Artificial intelligence has risen on the manufacturing assembly line thanks to “factory of the future” movements over the years. But when it comes to deploying AI inside core business systems — such as in enterprise resource planning for a manufacturing ERP platform — the industry is still wrestling with big questions.

Those questions include to what degree should humans be kept in the loop. After reviewing performance data across hundreds of implementations QAD Inc., a provider of efficiency platforms for manufacturing, has come down squarely on the side of actively involving humans, according to Ron Davis (pictured), senior vice president of product engineering at QAD Redzone.

“What the data … shows is that when you engage human beings to actually act in the real time — when you empower them to actually make decisions — and then you recognize them for their work and their contributions, you can drive these miracle outcomes,” Davis told theCUBE. “We’ve seen this to show things like 29% productivity uplifts in manufacturing in as little as 90 days.”

Davis spoke with theCUBE’s Scott Hebner 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 manufacturing ERP platform and the benefits that can be achieved by AI by tapping the insights of experienced employees. (* Disclosure below.)

Avoiding the pitfalls of AI in a manufacturing ERP platform

The information used to build AI agents and large language models will be critical to the success of any AI-based manufacturing ERP platform. But taking a generic AI approach is risky, and another reason to solicit the support of experienced employees, according to Davis.

“Training, and especially things like safety, is not only unique to your company, but it’s extremely unique to your plant,” he noted. “That’s not something generic AI is gonna tell you. For example, your policies on lockout/tagout — if that’s not right, if that’s generic, someone loses an arm.”

Nearly a third of the manufacturing workforce is over 55 and many have a negative view of AI, Davis explained. Incorporating their knowledge and experience into AI can change that attitude while creating a better solution.

“We collect information, we engage and we empower and we recognize people. When we do that, it makes these folks who once felt like, ‘Oh, technology’s trying to replace me’ — it actually puts them in a much more important spotlight,” said Davis. “We have customers where they’ve said things like, ‘I was gonna retire, but I chose not to because now I have a voice in the manufacturing plant, which I never had before.’”

Getting the human-AI equation right requires a mindset focused on identifying what AI is, excels at and the value it can deliver, Davis said. That mindset, combined with actual data, drives AI strategy at QAD.

“We had all this data and we said, ‘You know what, here’s the reality of what AI does well. Here’s where that AI falls down,” he said. “Then here’s where humans need to interact with that.’”

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