Manufacturing + AI News

Trending news, insights, and articles on AI in the manufacturing industry, curated by the Widge.ai team.

Equipment Manufacturers Must Up Their Sales and Support Game in 2027 with Fit-for-Purpose AI

By Eric Okimoto, CEO, Widge.ai · AEM (Association of Equipment Manufacturers) · Published 2026-10-15 · 2 min read

Commercial-off-the-shelf AI service and support solutions don't make the grade for equipment manufacturers. This article explains why AI for the industry must be technical grade, highly accurate, and fast to deploy — and how fit-for-purpose AI changes sales and support response times from days to seconds.

What manufacturing plant managers think of the AI and automation boom

By Sakshi Udavant · Manufacturing Dive · Published 2026-10-15 · 6 min read

Most manufacturers have experimented with AI and automation, but a solid return on investment remains elusive for many. Plant managers and industry leaders from Pella, Hexion, Augury and Protex AI explain where AI actually pays off — closing the knowledge gap as experienced workers retire — and why a 'retrofit, not rebuild' approach works better than starting from scratch.

The Next Phase of Industrial AI Isn't Prediction. It's Action

By Linir Zamir · Industrial Equipment News · Published 2026-09-25 · 6 min read

Prediction was never the end goal. Industrial AI is moving from anomaly detection to root-cause analysis and automated response, driven by edge computing and multi-modal AI, so systems can diagnose why a fault is developing and act before it disrupts production — autonomy, but with guardrails.

How advances in AI are affecting manufacturing ERP systems

By Sakshi Udavant · Manufacturing Dive · Published 2026-09-14 · 6 min read

ERP systems look ripe for AI-driven efficiencies, but data quality and sensitive decisions still limit how fast change happens. Experts explain why AI raises the bar on the data foundation rather than replacing the ERP, how agents can pull inventory, order and supplier data together for review, and why human checks on AI actions still matter.