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Siemens and Procter & Gamble scale AI-based quality inspection across global production. 16 September 2026 10:35 * P&G expands the use of an AI-based inspection system across manufacturing operations worldwide * Siemens provides the industrial AI and edge computing platform that enables the solution to scale across plants and production lines * The solution helps improve product quality while reducing scrap by 10 to 20 percent * New deployments are commissioned five to ten times faster than traditional vision systems. Credit: Siemens At a P&G production facility, operators use the AI-based Visual Inspection Cockpit on Siemens Industrial Edge to monitor quality in real time across high-variation consumer goods lines. Siemens and Procter & Gamble (P&G), one of the world's largest consumer goods manufacturers, are expanding the deployment of an AI-based quality inspection solution across P&G's manufacturing operations worldwide. The system inspects products in real time during production, delivers comprehensive inspection coverage at full line speed, and helps improve quality consistency. Depending on the product, scrap rates have been reduced by 10 to 20 percent. The Visual Inspection Cockpit (VIC) is used in high-speed consumer goods manufacturing, where products consist of delicate, textured materials that naturally shift, stretch or wrinkle at high production speeds. Traditional vision systems often require extensive reconfiguration when materials, packaging designs, or production environments change. By using Industrial AI, VIC can adapt more effectively to these variations and maintain inspection performance across a broad range of products. Developed jointly by Siemens and P&G, the solution combines P&G's deep learning models with Siemens' Industrial Edge computing platform, industrial PCs powered by Nvidia GPUs, and AI hardware and software. Siemens supports the industrial computing infrastructure, software scaling capabilities, and long-term operation of the system across production sites. "Our Industrial AI and Industrial Edge capabilities deliver what high-speed production demands: full inspection accuracy for thousands of products per minute, scalable from a single line to a global footprint. This collaboration demonstrates what we mean when we say we're making industrial AI real," said Rainer Brehm, COO for automation and CTO at Siemens Digital Industries. "We engineered this solution to solve a myriad of industry challenges traditional vision systems couldn't touch: accurate characterization of overlapping components, the subtlety of low-contrast defects, the complexity of highly decorated products and packaging, tight time coordination, real-time PLC integration with single product reject at high production rates with continuous inspection," said Paul Thomas, Director of Machine Vision and Applied AI at Procter & Gamble. The Visual Inspection Cockpit (VIC) analyzes live camera images in real time and inspects every product passing through the production line. Unlike conventional rule-based vision systems, the AI-based approach can handle a wide range of product variations without the need for frequent reprogramming. The solution includes the Visual Inspection Engineering Tool, which enables plant engineers to configure, train, and update inspection models directly, without requiring dedicated data science resources. This makes quality control more flexible and easier to maintain in complex production environments. Inspection results are processed close to the production equipment on Siemens' Industrial Edge and integrated directly into manufacturing operations. The system can automatically trigger actions such as alerts or the removal of defective products from the production line. Quality data can also be collected and analyzed over time, helping production teams identify trends and support continuous improvement efforts. VIC is part of Siemens' broader machine vision and industrial AI portfolio, which includes the Industrial AI Suite. These solutions are delivered as standardized applications on the Industrial Edge platform. Together, they provide a consistent framework for deploying AI-based solutions at scale, regardless of whether the AI model is a custom development or Siemens-owned. Because VIC is delivered as a reusable Industrial Edge application, new deployments can be commissioned five to ten times faster than traditional bespoke vision systems. With established infrastructure, DevOps processes, and integration patterns, P&G can replicate the solution across plants, products, and inspection scenarios with minimal overhead. The inspection data feeds into P&G's broader digital manufacturing ecosystem, providing real-time visibility into process stability and continuous improvement opportunities.

