Benetti’s first AI integration project, developed jointly with the Italian based Quinn University Consortium, is to get under way by the end of the year.
Benetti will initially focus on four areas of it’s Livorno site’s Custom Operations division, with the Logistics, Planning, Production Engineering and Safety divisions seeing the integration of AI-based technologies in the first phase of the project.
The aim is to upgrade the effectiveness of procedures, raise the level of automation, and increase the quality and reliability of products and services.
“Investing in innovation is the strategy that ensures we can always offer our clients the best possible product,” explained Benetti general manager Massimo Casoni.
Investing in innovation is the strategy that ensures we can always offer our clients the best possible product.
Massimo Casoni
“The introduction of artificial intelligence is a significant step forward in the history of yacht building.”
He added: “While on one side excellence and attention to detail remain core to the brand, on the other, the adoption of cutting-edge digital solutions will open the way to make processes faster, more efficient and more sustainable, putting us in the best possible position to face future challenges.”
Ilaria Campana, general manager of the Quinn Consortium, continued: “Today, artificial intelligence is a fundamental lever for driving companies into the future, on the condition that we think of it not only as a tool to improve efficiency, but also and most importantly as a force for transformation that can generate concrete, positive impacts on the entire production system.
New ways of working
“That’s why we need an integrated, process-focused approach to deliver excellent performance, protect investments in technology, and foster new ways of working.”
The project follows on from a previous one that the Consortium and Benetti undertook together to synchronise logistics by focusing on horizontal integration in the supply chain.
The project enabled the Consortium to gather and analyse inputs from all corporate functions, with a view to developing a series of AI-based solutions that will be implemented in the shipyard in the coming months.
Benetti hopes the application of AI to the Custom Operations area will bring several benefits, including the reduction of errors in manual activities.
By automating activities, upgrading data-based decision-making capabilities, and cutting manual processing times for semi-finished products, Benetti hopes to instead be able to use in-house skills to address value-added activities.
