Audi boosts quality and efficiency with AI

Audi is pushing forward with a broad integration of artificial intelligence (AI) across the company to enhance both quality and efficiency.

With a focus on fully leveraging data and AI capabilities, the company is seeing the most significant impact in production and logistics, areas where time, cost, and quality are critical.

Gerd Walker, Member of the Board of Management for Production and Logistics, emphasises the transformative power of AI, “AI is the game changer in our industry.By using it in a targeted way, we are creating a production environment that is notonly more efficient and cost-effective but also upholds the highest quality standards.”

Currently, Audi is running over 100 AI projects in different development stages, many of which are being systematically integrated into series production.

These efforts are supported by Audi’s evolving data infrastructure. Productiongenerates the largest volume of data in the company with hundreds of petabytesalready in existence, and new data being added daily. AI enables Audi to extractgreater value from this data, advancing the company’s 360factory vision whichfocuses on a fully connected, sustainable, and data-driven manufacturing strategy.

Among the latest tools is "Tender Toucan", an AI system that analyses supplier bidsbased on technical specifications. This tool reduces processing time by up to 30%and will soon be applied to production planning for drivetrains and high-voltagebatteries, with broader rollout planned within Audi and the Volkswagen Group.

AI is also being deployed for image recognition tasks. At the Ingolstadt andNeckarsulm plants, the "IRIS" system checks whether labels on vehicle components are correctly positioned and written in the right language, saving around one minute per vehicle.

In collaboration with Siemens, Audi has introduced "Weld Splatter Detection" (WSD)in its Neckarsulm body shop. The AI identifies weld splatter, a previously manualtask, and will soon be paired with robotic removal, improving both efficiency andworker safety.

To drive these advancements, Audi continues to expand its AI expertise throughpartnerships like the Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence (IPAI) in Heilbronn. With its presence at the future 23-hectare AI campus and its nearby Böllinger Höfe site, Audi is establishing itself as a leader in the automotive industry's digital transformation.