December LinkedIn Newsletter
Bank of America
April 8, 2025
AI Adoption by BofA’s Global Workforce Improves Productivity, Client Service
Coding assistance – Bank of America software developers are using a GenAI-based tool to assist with code writing and optimization, through which they have experienced efficiency gains of over 20%.
Bosch
06.06.2025 Press release Business/economy
Bosch Debuts Next-Gen Tools and Accessories Built to Power Productivity on the Jobsite
New releases include an 18V medium crown construction stapler, powerful brushless tools and X-LOCK® grinding and cutting accessories for the toughest jobs
18V Brushless Medium Crown Stapler (GTH18V-50M): Precision Stapling with Quick Adjustments
18V Hammer Drill/Driver (GSB18V-65): Versatile Performance with Three Operation Modes
New X-LOCK® Accessories: Fast Change Wheels for Cutting and Grinding Metal
https://us.bosch-press.com/pressportal/us/en/press-release-27648.html
Coca-Cola
Happiest Minds collaborates with Coca-Cola Beverages Vietnam to deploy an innovative GenAI conversational interface
News provided by
Happiest Minds Technologies Limited
Jan 15, 2025
Coca-Cola Beverages Vietnam presented two business cases necessitating technology transformation to enhance organizational productivity and operational efficiency.
Augmenting HR Efficiency: The policy information across different business functions at Coca-Cola Beverages Vietnam was scattered across multiple documents, causing inefficiencies for employees searching for relevant information. This fragmentation impeded productivity and hindered effective decision-making processes within the organization.
Monitoring Cooler Productivity: Sales reps and asset managers at Coca-Cola Beverages Vietnam must monitor cooler RoI nationwide, engaging with retailers to enhance productivity. Presently, they navigate multiple systems to assess customer performance, pinpoint focus areas, and identify outliers. Streamlining this process would optimize cooler productivity, fostering better retailer connections.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/coca-colas-productivity-play-secret-141900802.html
https://www.100accelerator.com/challenges/climate/energy-consumption-and-monitoring
Unilver
Talent and technology are boosting factory performance and productivity.
Published: 22 July 2025
Volkswagen
BERLIN, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Volkswagen's chief financial officer said in comments to investors seen by Reuters on Wednesday that the next step to making its German plants competitive was to improve productivity, increasing the number of cars produced per worker.
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16.9.2025
12 New Companies
Distinction in Customer Centricity:
Recognition to production sites for achieving exceptional speed-to-market and customization through technology-enabled design and procurement, optimization of batch size, lead time, product cost and performance. The new Customer Centricity Lighthouses are:
1. Eaton Electrical Equipment Co., Ltd. (Changzhou, China): Managing a complex portfolio of 164,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs) and over 5,000 new custom designs annually, Eaton's Changzhou site deployed digital transformation to improve agility and cost-effectiveness. By applying AI and simulation, Eaton shortened its design cycle. Adopting advanced robotics improved labour productivity and genAI and digital twin solutions enhanced responsiveness. As a result, the company reduced lead time by 39%, increased operational efficiency by 50% and grew revenue by 129%, all without expanding its workforce.
2. Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (Changzhou, China): In response to shifting customer demand towards tailored solutions and a fragmented market landscape, and with 34.8% of orders being single-item orders, the Mettler Toledo site in Changzhou embarked on a digital transformation. The site deployed 49 Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) use cases, including AI-accelerated product configuration, reconfigurable modular cluster workstations, and machine learning powered welding inspection with closed-loop adjustments to preserve quality. These solutions helped the site achieve a 98.4% on-time delivery rate, a 22% lead time reduction and a net promoter score of 84.9.
Distinction in Productivity
Recognition to production sites for achieving exceptional performance in cost and quality through technology-enabled transformation, improving asset utilization, worker enablement and resource management. The new Productivity Lighthouses are:
1. GlobalFoundries Pte. Ltd. (Singapore): To address talent shortages and surging demand, including for new automotive devices, GlobalFoundries’ Fab 7 in Singapore implemented over 60 4IR use cases to tackle increasing process complexity, meet more stringent quality requirements and accelerate prototype development. The site built a holistic transformation team, partnering with AI vendors and universities across four impact areas: machine learning-based predictive maintenance; remote support enablement; machine learning-powered quality control; and workflow digitalization. As a result, labour productivity improved by 40% and new product introduction prototyping time improved by 30%.
