Intertape Polymer Group, Schaeffler AG, and Bridgestone EMIA unify manufacturing insights with AI and Fabric
Intertape Polymer Group, Schaeffler AG, and Bridgestone EMIA have accelerated their industrial digital transformation by implementing Microsoft Fabric's manufacturing data solutions, Azure OpenAI Service, and Copilot-powered tools. These leading manufacturers faced challenges around siloed IT and OT data, hindering their ability to extract actionable insights and drive operational improvements. By unifying data across systems with Fabric and deploying conversational copilots for the factory floor, frontline workers are now empowered to use natural language to perform root-cause analysis, access metrics, resolve issues, and enhance productivity. Partners such as Accenture and Avanade supported the integration and implementation, creating repeatable data patterns that enable scalable innovations. The copilots leverage Azure OpenAI Service and robust guardrails to ensure accurate, safe responses within complex manufacturing environments. Early results include improved production performance, democratized information access, faster resolution of manufacturing disruptions, and enhanced decision-making from top management to the shop floor. These use cases, highlighted during Hannover Messe 2024, demonstrate the value of unifying manufacturing data for analytics and AI, democratizing data access, and accelerating operational agility across global production facilities.
- Organization
- Intertape Polymer Group
- Industry
- Manufacturing
- Location
- Global
- Published
- April 2024
Reported outcomes
Strategic outcomes
Primary read
Use case focus
Showing 3 of 4
- 1Factory data unification for analytics
- 2Conversational copilot for factory floor insights
- 3Root-cause analysis via natural language queries
- Massive volumes of operational (OT) and informational (IT) data are siloed and underutilized.
- Manual analytics and spreadsheet-based processes limit agility and actionable insights.
- Frontline workers lack direct, natural language access to manufacturing insights.
- Production disruptions and inefficiencies increase costs and reduce yield.
- Unified IT and OT data into a standardized, contextual foundation using Microsoft Fabric.
- Implemented Conversational Copilots on Copilot template for factory operations, powered by Azure OpenAI Service, to enable natural language queries and scenario-based insights.
- Partnered with Accenture and Avanade for system integration and solution deployment.
- Deployed analytics dashboards to visualize production metrics, asset status, and operational KPIs.
- Increased production performance across pilot plants.
- Democratized access to manufacturing analytics for employees.
- Accelerated issue detection and resolution on the factory floor.
- Improved operational agility and decision-making for engineers and management.
Architecture
Manufacturing data is unified in Microsoft Fabric from both OT (sensors, MES) and IT (ERP, QA) systems, enriched by context models. Data flows are accessed via conversational Copilot tools leveraging Azure OpenAI Service. Partners Accenture and Avanade provide integration; analytics and insights are democratized across roles in the organization. Guardrails ensure safe, relevant responses to worker queries.
Sources & evidence3
The same organization appears in newer AI deployment evidence.
- Same organization re-documented as recently as 2025.
Measures whether this deployment's public evidence persists — not whether the system is still in production.
AI-generated summary. Verify important details with the linked sources before relying on this case.
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