DataProphet, a global leader in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for manufacturing, and Maxion Wheels, a leading wheel manufacturer, are working together to significantly reduce the cost of non-quality in the production of aluminium wheels. DataProphet’s AI solution aims to achieve a substantial reduction in non-quality incurred at casting.

Aluminium casting plants can experience high levels of internal defects due to the complexity of the process. The South African contingent of Maxion Wheels lead the charge in driving digital transformation with DataProphet to enhance its plant productivity. The implementation and data extraction started in South Africa and Brazil in early 2019. If successful, DataProphet and Maxion Wheels hope to continue the relationship to benefit global plant operations.

“Our partnership creates synergy by combining a mix of our automation knowledge, innovation drive and engineering experience with DataProphet’s sophisticated data scientists, software and development engineers,” said Milos Despotovic, Plant Manager at Maxion Wheels in South Africa.

“The exchange of knowledge across our team is phenomenal and will be a driving force in developing the future of manufacturing, both locally and internationally.”

DataProphet’s solution creates a unified learnt digital twin, using Maxion Wheels’ historic plant data, consisting of 780 million measurements. The machine learning solution will continuously make the best decisions for the current plant state, whilst being mindful of the processes up and downstream of them.

“DataProphet has immense experience and a good understanding of data that governs the complex plant processes in the foundry and automotive industry. We are excited to see how artificial intelligence will bring real quantifiable results to our plant delivery,” continued Despotovic.

DataProphet Prescribe, also known as OMNI, is the only machine learning solution that can prescribe optimum parameters through a customised single model approach, while taking into account higher order effects. Through deep learning, DataProphet will navigate Maxion Wheels through each minor shift in its journey to being a smart factory and reducing the costs of non-quality.

“Great to see South African manufacturers leading the way in artificial intelligence and innovation in manufacturing. We are excited to over deliver on the KPIs that Maxion Wheels is looking to achieve,” said Frans Cronje, CEO, DataProphet.