2. Haier Washing Electrical Appliances Co., Ltd. (Shanghai, China): To meet high-end market demands while addressing regional cost pressures and quality expectations, Haier launched its Shanghai site as a new production base in 2022. Using its in-house industrial IoT (internet of things) platform and advanced technologies such as genAI-enabled 3D modelling and deep learning, the site increased production by 37%, improved delivery efficiency by 40% and cut conversion costs by 33%.
3. Qatar Shell GTL Limited (Ras Laffan, Qatar): As operator of Pearl Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) for and on behalf of the Government of Qatar, the world’s largest GTL plant, built to produce 260k barrels per day of liquid hydrocarbons from natural gas, Qatar Shell GTL Limited tackled early-stage asset integrity and reliability challenges. By deploying over 45 4IR solutions, including AI for structural integrity, and empowering frontline teams, it was able to increase the site throughput by 9%, improve reliability to 99%, cut emissions by 7% and extend equipment life by up to 50% within a five-year period.
4. Tongwei Solar Co., Ltd. (Meishan, China): In the highly competitive solar cell market, Tongwei focused its digital transformation on improving power conversion efficiency (PCE) and quality. The site deployed over 50 4IR use cases, mostly based on AI – machine learning to drive process optimization, genAI-enabled maintenance, and advanced AI algorithms to analyse defects. The transformation improved PCE by 12%, cut defect rates by 41%, reduced conversion costs by 37% and lowered CO₂ emissions by 33%.
Distinction in Supply Chain Resilience
Recognizes production sites for achieving exceptional performance in service and agility through supply-chain transformation (planning, fulfilment, logistics, etc.), enhancing transparency and working capital management. The new Supply-Chain Resilience Lighthouses are:
1. Lenovo Centro Tecnologico, S.DE R.L. DE C.V. (Monterrey, Mexico): As Lenovo’s largest site in North America, the Lenovo Monterrey site regularly managed 2,000 overseas suppliers and 52,000 SKUs across 80+ markets, alongside increasing emphasis on quality and evolving labour dynamics in Mexico. By deploying more than 60 4IR solutions, over half of them AI and genAI-enabled, the site reduced lead time by 85%, logistics costs by 42%, quality losses by 56% and carbon emissions by 30%, while boosting productivity by 58%. Today, the site serves as a global digital model factory for Lenovo.
2. Midea Refrigeration Equipment Co., Ltd. (Si Racha, Thailand): To address complex cross-border supply chains, customer quality issues and training barriers, Midea implemented 72 digital and AI solutions. These included closed-loop quality systems and genAI-enabled workforce development. The result was a 43% reduction in order lead times, a 32% drop in customer complaints and a 62% improvement in employee qualification speed.
3. Turkish Petroleum Refineries Corporation - Tüpraş (İzmit, Türkiye): Following the launch of its Resid Upgrade Plant in 2014, Tüpraş İzmit faced rising crude oil type diversity, product complexity and pressure from port-based sales that increased jetty congestion. In response, the refinery launched a digital transformation, integrating planning, inventory and logistics across the value chain. By deploying AI-driven forecasting and optimization solutions, the site improved delivery reliability from 85% to 95%, shortened average truck loading times by 75%, increased forecasting labour productivity by 48%, reduced CO₂ emissions by 8% and water consumption by 31%.
4. Yunnan Baiyao Group Co., Ltd. (Kunming, China): To meet fast-changing consumer demands and manage the volatility of e-commerce and lower-tier market expansion, Yunnan Baiyao addressed inconsistent quality in key herbal ingredients and scattered planting areas. Deploying over 40 4IR solutions, including satellite sensing, industrial internet of things and large language models, the company reduced raw material return rates by 78%, inventory days by 38% and stockout rates by 30%, ensuring more stable and responsive supply.
Distinction in Sustainability
Recognizes production sites for achieving industry-leading reductions in energy, emissions, water and waste through advanced solutions in pursuit of a holistic set of net zero, decarbonization and circularity goals. The new Sustainability Lighthouses are:
1. Hisensehitachi Air-conditioning Systems Co., Ltd. (Qingdao, China): To advance its sustainability targets, Hisensehitachi deployed 27 4IR solutions at its Qingdao site to reduce emissions across the entire product lifecycle – from in-house refrigerant leakage (96% of Scope 1) and R&D operations (46% of Scope 2) to material sourcing and customer site usage (over 90% of Scope 3). Using IoT and advanced analytics, the team reduced refrigerant leakage by 56% and redesigned key processes, cutting Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 48%. Tailored control strategies for environmental parameters at customer sites led to a 28% reduction in Scope 3 emissions from product use.
