How AI is changing work
Manufacturing
Models that keep an eye on the shop floor.
In factories, AI analyses what sensors and cameras pick up. Faults become visible earlier, deviations are found faster and instructions are easier to make. Operators and technicians get more information, and the decision stays with them.
What changes
- Maintenance shifts from fixed schedules to signals from machine data.
- Cameras with AI inspect products on the line.
- Work instructions are created from a short video and translated automatically.
- Engineers find the cause of a fault faster with AI diagnostics.
Where people make the difference
- The craftsmanship to interpret a signal and step in.
- Deciding what good quality is and when a deviation matters.
- Safety and responsibility on the floor.
How AI is already used
Predicting faults
Tata Steel Nederland sees early in machine data that a filter is clogging up and replaces it before production comes to a halt.
SiemensRecognising wear
Philips Drachten analyses data from some 300 robots: if a robot needs more force, that can point to wear.
PhilipsSeeing quality with cameras
Machine builder EKB uses AI models to assess the shape, structure and colour of products such as chocolate bars on the line.
Smart IndustryInstructions from a short video
TNO tested digital work instructions at VDL for assembling battery packs. An AI application creates instructions from a video with explanation and translates them.
TNOInspecting transparent material
The Hague University of Applied Sciences is developing, with Polyplastic and SAM|XL, a camera system that checks acrylic sheets for scratches, dust and dimensions.
De Haagse HogeschoolFinding faults faster
In pilots with AI diagnostics, ASML found certain errors in subsystems more than 70% faster, just as accurately as engineers.
ASML
Where the sector is heading
16% of manufacturing companies used AI in 2025, about the same as the average for all companies (17%).
CBSAI as support for skilled workers: with digital work instructions, workers with an MBO level 2 vocational qualification performed at the same level as workers with MBO level 4 using paper instructions.
TNO
What a maker can do for you here
- “Train a camera model that recognises deviations on our line.”
- “Turn our machine data into a dashboard that reports faults in advance.”
- “Turn our work instructions into short videos in several languages.”
- “Build an assistant that helps technicians search manuals and fault logs.”
Researched on 5 October 2026. Know a good example from the Netherlands? Let us know.