A survey by reichelt elektronik proves that early involvement of employees in the development of processes and a comprehensive strategy promotes trust in artificial intelligence
The trend towards the use of artificial intelligence (AI) has proved to be increasingly popular in Europe. As AI continues to show potential most notably within the manufacturing industry, it’s no surprise that it’s often viewed as a natural next step to streamline production. By doing so, companies hope for a substantial increase in value creation. Due to the current tech skills gap, the adoption of the AI technology raises concrete questions for many businesses about potential new obstacles that may be introduced during the process. The lack of accessible data makes it all the more difficult to implement. A survey by reichelt elektronik shows important insight into empirical values of industrial companies have who successfully implemented the use of AI.
hat expectations do companies have of Artificial intelligence?
More than half of the respondents (62%) have said they already use AI in production. Of these respondents, 30% use AI across the board while only 32% use the same technology partially. The survey found that the most common reason (40%) for implementing AI in the workplace is to increase company productivity, followed by quality control at 37%, process optimisation at 36% and lastly, 34% of respondents disclosed that they introduced AI for cyber security purposes.
A key benefit of introducing artificial intelligence within the working environment is to identify new ways of operating as a business. What many companies lack is a clear understanding of what exactly they can do with AI as application possibilities are still limited to small areas and must be painstakingly trained to specific functions and specifications. Understanding that an overarching strategy as opposed to selective pilot projects is key. 57% percent of respondents said they already have a comprehensive strategy in place and about a third at 38% say they have only invested in AI in sub-projects so far.
Do companies consider their Artificial intelligence projects a success?
In order for employees to stand behind the implementation of AI within a company, trust in the technology is paramount. The calculation methods used by AI to arrive at its results are often not comprehensible in detail. This lack of insight may initially deter some companies from adopting the technology however, it’s worth noting that this perception has improved due to more use cases and initiatives for more transparency.
When asked whether companies that had already implemented AI five years ago would decide to do it again, with today’s knowledge and do everything the same way, just under half answered “yes” (45%). 39% percent said they would do some things differently today and 12% would do everything differently.
In addition to better planning, the respondents advise that they would involve their own employees in the processes from the beginning. This way, everyone is involved from day one, building more trust in the technology.
Using Artificial intelligence across the board
Looking into the future, 78% find it realistic that more and more robots will take over tasks from humans. For more than one third of those surveyed, 39% agree that AI will become a standard in the manufacturing industry within four to six years.
As it stands, AI is considered one of many tools that can be applied in manufacturing however, statistical calculations or vector models can be just as useful or even more useful in machine learning tasks. “It’s about using the technology that is best suited to the task at hand. When AI is used, care must be taken to ensure that the new technology fits seamlessly into the workflow and does not exist as an extra project in parallel to all existing processes,” says Christian Reinwald, Head of Product Management & Marketing at reichelt elektronik.
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Umfrage: Die Zahlen wurden vom internationalen Umfrageinstitut OnePoll für reichelt elektronik erhoben und umfassen 1.650 Technologieentscheider von Industrieunternehmen aus Europa, davon 500 aus Deutschland.
Images: Adobe Stock, reichelt elektronik
