Enterprises are shifting from traditional systems of record to intelligent systems of action that drive smarter decision-making on the factory floor, especially in areas like inventory optimization. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence is emerging not as a job replacer — but as a powerful co-pilot.

Manufacturers are turning to AI to tame complex planning environments. A major focus is streamlining and automating processes, according to Dave Miller (pictured, left), director of enterprise applications at Hendrickson USA, LLC.

Hendrickson’s Dave Miller and QAD’s Tom Roberts talk with theCUBE about AI overhauling inventory and manufacturing.

“A big part of what we do is try to find ways to streamline and automate process,” Miller said. “We see these AI tools as being another tool in our toolbox to accomplish that.”

Miller and Tom Roberts (right), vice president of strategic industry development at QAD Inc., spoke with Scott Hebner, principal analyst at theCUBE Research, and Paul Gillin, enterprise editor at SiliconANGLE, at the QAD Champions of Manufacturing event, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the development of AI-based inventory optimization and the industry’s shift toward more intelligent and action-oriented manufacturing systems. (* Disclosure below.)

The promise of AI-based inventory optimization

For years, it has been clear that planners need a better way to manage their constantly changing material requirements planning, or MRP, parameters, according to Miller. The process is complex, the environment shifts frequently and updates are not happening fast enough. All of this underscored the need for a more systematic solution.

“We dreamt up a framework for how we could approach that problem,” Miller said. “We had an opportunity to share that with the QAD data science team, and parts of that idea have evolved and become into the Champion AI inventory optimization agent.”

Hendrickson has long been a strategic partner to QAD, regularly collaborating on challenges and potential solutions, so engaging with Hendrickson on inventory optimization was a natural next step, according to Roberts. In many ways, the effort quickly evolved into a true co-development partnership.

“If we aren’t developing something that’s appropriate for customers or needed or necessary for our customers, then we probably shouldn’t be doing it,” Roberts said. “It was great to have that insight and capability from the Hendrickson team.”

The process began by outlining a structured framework to guide development of new agentic capabilities. The first phase focused on defining the key performance indicators that would determine whether the solution was successful, Miller explained.

“Then we had the idea that, you know what, we should come up with some templates of how MRP parameters are assigned based on certain part characteristics,” he said. “Then the third phase was really to use analytics to automate the whole thing.”

All of this is designed to act as a co-pilot for planners, offering recommendations much like today’s MRP action messages, rather than replacing human decision-making. Beyond that, it empowers workers on distinct levels, according to Miller.

“There’s the helping people with the redundant work, [getting] rid of the repetitive work. The automation of tasks that are not value-added, right?” he said. “The second part is bringing new solution frameworks … because [if] they’re doing this repetitive work, we’re not having time to explore.”

With QAD’s support, the agents can be trained to solve complex problems in more intelligent ways and then deliver those insights to employees. That, in turn, elevates their capabilities and inspires them to deepen their own learning, according to Miller.

“That’s where the real value is. Then we have a culture change where we’re all trying to operate more intelligently,” he said.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of QAD Champions of Manufacturing event:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the QAD Champions of Manufacturing event. Neither QAD, the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE