Staying ahead of the technology curve means strengthening your competitive advantage. That is why we give you data-driven innovation insights into the manufacturing industry. This time, you get to discover 5 hand-picked intelligent automation solutions.
Global Startup Heat Map highlights 5 Top Intelligent Automation Solutions for Manufacturing out of 421
The insights of this data-driven analysis are derived from the Big Data & Artificial Intelligence-powered StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, covering 2.093.000+ startups & scaleups globally. The platform gives you an exhaustive overview of emerging technologies & relevant startups within a specific field in just a few clicks.
The Global Startup Heat Map below reveals the distribution of the 421 exemplary startups & scaleups we analyzed for this research. Further, it highlights 5 manufacturing startups enabling intelligent automation that we hand-picked based on criteria such as founding year, location, funding raised, and more. You get to explore the solutions of these 5 startups & scaleups in this report. For insights on the other 416 intelligent automation solutions for manufacturing, get in touch.
ChirpIQ digitizes Production Lines
The machines and sensors in a modern factory generate billions of data points daily, providing an opportunity for digitization. A production line is fully digitized only if all of these data points are properly collected, logged, and analyzed. Artificial intelligence (AI) then helps generate insights that aids improvements in the production line. And with more data flowing through a machine learning (ML) engine, manufacturing systems make intelligent decisions. This increases the agility and transparency of the activities in a production line. Therefore, startups are developing solutions that use the Internet of Things (IoT) integrations to create smart platforms.
ChirpIQ is a US-based startup that develops IoT platforms to integrate machines and sensors in a production line. The startup’s industrial IoT (IIoT) solution uses big data analytics to process the data in real-time. The solution utilizes ML algorithms to predict faults in machines. This enables the asset owner to schedule preventive maintenance activities, thus eliminating disruptions in production due to last-minute or emergency repairs. In addition, the platform provides a cloud setup that allows middle and top managers to view and analyze the digital footprint of the factory.
Alter TechSoft develops Smart Factory Solutions
The return on investment (ROI) for a machine depends on its operating efficiency, which is determined by how the machine is utilized compared to its full potential. Automating a tedious process increases the efficiency of the production line and improves the resulting output. This is why startups are developing smart factory solutions that cut down on the human effort required to efficiently run a production line. This also reduces the labor intensity of the process and eliminates human error.
Alter TechSoft is an Indian startup that develops software for machine efficiency optimization for industrial settings. The software collects data from IoT sensors to monitor machine conditions and production count. The solution then uses AI to understand the machine and production data better and enhance decision-making processes with factual analytics. For instance, the solution maps losses in production to the machine causing it. Alter TechSoft’s solution also aggregates and analyses energy data on the facility to set a baseline for consumption and raises alerts on excessive consumption. The startup’s machine condition monitoring enables predictive maintenance, prevents unexpected downtime, and increases factory efficiency.
Heronius automates Complex Production Processes
The dependence on a human workforce for large-scale manufacturing reduces the flexibility of the production process. Moreover, the ever-increasing demand for output does not leave much time for training new manpower. This leads to quality lapses along the production line, which lowers productivity. This leads robotics startups and scaleups to develop intelligent automation solutions that reduce the need for manual labor. These innovations also free up employees for more complex tasks.
German startup Heronius develops innovative automation and robotics systems. The company’s SmartFactory solution controls modern automation systems without a conventional programmable logic controller (PLC). This eliminates the need for programming knowledge for configuring complex robotic systems, making the entire solution independent of the manufacturer, product, and type of control. Before implementing the solution, Heronius conducts simulations and feasibility studies to develop the most suitable system for the existing process.
Techman develops Cobot Solutions for Industrial Automation
Though the entire industry is moving towards complete automation, certain manufacturing processes still require human supervision. Therefore, startups are developing collaborative robots that effectively work alongside humans. Cobots also work on dangerous and repetitive tasks, reducing accidents and improving floor efficiency. Further innovations in responsive collaborations allow workers to use cobot solutions as an extension of their hands, imparting dexterity to the cobot’s operations. This reduces the human effort required for complex processes.
Techman is a Taiwan-based startup that specializes in collaborative robots and vision technology. The startup provides cobots in various sizes and payload capacities to match specific tasks and requirements. Each of Techman’s cobots is equipped with TMVision to provide image recognition, positioning, enhancement, and barcode identification. Moreover, each of Techman’s cobot solutions incorporates the TMflow integration, which designs the cobot’s workflow. Through these innovations, the startup’s cobots improve factory productivity and efficiency, as well as reduce overhead costs in the long term.
AiBuild automates Additive Manufacturing Processes
Additive manufacturing is a promising manufacturing technique that drastically reduces the time taken from product conception to production. This is why startups are developing solutions that ease the implementation of large-scale additive manufacturing. These solutions coordinate all the contributing processes from slicing the computer-aided design (CAD) model to toolpath optimization and make them time-efficient through automation. Through smart algorithms and data-driven decision-making, these solutions reduce error and lead time of production using additive manufacturing.
British software startup AiBuild provides information technology (IT) solutions for the implementation of large-scale 3D printing. The startup’s software, AiSync, connects with CAD platforms, IIoT protocols, and productivity tools to ensure a fully integrated additive manufacturing system. The software uses data to develop highly optimized tool paths using advanced analytics, simulation, and multi-axis path-planning tools. AiSync also uses its computer vision and ML algorithms to monitor the printers using camera feeds and other sensor data to detect defects and hardware failures. This allows manufacturing companies to set up 3D printing units with minimal infrastructure and manpower.
Discover more Manufacturing startups
Intelligent automation startups in manufacturing, such as the examples highlighted in this report, focus on AI- and ML-based analytics, IIoT integration, cloud-based software as well as computer-aided engineering tools. While all of these technologies play a major role in enabling Industry 4.0, they only represent the tip of the iceberg. To explore more automation technologies, simply get in touch to let us look into your areas of interest. For a more general overview, you can download our free Manufacturing Innovation Report to save your time and improve strategic decision-making.
