TUE AM News: Manufacturers using AI to enable other tech, supporting technicians in the field; Evers urging JFC to release $15M in health care funding for western Wisconsin

March 19, 2024

— Wisconsin manufacturers are using AI to back up engineers and technicians in the field, supporting other technologies such as augmented reality and interactive databases.

And even more advanced applications are planned for the near future, panelists said yesterday at this year’s Wisconsin Tech Summit, held at Lambeau Field in Green Bay and organized by the Wisconsin Technology Council.

Trey Taylor, director of digital innovation for Fairbanks Morse Defense in Beloit, discussed the naval engine supplier’s use of AI in products for the U.S. military. By running signals from large diesel engines used by the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy through an artificial intelligence program, the company provides recommendations to engine operators for reactive maintenance.

The program can alert users at a computer terminal or those wearing augmented reality goggles to a potential system issue. For the AR application, which Taylor described as “mixed reality,” a digital display pops up showing machine readouts in the user’s visual field, providing all the information they need to fix the problem and test the solution.

“Typically our business model has been, it breaks, that ship goes to port, we fly a field service team out, we do a week’s worth of work and we’re beholden to the Navy’s schedule and their mission to fix that problem,” he said.

Using the new AI approach, the company can provide the support and information needed by its customers to fix the problem themselves. And Fairbanks Morse Defense specialists in Beloit can participate remotely in the repair process.

“It’s a huge cost savings for the Navy, it’s a huge cost savings for the taxpayer,” Taylor said. “It’s actually cost-beneficial to us, I’m able to charge the same rate for the field service guide that’s riding shotgun. But I don’t have any travel costs, I don’t have any waiting time.”

Meanwhile, Duxxbak Composite Decking President Brandon Beard said the Green Bay company is implementing AI to make its technical resources easier to use. The business manufactures deck materials, railings and other related accessories.

While the company provides a wide array of manuals and procedure documents, Beard noted people doing maintenance work aren’t likely to page through those resources to find the specific information they need.

“We’re taking all those manuals, dumping them into a database, so that our maintenance person can query in their own language the problem they’re experiencing and then use the database to provide them the answer as quickly as possible,” he said. “That’s extremely valuable to them.”

— The head of the Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing & Productivity says many manufacturers in the state are feeling uncertain about using AI in their own operations.

During yesterday’s Tech Council event, CEO and Executive Director Buckley Brinkman referenced a recent WCMP survey. It found more than half of respondents think AI “has nothing to do with their business,” while nearly three-fourths said they will never use the technology at all.

“We just think that’s really, really shortsighted and wrong, if you’re trying to survive in the new world,” Brinkman said.

Both of the other panelists agreed, with Taylor arguing “you’re going to be left in the dust” by ignoring the potential of AI. While Beard said his example is more of an entry-level use of the technology, Taylor noted Fairbanks Morse Defense spent $1 million on its initial AI investment.

“We could have done it less expensive if it wasn’t for the product size that we have, right, if it was a generator for instance, I could have done it for probably a third of the cost,” he said. “It really came down to the scale and the security that the Navy required on the system.”

He also said AI has allowed the company to rapidly deploy the pre-built software system to other machines, with the bulk of the work being done on the initial development. While he spent about 340 hours of initial engineering work on deploying it on the first engine, that process takes just 10 hours each on subsequent projects.

“While there is a large investment on the initial development and design of the AI, I can deploy it rapidly now at a very low cost to my organization,” he said. “So the gross margin that we’re able to get on these projects is a wonderful hockey stick, where it was very low in the beginning, and now we’re seeing multiples every time we deploy the software.”

Yesterday’s discussion also touched on potential future uses of AI, with Beard noting he expects it to play a big role in speeding up worker training at Duxxbak Composite Decking. And Taylor said Fairbanks Morse wants to deploy AI-enabled robotics for maintenance jobs in the coming years.

“That’s really what our end-state goal is with AI that we’re building, that you can have a robot on a Navy ship that responds to an anomaly the AI detects, and it is smart enough to find its way to the work location and do the job,” he said, adding the timeline for that application is three to five years.

— Gov. Tony Evers is urging the GOP-controlled Joint Finance Committee to release $15 million in state funding slated for supporting health care access in western Wisconsin.

In a statement yesterday, the Dem guv charged Republican lawmakers with “continuing to obstruct” the funding for the Chippewa Valley as the region prepares for impending hospital closures. Evers’ release notes Hospital Sisters Health System facilities in Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire are set to close this week, earlier than originally announced.

“These continued delays by Republican lawmakers are simply unacceptable,” Evers said. “I am again urging Republicans to immediately release these funds so my administration can continue our efforts supporting families, communities, and healthcare access needs across Western Wisconsin.”

In approving legislation providing the funding, Evers says he used line-item vetoes to allow grants to be used for any hospital services needed to meet local health care needs. As passed by the Legislature, the bill would have only allowed the funding to be used for hospital emergency department services, according to the release.

In a statement on Evers’ call, JFC Co-Chair Sen. Howard Marklein of Spring Green, said the guv is asking the committee to “re-write legislation, change legislative intent” and fund something he vetoed.

“Considering the fact that the Governor keeps suing the legislature, I don’t know why he thinks we should take a legal risk when he vetoed the bill that would have addressed the issue in the first place,” he said yesterday in an email. “If the Governor were serious about sending funds to Chippewa Valley hospitals, he would have signed the bill.”

In a separate email yesterday, a spokesperson for JFC Co-Chair Rep. Mark Born of Beaver Dam pointed to his remarks from late February responding to Evers’ action.

“It is unbelievable Governor Evers would veto funding that was intended to support emergency services in Chippewa Falls—a community which just lost its last hospital—to allow it to be used in any of 18 counties,” Born said in a statement at the time. “The committee will not support a proposal that redirects the funding from this high-need area to anywhere in Western Wisconsin.”

See more in yesterday’s release.

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— Correction: A WisBusiness.com AM News story yesterday that highlighted one Assembly bill that would preempt local restrictions on animal use and another Assembly bill that would allow provisional licenses for internationally trained physicians should have read that both measures passed the Senate on voice votes.

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