R&D, engineering, and testing
Supply chain
and procurement
Manufacturing
and distribution
Commercial excellence
Note: Generative AI technology either fully enables or can play a role in enabling an improved version of many of these use cases
Source: Bain & Company
Select a business function to see which of its processes have the most potential
Aftermarket/
service
General/support functions
Back
How Would Artificial Intelligence Be Used in Machinery and Equipment?
General/support functions
Highest impact
Recruiting assistant
Forecasting assistant
Hover over a use case to see details
Helps review résumés to enhance recruiter productivity
Modifies financial forecasts in response to changing market and business conditions
Source: Bain & Company
Generative AI potential | HR
Select a business function to see which
of its processes have the most potential
Talent strategy
and policies
Talent acquisition and deployment
Talent management and development
Talent
relations
Total rewards
and payroll
Total rewards
and payroll
HR
Finance
General productivity
Technology
Advanced knowledge management
Streamlines and improves the capture, storage, and use of knowledge using machine learning
Code generation
Produces coding scripts to streamline software development
Employee training
Employee communications
Performance review assistant
Root-cause analysis
Report generation
Meeting summaries
Machine translation
Code translation
Code
bug fixing
Optimizes available internal data to provide personalized training and coaching
Automates, personalizes, and drafts communication with employees
Generates insights to assist HR in evaluating performance against goals
Evaluates financial issues with variance analysis to pinpoint root cause of issues
Creates timely financial reports
Generates meeting summaries of main points
Translates text from one language to another
Converts code from one programming language to another to address project needs and enhancements
Finds and remediates bugs in the programming source code to improve functionality and performance
Back
Aftermarket/service
Highest impact
Customer interaction analytics
Customer profiling
Customer data mining
Online maintenance chatbot
Predictive maintenance
24/7 support
Customer insights
Maintenance, repair, and operations
R&D, engineering, and testing
Supply chain and procurement
Manufacturing and distribution
Commercial excellence
Aftermarket/service
General/support functions
Hover over a use case to see details
Analyzes specific interactions between customer and a company’s service
Compiles comprehensive reports containing detailed customer demographics
Deduces patterns in customer behavior and preferences
Bots simulate intelligent maintenance-related conversations to resolve technicians’ parts-related queries
Uses machinery performance data to help predict machine or equipment malfunctions or failures
Diagnoses problems
in real-time to provide continuous service
Automated monitoring analyzes performance and diagnoses issues
Automated features recognize issues, recommend spare parts, and provide repair instructions
Uses object detection and semantic segmentation to pinpoints parts
Automated parts identification
Remote monitoring
Problem and solution identification
Service
R&D, engineering, and testing
Supply chain and procurement
Manufacturing and distribution
Commercial excellence
Aftermarket/service
General/support functions
Back
Commercial excellence
Highest impact
Real-time intelligent pricing
Sales coaching
Sales assistant
Personalized marketing content
Marketing mix optimization
Sales support
Marketing support
R&D, engineering, and testing
Supply chain and procurement
Manufacturing and distribution
Commercial excellence
Aftermarket/service
General/support functions
Hover over a use case to see details
Adjusts pricing in response to various factors, such as market conditions, competitor prices, customer behavior, and inventory levels
Provides personalized coaching and training for sales employees
Drafts account plans, writes emails, and generates memorandums
Creates customized marketing content, such as landing pages and newsletters, to enable omnichannel personalization
Uses A/B testing and analyzes results to help optimize messaging and marketing expenses
Back
Manufacturing and distribution
Highest impact
Quality control
Real-time monitoring
Digital design assistant
Automated inventory forecasting
Transportation and warehousing planning assistant
Route optimization
Real-time
updates
Manufacturing floor
Inventory management
Distribution
R&D, engineering, and testing
Supply chain and procurement
Manufacturing and distribution
Commercial excellence
Aftermarket/service
General/support functions
Hover over a use case to see details
Takes over visual inspection in quality control process, and speeds up quality control
Monitors progress, predicts output quality, and identifies potential failures before they occur in industrial assets, equipment, and infrastructure
Assists in the optimal design of production chains for improved system organization and workflow
Predicts fast-moving production rates to optimize stock
Simplifies and automates various processes to help optimize transportation scheduling and warehousing activities
Algorithm calculates the most efficient, cost-effective, and time-saving routes for transporting goods
Provides real-time tracking and updates to both distributors and consumers
Autonomous robots
Automated machinery, robots, and transport systems move goods during and after the manufacturing process
Back
Supply chain and procurement
Highest impact
Supplier evaluation
Request-for-proposal (RFP) creation
Contract management
Demand forecasting
Production planning
Sourcing
Supply/demand planning
R&D, engineering, and testing
Supply chain and procurement
Manufacturing and distribution
Commercial excellence
Aftermarket/service
General/support functions
Hover over a use case to see details
Analyzes supplier data to identify patterns, assess potential risks, and generate insights to inform decision making
Drafts, refines, and manages accurate and efficient RFPs
Streamlines contract creation and analyzes data to identify risks, costs, abnormalities, and problematic clauses
Machine language–driven predictive modeling enables accurate and timely customer demand forecasting
Uses analytics-driven insights and demand predictions to help calculate optimal production schedules and capacity utilization
Advanced sales and operations planning (S&OP)
Supply chain visibility
Helps optimize S&OP by analyzing real-time data from sources in multiple sectors
Evaluates ongoing supply chain operations to maximize efficiency by helping to promptly identify, address, and resolve potential issues
Back
R&D, engineering, and testing
Highest impact
Idea generation
New feature suggestion
Initial product imagery
Design optimization
Virtual prototypes
Testing assistant
Innovation
Product design and development
Testing
R&D, engineering, and testing
Supply chain and procurement
Manufacturing and distribution
Commercial excellence
Aftermarket/service
General/support functions
Hover over a use case to see details
Uses natural language processing to analyze customer feedback, reports, and other sources to generate new product ideas
Helps evaluate customer feedback, market research, and industry trends to suggest new product features and upgrades
Transforms a textual description of a product into a visual representation
Generates and tests design variations to assess performance and make design recommendations
Generates virtual prototypes of real-world products and solutions
Assesses product performance for material composition, parts design, and part connections
Parts identification
Improvement identification
Utilizes image recognition and deep learning algorithms to accurately identify parts that need adjustment
Visual inspection and data analysis identify improvements in current products and solutions
AI potential | MACHINERY & EQUIPMENT
Back
Internal
management reporting
External reporting (including statutory reporting)
Credit
Accounts
payable
Expense
reimbursement
Billing
Collections
Accounting policy
Purchase
to pay
Invoice
to cash
Record to report
Tap over a use case to see details
High
Generative AI potential | Finance
Accounting/transaction processing
Turn financial data into insightful, data-driven commentary for internal management reporting
Generate management’s discussion and analysis commentary for public filings
Assist a credit approver with retrieving and summarizing customer credit and employment history to approve credit application
Generate customized invoices for nonstandard customer orders
Generate scripts for customer service representatives to follow regarding collections and dispute resolutions
Improve quality of supplier self-service for FAQs (e.g., status of payment, supplier policies, etc.)
