November 2024 - According to estimates by the Global Manufacturing Forum 2024, by 2030, investment in Digital Transformation for manufacturing (automation, process digitization, interconnected systems in Industrial Iot logic, robotics and artificial intelligence) will double to 3.620 billion (USD) and connected devices will be 40 billion. The development of Artificial intelligence-driven solutions traditional and generative will, therefore, be the key to economic growth and digital and sustainable business transformation. Managing information-intensive contexts and transforming the data into knowledge and thus into value, will become crucial for companies engaged in the Transition 5.0.

It is precisely in this direction that the new agreement between Bonfiglioli Consulting, an Italian pioneer of the "lean thinking" philosophy who has specialized in operations optimization and efficiency for more than 50 years, and expert.ai, a leading company in the implementation of solutions enterprise Of artificial intelligence to create business value.

The goal of the agreement is to offer companies engaged in the digital transition of operations innovative solutions in which AI can provide effective support in every aspect of operations: from product design and development to product implementation, from logistics to customer service, from preservation and protection to sharing internal know-how.

Supply chain management, operational optimization and digital transformation are the three areas covered by the agreement, which representsa further step in the growth of the Bonfiglioli Consulting Group and a valuable opportunity for Italian companies to improve their competitiveness in an increasingly dynamic global market.

Recent research conducted by Bonfiglioli Consulting involving top managers from more than 100 Italian companies, including 85% with more than 100 employees and in 22 different product sectors, shows that there is still a long way to go for digital transformation in Italian companies. From benchmarking study "What's Next In Operations?" the end of 2022 showed that: more than 69% of companies invest less than 5% of their turnover in digitization and the 86% does not anticipate significant budget increases in the future. Moreover, although processes are digitized in 40% of cases and digitization has been planned by more than 60% of the surveyed companies, the digital transformation of processes takes the form mainly of the adoption of essentially "non-innovative" management systems such as ERP and MES. Only the 27% implemented cloud computing, the 20% the IoT, the 4% AI and Machine Learning and only the 5% uses AI algorithms to predict consumption, while all other technologies (from big data to blockchain, augmented and virtual reality to cybersecurity) are neither implemented nor planned to be implemented.

Michele Bonfiglioli, CEO of Bonfiglioli Consulting, commented, "this partnership fits within our growth strategy and confirms our commitment to deliver real and sustainable value to our customers. With an integrated approach, we don't just want to digitize existing processes, but with expert.ai we can truly introduce artificial intelligence within business operations enabling truly strategic use of data."

For example, with the solution Supplier Dynamic Insight, which combines consultancy services and digital tools, the company will be able to analyze, monitor and optimize supplier relationship management, optimizing its sourcing strategy. In manufacturing, on the other hand, through StockSense AI (EB), which combines advanced inventory analysis to identify, for example, critical products, those with slow turnover or at risk of obsolescence, the company will be able to develop analytical models to measure in real time The impact of demand fluctuations on inventory levels. With SmartServe AI (LS), a solution designed to optimize enterprise information management, relevant knowledge can be extracted from large content dataset several and use them effectively internally or for customer support.

Marco Varone, founder and Chief Technology Officer of expert.ai, stated, "from production management to customer service, there are many advantages of artificial intelligence to make the production chain more efficient with pervasive impacts on costs as well. We are therefore delighted with this partnership and proud to make our AI expertise and solutions available to a cutting-edge company like Bonfiglioli Consulting, thus helping to support companies in strengthening competitiveness through innovation, digitization and operations transformation".