BMW Group outlined a determination to put its foot down on efforts to adopt the latest digital technologies in its Purchasing and Supplier Network operation, building on deployment of initial generative AI (genAI) applications.
In an update on progress in use of cutting-edge digital applications within its procurement operation, the automotive giant highlighted the goal was to increase efficiency and the long-term viability of the unit.
The company is currently working on new genAI applications for use by the division at its IT hub in Romania, which was founded last year as a joint venture with NTT Data’s business in the country.
BMW has already introduced Knowledge Navigator, Offer Analyst and Tender Assistant genAI tools at the unit alongside its AIconic multi-agent system, which uses AI to improve how teams can search for and use information.
AIconic
The AIconic system, it noted, integrated different data sources to guarantee “comprehensive, targeted information retrieval that significantly outperforms previous search functions”.
BMW Group head of genAI in Purchasing and Supplier Network Markus Kronen said the system had significantly increased “employee efficiency and productivity while setting new standards for AI usage”.
Moving forward it plans to evolve AIconic to act “not simply as a passive search tool but increasingly as a proactive one,” BMW noted.
Currently it uses ten agents covering topics including quality, supplier data and purchase process support.
“In the future, the application will perform certain tasks without human supervision, such as monitoring supply chain data, creating reports and identifying optimisation potential,” the automotive giant added.
Along with promoting ongoing AI moves the company pointed to the importance of digital training for staff across its workforce, asserting use of the technology would give “employees more freedom for creative and innovative thinking”.