How Siemens scales AI globally
Revolutionizing PCB Quality Control
Overview
Siemens and Katulu have partnered to deploy a cutting-edge Federated Learning (FL) solution across Siemens’ factories, enhancing the quality control process for printed circuit boards (PCBs). By leveraging FL, Siemens achieved remarkable improvements in detecting anomalies, reducing manual inspections, and scaling the solution across multiple sites—all while ensuring data privacy.
The Challenge
In the highly regulated electronics manufacturing sector, ensuring the highest quality in PCB production is crucial. Traditional AI models struggled to generalize across different PCB variants, leading to inefficiencies, such as error slippage and false positives in Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) systems. Siemens needed a scalable solution that maintained data sovereignty and complied with strict regulatory requirements.
The Solution
Katulu’s Federated Learning platform enabled Siemens to train AI models collaboratively across two of their factories—Erlangen and Amberg—without moving any sensitive data. The solution integrated seamlessly with Siemens Industrial Edge (IE) environment, leveraging Katulu’s differential privacy techniques to ensure data security. This setup allowed Siemens to train robust models that significantly reduced AOI errors and improved PCB quality.
Key Features:
Data Privacy: All data remains on-premises, secured with differential privacy and encrypted communications.
Scalability: The federated approach allows for easy scaling to additional factories and global operations.
Efficiency: Reduction in false positives and error slippage in AOI systems, leading to a higher first-pass yield.
Results
The implementation of Katulu’s FL platform led to a substantial improvement in PCB quality control:
F1 Score Improvement: From 84% to 98% after deployment.
Improved Recall: From 77% to 95%, reducing the need for manual inspections
Scalability: Siemens is now prepared to roll out this solution globally, even in regions with stringent data access regulations.
Download the Full White Paper
Learn more about how Siemens and Katulu overcame significant challenges in PCB production using Federated Learning. This white paper provides in-depth insights into the technical implementation, results, and how this collaboration serves as a blueprint for future industrial AI projects.
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