This article launches a five-part series dedicated to artificial intelligence at Renault Group. From supply chain to customer relations, through engineering and products,\u00a0AI applied to the automotive sector\u00a0is profoundly transforming the company\u2019s entire value chain.<\/p>\n
Episode one focuses on manufacturing. In the Group\u2019s plants, AI acts as a catalyst for performance. From the industrial metaverse to automated quality controls, it is redefining the relationship between humans and machines, bringing greater agility, speed and reliability. A revolution already underway within the Group, notably in Valladolid and Palencia (Spain).<\/p>\n
Since 2016, Renault Group has undertaken an ambitious digital transformation of its industrial system, driven by one conviction: no AI without data. Today, nearly 90% of production lines are connected, generating more than 100,000 data points per second, equivalent to 5 billion data points per day across all plants.<\/p>\n
This information feeds the\u00a0industrial metaverse, a digital twin of the physical world. Acting as a true control tower, it enables real-time visualization of every operation, from stamping to final assembly, including quality checks. The benefits are clear: anomaly anticipation, shorter production times, reduced energy consumption (-26% between 2021 and 2024) and improved vehicle quality.<\/p>\n
Far from being just a technological showcase, this industrial metaverse serves as a virtual assistant for teams. The collected data train models capable of simulating human experience and providing instant decision-making support.<\/p>\n
AI applied to manufacturing is not meant to replace humans: it acts as a work partner. On the shop floor, operators are at the heart of the algorithm learning process. They feed the models with their observations and use AI tools to focus on higher value-added tasks.
\nTake visual inspection as an example. In the past, operators spent 80% of their time detecting anomalies and only 20% correcting them. Today, alerted in real time by AI, they can reverse this ratio: 20% on inspection and 80% on action. To date, 15,000 employees have already been trained in artificial intelligence in the Group\u2019s plants, clear evidence that human upskilling goes hand in hand with technological progress.<\/p>\n
In Renault Group plants, operators recognize the benefits of AI: fewer repetitive tasks, greater autonomy and more added value. In practice, more than 3,000 AI-assisted inspections have already been carried out on production lines, including 500 at the Palencia plant, strengthening the reliability and quality of vehicles leaving the line. By transforming the human-machine relationship, AI gives new meaning to work while improving the reliability of delivered vehicles.<\/p>\n