Accenture and Avanade are co-developing an agentic factory intelligence system with Microsoft. This technology helps companies reinvent factory operations. It enables seamless collaboration between humans, machines, AI agents, and data.
The system moves beyond traditional manufacturing analytics and dashboards. It enables AI agents to assist factory operators. These agents help with initial status checks, diagnostics, and guided troubleshooting. This occurs when production lines or machines are not producing at the intended rate.
Supporting Frontline Workers
The agents analyze operational context, historical machine behavior, and production data. They suggest likely causes and recommended actions to operators. When additional support is required, the product helps prepare maintenance tickets or spare parts orders.
“Manufacturers are looking to reinvent their shop floor operations with AI for improved safety and productivity,” said Tracey Countryman, global Supply Chain and Engineering lead at Accenture. “This includes moving beyond visibility toward systems that support frontline workers in critical moments. Our agentic factory helps production supervisors, machine operators, electricians, mechanics, and quality controllers resolve issues faster and with greater confidence, remaining in control of final decisions.”
“What makes agentic AI real for manufacturers is how it shows up for the people running the factory every day,” said Michael Schleuss, global Supply Chain and Engineering lead for Avanade. “Our agentic factory combines Microsoft technology expertise with hands-on industry and manufacturing know-how to help clients and their teams move quickly from concept to measurable impact on the shop floor.”
“Unplanned downtime impacts safety, productivity, and performance across our operations,” said Eric Ashby, chief operating officer at Kruger. “The financial and operational value lever is significant. A 10-15% reduction in mean-time-to-repair quickly translates into multimillion-dollar savings when scaled across production lines and sites. With this agentic factory, we can help our teams respond faster to issues, capture operational knowledge, and continuously improve how our factories run.”
“At NMS, we see prescriptive analytics and AI as a strategic imperative, helping unlock significant value across our organization. With Accenture’s and Avanade’s agentic factory, we can improve root cause exploration to significantly reduce scrap and unplanned downtime for a competitive edge in an increasingly dynamic market,” said Edoardo Palmo, global operations manager at Nissha Metallizing Solutions.
“Agentic AI is the next step for manufacturers like Kruger and Nissha Metallizing Solutions to turn data into outcomes,” said Dayan Rodriguez, corporate vice president, Manufacturing and Mobility Industry at Microsoft. “By bringing together Microsoft’s AI, Accenture and Avanade’s manufacturing expertise, and client validation, we’re building factory agents and analytics that help teams work smarter and make better decisions.”
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News Source: Businesswire.com
