Andritz announced last week that the group is collaborating with Microsoft to co- innovate the future of the process industry by enabling fully autonomous factories and by creating a trusted data ecosystem based on the Andritz Metris digital platform and Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing. Collaboration will also foster modern working methods within Andritz, speeding up internal processes for prompt and seamless customer support. This marks a significant step forward in accelerating the digital transformation in the manufacturing industry.
Joachim Schönbeck, President & CEO of Andritz, highlights the significance of this initiative: “This collaboration represents a milestone in our digital transformation. By combining our industry knowledge with Microsoft’s digital solutions, we elevate our Metris digital platform and provide our employees with an optimized working environment, enabling groundbreaking business models and enhanced customer service.”
The Andritz Metris digital platform, which forms the basis for the journey towards autonomy, provides full support for industrial plants throughout their entire lifecycle, addressing customers’ main challenges such as operating costs, process stability, plant reliability, and sustainability. Andritz has integrated a Copilot solution based on Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service into Metris. The Metris Copilot simplifies anomaly detection and streamlines communication between operators and machines.
Operators will gain real-time machine insights via a chat interface, facilitating informed decision- making. This helps to boost plant efficiency, product quality, and resource utilization in manufacturing.
The collaboration also gives a significant boost to Andritz ‘s internal digitization journey. Andritz ‘s use of Copilot for Microsoft 365 underscores its commitment to embracing modern working methods and driving product improvement. By automating repetitive tasks and providing actionable insights, it helps to streamline internal processes and allows employees to focus more on strategic tasks and customers’ needs.
Rohit Pant, Chief Automation Officer at Andritz, highlights the customer benefits: “Integrating Microsoft’s digital expertise into our Metris platform enables data-driven decision-making for our customers, unlocking a range of advantages. Through skilling programs and specialized training, Andritz’ s teams are evolving to meet the demands of a digitally driven market.”
“Andritz is helping to shape the future by using Microsoft Azure to further enhance its autonomous factory solutions,” says Ralph Haupter, President of Microsoft EMEA. “The deep integration of their products with Azure cloud services is the type of technological innovation that drives sustainable and efficient change in the industry.”
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