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Founded in 2022, Belgian AI company ReBatch builds tailor-made AI solutions for and with organisations. Barely two years later, ReBatch is attracting the attention of industry, which is on the eve of a spectacular transformation, with its expertise and solutions. ‘The advent of artificial intelligence is writing a new chapter in the fourth industrial revolution.’
Industry 4.0 has redefined business processes. From delivery to design, production process and distribution: new technologies such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) and connectivity are now an inherent part of the production process. In a logical next step, AI and machine learning ensure that raw materials, factories and processes are now interconnected and therefore ‘intelligent’.
And that's just the beginning. With the rapid rise of reliable and high-performance AI systems, Industry 4.0 is immediately shifting up a few gears. AI pioneer and co-founder of ReBatch Jorge De Corte is therefore adamant: “From maintenance to problem detection and production optimisation: the introduction of AI is also revolutionary for industry.”
ReBatch focuses on NLP (natural language processing), the understanding and structuring of textual information. With the help of NLP, you can extract valuable information from large, unstructured textual data. Such a model can, for example, be easily ‘fed’ with a comprehensive manual for a company-specific machine. Crucial information is thus made available in an instant, allowing you to act quickly when problems arise. By using AI, you not only work much faster, but you also ensure that important company-related knowledge is localised and immediately accessible.
It goes without saying that every sector, and certainly industry, has a great deal of sensitive business information at its disposal. By consciously disconnecting itself from major players, ReBatch therefore guarantees AI solutions ‘in the cloud’ or ‘on premise’, i.e. under our own management and entirely under our own control. Comprehensive systems with specific access and security software guarantee transparency, clarity and security. This way, users always know where their valuable information is located and what is happening to it. In 2024, this is anything but obvious.
But the added value of AI goes so much further than mere knowledge retention and safety. Just think of the advantages of large-scale data processing. For example, there are numerous techniques for targeted anticipation using sensor data – ubiquitous in industry – which means that machines need to be shut down much less often, or not at all, for maintenance. Predictive models allow maintenance to be better predicted, managed and bundled.
In addition, AI models are already capable of detecting variable trends. This allows certain parameters to be adjusted even before the – long-trained – human eye would notice anything. In this way, quality forecasting It's very easy. For example, parameters in a cookie baking line can be given a certain value, allowing you to use AI to predict whether the end product will meet all quality requirements.
Peter Mees, responsible for AI & Industry at ReBatch: “Although many companies are able to capture large amounts of data, the step towards AI models is still far too rarely taken. On the one hand, the industry is cautious because it does not (yet) know the capabilities of the systems; on the other hand, there are few AI companies that have sufficient sector knowledge to offer efficient tools. It goes without saying that you cannot compare the production process of a battery with the electrolytic galvanisation of a steel plate.”
In addition, as mentioned above, industrial companies have a wealth of information that they do not want to store on just any (cloud) platform. The strength of ReBatch lies precisely in linking industrial knowledge to far-reaching AI and machine learning expertise in solutions that are developed ‘on premise’ – at the company itself – and tailored to the company's needs.
It should come as no surprise that AI is heralded as a game changer in virtually every field in which it is applied. Jorge De Corte is also more convinced than ever. “The advent of artificial intelligence marks the beginning of a new chapter in the fourth industrial revolution,” he concludes.
