Artificial Intelligence in planning and control tasks: a study of potential use cases and perceived challenges in Austrian make-to-order companies

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An increasing number of manufacturing companies in Austria are operating in market niches. These companies are characterized by a high degree of specialization, particularly in manufacturing technologies, as well as by a high degree of flexibility. Production of these kinds are often focused on single-piece-production or the production of small batches (“make-to-order”). Flexibility enables companies to address individual customer requirements and therefore gain an advantage over companies in high-volume manufacturing. Hence, flexibility, high-mix and low-volume manufacturing usually comes with high costs as planning and control of manufacturing processes becomes more complex, leading to less utilized machines and personnel, long lead and setup times and high material costs. This effect is reinforced by the general lack of skilled workers in Europe. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are especially challenged by these circumstances, although these challenges are not exclusively affecting SMEs. Methods from the field of artificial intelligence have the potential to support complex planning and control tasks. In order to find use-cases that are relevant for SMEs in Austria, this study selected several SMEs that are focused on make-to-order production to explore the specific challenges that companies operating in that field are facing. Based on the findings of the study, continuing research on application of artificial intelligence in production planning and control can be directed more targeted at the challenges faced by SMEs with make-to-order production.