Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business is being lauded for an initiative that uses advanced technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to make manufacturers more efficient. And for good reason.
The initiative has saved manufacturers in Indiana and beyond more than $91 million in just three years.
The system developed by IU associate professor Amrou Awaysheh and his team of 14 is getting strong endorsements from a number of blue-chip companies.
“IU students came up with strong system-level solutions and helped us with the methodology to optimize material circularity with logistics-based emissions,” says Yogen V. Uttarkar, principal lead of product sustainability at Amazon Robotics. “This will help Amazon become both more sustainable and more competitive.”
Awaysheh and his team have worked with more than 450 facilities globally, with companies investing $24 million to date on projects. The cost savings – in the form of better machine and employee productivity, lower resource consumption and higher quality products going out the door – come from using sensors and AI technology.
The IU team helps the companies involved in the project put effective managerial systems in place to turn the data generated by the initiative into actionable insight and increase the return on their investment in these technologies. In Indiana, for example, the team has worked with warehouses to improve the information provided to associates. This new managerial system leveraged the existing technology and helped reduce employee turnover, resulting in more than $2 million in savings.
“This project is a prime example of making public-private partnerships work, and it’s so exciting to use the knowledge and expertise that we’ve been able to amass over the last few years to work with companies all over the world,” Awaysheh says. “Creating a partnership between academia and industry allows researchers at IU to solve real-world problems using real data. This applied research helps put in place solutions that are rolled out immediately in industry, helping our partners build a competitive advantage.”
The initiative is being tracked by IU Business Sustainability and Innovation Lab, led by Awaysheh, an associate professor of operations and supply chain management and executive director at the IU Kelley School of Business in Indianapolis. Awaysheh is also the founding director of the IU Energy Efficiency IoT Lab.
The project this fall entered a new phase with the rollout of new sensors that collect new types of information, including employee performance and machine metrics that can determine when machines need preventative maintenance. The team’s initial work focused on energy consumption.
“We are taking all elements of the factory, gathering data from multiple machines in real-time and digitizing the factory workplace,” Awaysheh states. “We are expanding our use of sensors and using artificial intelligence to drive predictive insights that help managers make informed decisions and identify direct actions that improve performance and output within their facilities. We want to help lighthouse manufacturers – ones leading the way in terms of AI and advanced technology – become more competitive and help others adapt to the marketplace a lot faster.”
As one of the nation’s top states for manufacturing, Indiana boasts a robust supply chain network and the second-largest automotive industry in the U.S. According to the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, Indiana is home to 9,000 manufacturing operations and exports $34.8 billion in manufactured goods every year.