General productivity
Meeting summaries
Employee communi-
cations
Advanced knowledge manage-
ment
Meeting summaries
Machine translation
Optimizes available internal data to provide personalized training and coaching
Automates, personalizes, and drafts communication with employees
Streamlines and improves the capture, storage, and use of knowledge using machine learning
Translates text from one language to another
Streamlines and improves the capture, storage, and use of knowledge using machine learning
Produces coding scripts to streamline software development
Converts code from one programming language to another to address project needs and enhancements
Back
Recruiting assistant
Employee training
Employee communi-
cations
Forecasting assistant
Root-cause analysis
Report generation
Advanced knowledge manage-
ment
Meeting summaries
Machine translation
General produc-
tivity
Finance
HR
Tap over a use case to see details
Hig Impact
General/support
functions
Helps review résumés to enhance recruiter productivity
Optimizes available internal data to provide personalized training and coaching
Automates, personalizes, and drafts communication with employees
Modifies financial forecasts in response to changing market and business conditions
Evaluates financial issues with variance analysis to pinpoint root cause of issues
Creates timely financial reports
Streamlines and improves the capture, storage, and use of knowledge using machine learning
Generates meeting summaries of main points
Translates text from one language to another
Back
Customer interaction analytics
Customer
profiling
Customer data mining
Online maintenance chatbot
Predictive maintenance
Maintenance, repair, and operations
Customer insights
Tap over a use case to see details
Hig Impact
Aftermarket/
service
Analyzes specific interactions between customer and a company’s service
Compiles comprehensive reports containing detailed customer demographics
Deduces patterns in customer behavior and preferences
Bots simulate intelligent maintenance-related conversations to resolve technicians’ parts-related queries
Uses machinery performance data to help predict machine or equipment malfunctions or failures
Diagnoses problems in real-time to provide continuous service
Back
Customer interaction analytics
Customer
profiling
Customer data mining
Predictive maintenance
24/7 support
Remote monitoring
Problem and solution identification
Service
Maintenance, repair, and operations
Customer insights
Tap over a use case to see details
Hig Impact
Aftermarket/
service
Analyzes specific interactions between customer and a company’s service
Compiles comprehensive reports containing detailed customer demographics
Deduces patterns in customer behavior and preferences
Uses machinery performance data to help predict machine or equipment malfunctions or failures
Diagnoses problems in real-time to provide continuous service
Automated monitoring analyzes performance and diagnoses issues
Automated features recognize issues, recommend spare parts, and provide repair instructions
Digital design assistant
Assists in the optimal design of production chains for improved system organization and workflow
Back
Real-time intelligent pricing
Sales coaching
Sales assistant
Personalized marketing content
Marketing mix optimization
Marketing support
Sales
support
Tap over a use case to see details
Hig Impact
Commercial
excellence
Adjusts pricing in response to various factors, such as market conditions, competitor prices, customer behavior, and inventory levels
Provides personalized coaching and training for sales employees
Drafts account plans, writes emails, and generates memorandums
Creates customized marketing content, such as landing pages and newsletters, to enable omnichannel personalization
Uses A/B testing and analyzes results to help optimize messaging and marketing expenses
Diagnoses problems in real-time to provide continuous service
Production planning
Advanced sales and operations planning (S&OP)
Helps optimize S&OP by analyzing real-time data from sources in multiple sectors
Back
Quality control
Real-time monitoring
Automated inventory forecasting
Transportation and warehousing planning assistant
Route optimization
Real-time updates
Distribution
Inventory management
Manufacturing floor
Tap over a use case to see details
Hig Impact
Manufacturing
and distribution
Takes over visual inspection in quality control process, and speeds up quality control
Monitors progress, predicts output quality, and identifies potential failures before they occur in industrial assets, equipment, and infrastructure
Predicts fast-moving production rates to optimize stock
Simplifies and automates various processes to help optimize transportation scheduling and warehousing activities
Algorithm calculates the most efficient, cost-effective, and time-saving routes for transporting goods
Provides real-time tracking and updates to both distributors and consumers
Automated inventory forecasting
Design optimization
Predicts fast-moving production rates to optimize stock
Generates and tests design variations to assess performance and make design recommendations