite Americas: “Digital transformation, especially with AI-powered solutions, is only as strong as the data foundation it’s built upon. Cognite accelerates time-to-value by enabling seamless integration and management of complex industrial data, providing the essential infrastructure for innovative applications like JO.AI."
Justin Conroy, vice president, Digital Product Portfolio at Radix :"The development of JO.AI is a testament to the power of collaboration and innovation. We've worked closely with Celanese to ensure that JO.AI meets the specific needs of industrial operators worldwide. This solution is not just about technology; it's about empowering people and teams with the insights they need to make better decisions and drive real business value."
