Vibhu Kapoor, Regional VP for the Middle East, Africa & India at Epicor, details the value of an AI-powered Industry Cloud ERP platform for companies, managers, and employees.
The GCC manufacturing sector is a crucial cog in the regional economy. Some 95,000 companies employ more than 1.17 million people adding about US$140 billion in value. And governments are keen to encourage growth. Saudi Arabia’s National Industry Strategy aims to triple the manufacturing sector’s GDP contribution and double non-oil industrial exports by 2030. The United Arab Emirates’ Operation 300bn has a similar aim, targeting a AED300-billion (US$82 billion) annual value-add by 2031.
Driven by government visions, market trends, and regulatory obligations, the region’s manufacturers are deep in the throes of change. They are stretching themselves beyond their comfort zones to embrace emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI). In the realm of generative AI alone, business leaders from various industries see a transformative technology with the potential to shake up their own corner of the sky. PwC’s Strategy& estimates the GCC could see US$9.90 of economic growth for every dollar invested in GenAI. And this is just one niche area. Predictive analytics, advanced robotics, and a slew of other tools are directly relevant to GCC manufacturers’ ambitions.
“AI-infused Industry Cloud Platforms (ICPs) are a boon to the entire supply chain, offering many opportunities for interconnectivity and collaboration between manufacturers and their suppliers. ERP systems will graduate from Systems of Record to Systems of Action.”
Vibhu Kapoor, Regional Vice President – Middle East, Africa & India, Epicor
Another pivotal development in the tech world, that will be an extraordinary accelerant for ambitious manufacturers, is the emergence of cloud-native toolboxes that are purpose-built for industry use cases. Vertical cloud platforms, more commonly known as industry cloud platforms (ICPs), are clouds built with a single purpose. Just as a doctor’s tools of the trade differ wildly from those of a firefighter, an industry cloud reflects the specific needs of a single sector — from accounting-ledger design to IoT support to even the nooks and crannies of compliance. The cloud has always offered flexibility to scale operations without the need for exorbitant budgets and the maintenance of new infrastructure. Now, with ICPs, enterprises can find enviable levels of requirements fit without the need for an extensive procurement process.
Plugging gaps
The challenges ahead call for “doing more with less” — a mantra that has been around since 2008. This concept does not arise solely from budget constraints. Regional skills gaps also play a part. So, if a manufacturer were to acquire the means to automate its more mundane tasks, it could increase accuracy and efficiency in these areas while positioning itself as a more attractive employer. Manufacturing workers are always keen to spend their days on safer, more challenging activities that increase their personal marketability, and automation can make this a reality.
Change — especially technological change — is not easy for manufacturers. Deployment of new equipment can lead to expensive downtime and other disruptions like productivity dips during training. And yet, to remain competitive in a digital economy, manufacturers must boldy embrace digitalization. This is where industry cloud platforms (ICPs) have been gaining ground. Tailored tools, robust security, and streamlined compliance are very attractive alongside other benefits such as outsourced maintenance and automatic updates. However, tech leaders have been concerned about the ROI of ICPs. That is, until AI revealed itself as a potential missing ingredient that could propel industry clouds into the mainstream. Together, ICP and AI form a compelling combination.
Let’s take enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions as an example. ERP is the engine of the corporate ship, managing the interplay of functions like finance, HR, logistics, warehousing, bills of materials, and so on. Today, many ERP systems now run on industry clouds because vendors have come to know their customers so well that they can design an out-of-the-box solution that covers every aspect of operations. One arguable drawback remains in ICP-based ERP systems. Agility can be constrained by permitting only a narrow group of privileged administrators to access data and amend workflows. But if we integrate AI into these industry-cloud ERP platforms, what happens then?
Systems of action
So much, and more. In a nutshell, enterprises get another innovator on staff. AI is capable of going way beyond mere automation. It empowers management and shop-floor teams by monitoring the entire manufacturing process — analyzing, learning, and flagging inefficiencies. Traditionally, actionable insights were the sole domain of human agents, but machine intelligence has risen to become a reliable consultant.
AI will not work in isolation. It is ever-ready to be interrogated by workers and leaders. Humans will get rapid responses to complex questions and, as the months and years roll on, even these conversations will improve as humans learn to ask more pointed questions and AI systems learn to give more comprehensive answers. Indeed, everything will improve — operational efficiency, decision-making, forecasting, and the level of individualization offered in customer service. Plus, AI-infused ICPs are a boon to the entire supply chain, offering many opportunities for interconnectivity and collaboration between manufacturers and their suppliers. ERP systems will graduate from Systems of Record to Systems of Action.
There is no doubt that AI is currently in the spotlight for its potential downsides as well as its proven benefits. This scrutiny is understandable and necessary. Our economies are not numbers on sheets; they are people — workforces, consumers, and families — that deserve and expect responsible behavior from commercial entities. But I submit that in the manufacturing sector, many of these concerns are less relevant than in other sectors. The skills gap alone means that job losses are unlikely. What is more likely is that manufacturing workers will see their everyday routine improve as their teams are augmented by AI. Recent Epicor research suggests a strong appetite for this as 61% of manufacturing workers see further scope for modernization in their workplaces. And further studies have found that the vast majority of those that have had the opportunity to work with advanced tools (83% in one US survey) said it had boosted their efficiency.
Advantage writ large
We can see the benefits of the AI-ICP unification for companies, managers, and employees. We can see its value for society, the environment, and GDP growth. In a digital economy, manufacturers need every advantage. AI-powered ICP is an advantage writ large.
Author’s Profile
As a Regional Vice President at Epicor, Kapoor leads the sales and partner ecosystems for the Middle East, Africa, and India regions, covering a diverse portfolio of software solutions for various industries. He has over 20 years of experience in the software and IT sector, with a proven track record of establishing alliances, closing high-value deals, and growing key accounts. Kapoor holds an Executive Program in General Management from MIT Sloan School of Management, and an MBA in Marketing from IFIM Business School.
