Industrial AI: Siemens launches data alliance for manufacturing

At EMO 2025,Siemens has agreed a cooperation with several machine tool manufacturers - including Grob, Trumpf, Chiron, Renishaw and Heller - as well as the Machine Tool Laboratory (WZL) at RWTH Aachen University and the Voith Group. The aim of the alliance is the structured exchange of engineering, production and machine data for the development of generative AI applications in an industrial environment. The collaboration is seen as an important step towards an industry-specific AI model, the Siemens Industrial Foundation Model, whose vision was first presented at the Hannover Messe 2025.

"Together with customers and partners, we are taking a significant step today towards scaling up industrial AI. I see a great opportunity here for Europe's economy with its strong industrial base. Automotive, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, mechanical engineering, energy, healthcare, infrastructure and transportation, among others - by making our companies' unique wealth of data available for generative AI models, we can achieve completely new levels of productivity. And the data alliance in mechanical engineering is leading the way," says Roland Busch, CEO of Siemens AG.

The alliance aims to significantly increase efficiency and innovation cycles in the manufacturing industry through the targeted use of AI technologies. One conceivable use case in the machine tool sector is the automated creation of a parts program for machine tools. This allows part programs to be created considerably faster, while the error rate during code creation is reduced. In addition, programmers are relieved of basic tasks and can concentrate on more complex challenges.

"Access to high-quality machine data from different manufacturers is key," explains Busch. "With this alliance, we can develop AI systems that understand the complexity of development and production and thus become a powerful partner for specialists."

(From left to right:) Prof. Christian Brecher, RWTH/WZL, Dieter Lindemayer, Voith, William Lee, Renishaw, Achim Beltz, Siemens, German Wankmilller, Grob, Roland Busch, Siemens, Stefanie Frank, Siemens, Dr. Ing. Stephan Mayer, Trumpf, Dr. Claus Eppler, Chiron Group, Dr. Thorsten Schmidt, Heller © Rainer Jensen

The partnership involves the exchange of anonymized machine data in strict compliance with data protection and security standards. Among other things, this data will be used to develop and train AI models that are specifically tailored to the requirements of industrial production. For example, the data from the alliance will be used to automatically create NC programs - a kind of "work instruction" for special production machines. Other use cases include predictive maintenance with precise machine-specific forecasts, adaptive manufacturing processes that adjust to changing conditions in real time and energy efficiency optimization through intelligent control of machine parameters.

In the long term, the alliance plans to acquire further companies - including those outside the machine tool industry - in order to use industrial artificial intelligence across all sectors.