APPLICATIONS
and energy sectors. The technology processes multiple data types including video, audio, temperature and pressure readings alongside technical schematics to anticipate and prevent equipment faults. It streamlines schedules by aligning the right technician with necessary parts and locations whilst using voice recognition and automatic transcription to minimise administrative burdens.
Automotive manufacturing at scale Volkswagen’ s collaboration with Amazon Web Services( AWS) demonstrates AI’ s potential when implemented at industrial scale. The German manufacturer has extended its AWS cloud collaboration for five years, linking 43 factories through its Digital Production Platform. This infrastructure supports what represents the automotive sector’ s largest AI implementation, covering facilities from Europe to North and South America.
The predictive maintenance platforms process sensor data from production equipment to spot potential failures before they trigger line stoppages, tackling one of the highest-cost scenarios in automotive manufacturing where downtime can cost thousands of pounds per minute. The technical framework focuses on data standardisation across manufacturing sites, allowing consistent deployment of IT systems across connected facilities. This standardisation strategy has generated cost savings in the double-digit millions for Volkswagen Group.
“THE DIGITAL PRODUCTION PLATFORM IS THE DIGITAL NERVOUS SYSTEM OF OUR FACTORIES”
Hauke Stars, Member of the Board of Management for IT, Volkswagen Group
“ Our ambition is to become the global automotive tech driver,” says Hauke Stars, Member of the Board of Management for IT at the Volkswagen Group.“ The Digital Production Platform plays a key role in this: it is the digital nervous system of our factories and the key to a future of AI-powered production.”
The robotics revolution The integration of autonomous robotics with AI decision-making capabilities represents the next frontier in predictive maintenance.
IFS and Boston Dynamics have collaborated to develop what they characterise as a fully-agentic AI system that connects sensing, predictive decision-making and field action.
Boston Dynamics’ Spot robots patrol facilities collecting operational intelligence through thermal imaging
62 March 2026