Ricoh Europe appoints James Murnieks as Chief Financial Officer for EMEA. By Neil Trim on September 16, 2026 Ricoh Europe today announces the appointment of James Murnieks as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, effective 9 November 2026. In his role as CFO, James will be responsible for the organisation's corporate services functions across the EMEA region - including finance, tax, treasury, Ricoh Business Services, legal and procurement - helping to drive the company's financial performance, governance and strategic transformation agenda. James succeeds Tim Stuart as he transitions into his global role within Ricoh. Tim has been appointed Chief Finance and Transformation Officer for Ricoh Company Limited., responsible for all regions outside of Japan. James joins Ricoh Europe from Siemens plc, where he is currently Chief Financial Officer for the UK and Ireland. In this role, he is a strategic partner to the UK CEO and oversees finance, governance, tax, accounting, procurement and pensions across the organisation. He is also a board member of Siemens plc. A Chartered Accountant with extensive international leadership experience, James has spent more than two decades at Siemens in senior finance and commercial positions across the UK, France, Germany, Spain and the Nordic region. His previous roles include CFO positions for Siemens Financial Services in Southern Europe, Northern Europe and France. Throughout his career, James has led business transformation, integration and operational improvement programmes across complex international organisations - including the transition to finance shared service centres, the introduction of digital tools to improve productivity and data quality, and the development of high-performing, collaborative finance teams. David Mills, Chief Executive Officer, Ricoh Europe, said: "James brings significant international experience, strong commercial judgement and a clear commitment to developing people and high-performing teams. His expertise in finance leadership, transformation and operational excellence will be invaluable as we continue to simplify our business, strengthen performance and deliver sustainable growth across EMEA. I am delighted to welcome him to Ricoh and our European Management Board." Commenting on his appointment, James said: "Ricoh has a strong heritage, a clear sense of purpose and an ambitious strategy for the future. I look forward to helping the business build on these strengths, deliver long-term value and support customers as the world of work continues to evolve." James began his career in audit at PwC before joining Siemens. He is a Fellow Chartered Accountant of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the University of Manchester. For further information, please visit www.ricoh.com Please follow and like us:

Siemens launches "Meet at the Machine" to speed up machine tool innovation. September 15, 2026 51 views Siemens has unveiled a new program called Meet at the Machine, aimed at uniting machine builders, software developers and automation specialists to push innovation forward across the machine tool sector and get manufacturers up to speed faster. The initiative sets up a shared framework where Siemens and machine builders can co-develop integrated machining solutions tailored to real-world production challenges. Rather than treating engineering software, automation hardware and machine-specific know-how as separate pieces, the program folds them into a single offering - giving machine builders a way to stand out with more complete solutions. The timing reflects where the industry stands today. Manufacturers are dealing with mounting complexity, a shrinking skilled workforce, and constant pressure to ramp up output. Software, automation and digital tools keep opening new possibilities, but plenty of companies still struggle to stitch these technologies into a smooth production flow. Siemens' answer is a continuous digital thread linking engineering, programming, virtual testing and actual production - productive from the moment a machine is switched on. Better data flow across the entire part-manufacturing lifecycle, the company argues, means less complexity, faster startup, and a stronger base for ongoing improvement. Mark Hindsbo, who heads Operations Software at Siemens, framed it around a simple idea: results are ultimately proven on the shop floor. Combining engineering software, automation hardware and hands-on machine expertise, he said, lets customers get productive sooner - with ramp-up times potentially cut by as much as half. TRAK Machine Tools is the launch partner for phase one, which zeroes in on a familiar pain point: the gap between a machine arriving and it actually producing parts. The joint solution lets manufacturers program, simulate and validate their production process while the machine itself is still on the build line - software, automation and machine knowledge working together from day one. TRAK Machine Tools president Steve Pinto described the collaboration as a shift toward outcomes: customers buy a new machine wanting fast results, and this partnership is built around delivering exactly that. The bigger change is one of sequencing. Programming, validation and operator training - work that traditionally starts only once a machine is installed - now happen earlier, so manufacturers can be production-ready before the machine even ships. Looking ahead, Siemens plans to expand the program with additional machine-builder partners, tackling more manufacturing challenges through joint development.