The QM Corner stands for one topic, one hour and virtual. The session presented the possible applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in quality management.
The quality of products and services is a key success factor in mechanical and plant engineering. To ensure that quality management continues to play this key role in the future, it must continuously evolve – from new working models and increasing digitalization to the growing complexity of products. Artificial intelligence also offers innovative approaches and potential here. To give companies from the mechanical and plant engineering sector in North Rhine-Westphalia an insight into these possibilities, ProduktionNRW organized the virtual QM Corner on 13 February 2025.
Generative AI in everyday QM work
Dr. Carsten Behrens, Managing Director of Modell Aachen GmbH, presented the potential of generative AI in quality management. Generative AI, as it has become known through ChatGPT, among other things, is characterized in particular by its ability to generate and process easily structured, textual information. As management systems are largely based on this type of information, there is an ideal link between technology and use case.
Practical examples and a vivid live demonstration were used to illustrate how AI can already make the day-to-day work of management system managers and process managers considerably easier and faster. The vision for the management systems of the future shows the groundbreaking potential of this technology to turn management systems into the central communication platform for corporate management. The path to this goal includes various development steps and innovative solutions. Three key areas of application were highlighted in particular:
- Speech mining – effortless process modeling
- AI answer engine – a management system that answers questions
- Management system push – the reversal of management system operating principles – the IMS gamechanger
A total of around 30 areas of application for AI in management systems were presented. These include the automatic generation of process suggestions during initial modeling or the automated creation of audit questions. AI can already significantly reduce the workload in these areas and thus make an important contribution to increasing efficiency in quality management.
Data protection and security – a decisive factor
With the increasing integration of AI into company processes, the issue of data protection is also becoming more important. The choice of provider and configuration of the AI is crucial here: public platforms such as ChatGPT can be used for general inquiries, company-owned AI systems offer better control over data and European providers such as Mistral or Aleph Alpha are data protection-compliant alternatives.
The future: AI as the digital twin of the company
The further development of AI in process management is taking place in several stages. While non-integrated AI solutions currently dominate, the future belongs to fully integrated AI assistants such as Q.wiki, which offer automated and proactive support. In the long term, comprehensive automation solutions could even emerge that go far beyond the current status quo.
The vision for 2027 envisages a management system that acts as a digital twin of the organization. All relevant information will be structured in real time and stakeholders will be informed automatically. AI will then no longer act merely as support, but as an active component of corporate management.
Exchange of experience and discussion
In the concluding discussion, various aspects of AI integration were discussed, including The connection of Q.wiki to ERP systems, data protection requirements for AI applications or experiences with on-premise models such as LLaMA or DeepSeek. The event clearly showed that artificial intelligence is changing quality management in the long term. Companies that rely on these technologies at an early stage benefit from greater efficiency, better decisions and a competitive organization in the long term.
Organizer
The event was organized by ProduktionNRW. ProduktionNRW is the cluster for mechanical engineering and production technology in North Rhine-Westphalia and is organized by VDMA NRW. ProduktionNRW sees itself as a platform for networking, informing and marketing companies, institutions and networks with each other and along the value chain. Significant parts of the services provided by ProduktionNRW are funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.