2. Schneider Electric Distribution Center (Evreux, France): To address resource scarcity, regulations and customer demands, Schneider Electric transformed its Evreux site into its first circular distribution centre. It implemented an end-to-end “use better, longer, and again” model that enables circularity at scale. Key innovations include a digital customer platform for ordering and take-back of over 3,000 SKUs, a data model linking products to repair, refurbishment and repackaging centres, and circular solutions in packaging, transportation and energy. These efforts reduced single-use plastic by 40% and energy consumption by 18%.
Distinction in Talent
Recognizes production sites for achieving transformative impact on the workforce through advanced solutions in work design and safety, talent planning, attraction and onboarding, development and effectiveness. The new Talent Lighthouse is:
1. Haier Refrigerator Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Chongqing, China): Facing high mobility and productivity improvement bottlenecks in the younger generation of workers, Haier Chongqing adopted the proprietary RenDanHeYi model, shifting from a management-oriented to a service-oriented organization. The site deployed 35 4IR talent-empowerment solutions, including personalized promotion pathways, a point-based innovation incentive platform, and team-level smart workforce planning using multi-time-series forecasting. These efforts reduced attrition by 40% and raised participation to 61%.
This announcement will be accompanied by the forthcoming World Economic Forum insights paper, Empowering Frontlines: Retaining, Training, and Upskilling Industrial Workforce, which highlights how Lighthouse sites are pioneering new approaches to retaining, upskilling and reskilling talent. The publication is part of the Forum’s Frontline Talent of the Future initiative, which surfaces proven strategies from leading sites to help organizations attract, develop and engage their frontline workforce to build human-centric, high-performing operations for the factories and supply chains of the future.
14,1,2025
Factory Lighthouses
The latest cohort of Factory Lighthouses provides a blueprint for accelerated deployment of AI solutions that bolster productivity, enhance problem-solving capabilities and foster innovation. The new Factory Lighthouses are:
1. Agilent Technologies (Shanghai, China): To meet growing customer demands for higher lab productivity – more applications in a single instrument – the site leveraged 4IR technologies to overcome product customization and lead time challenges. By merging digital and engineering expertise, the site implemented 50 use cases focusing on in-house development of tailored and cost-effective AI solutions. This digitized engineering know-how enhanced adaptability, precision and speed across its design-to-production cycle, improving productivity by 56% and lead time by 31% with customer satisfaction on delivery exceeding 96%.
2. Aramco (North Ghawar, Saudi Arabia): North Ghawar Oil Producing Complex’s history began with the start of Saudi oil production in 1938 and today manages assets dispersed over 12,500km. To meet increasing demand while reducing both operational costs and emissions, the complex launched a 4IR strategy. It pioneered oil-producing intelligence, boosted existing asset reliability and upskilled young talent by leveraging over 65 solutions, including advanced analytics, AI-powered digital twins and Aramco large language model (LLM) genAI. As a result, oil production increased by 8.44% while Scope 1 and 2 emissions reduced by 8.21% per barrel of oil equivalent.
3. Beijing Shougang Cold Rolling Co., Ltd (Beijing, China): To meet the challenge of stricter quality standards for high-end automotive manufacturing and increasingly diverse stock-keeping units (SKUs), the site deployed 67 4IR use cases, 61% of which utilized AI. This enhanced end-to-end process accuracy, resolved customer quality challenges and eliminated key quality and throughput constraints. As a result, high-end sales increased by 36%, customer complaints decreased by 55%, product defects dropped by 35% and production line efficiency improved by 21.2%.
4. CEAT Limited (Sriperumbudur, India): To support global expansion, CEAT needed to manage three times more SKUs, faster order fulfilment, coupled with new product launches at twice the speed with productivity improvement in assembly process. To achieve this, CEAT deployed over 30 digital solutions, including operational research models for reducing turnaround time, advanced analytics for predictive control and machine learning-based design. These solutions improved labour productivity by 25%, reduced dispatch turnaround time by 54%, accelerated product ramp-up by 30% and cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 47%.
5. CITIC Dicastal Morocco (Ameur Seflia, Morocco): “Lightweighting” trends are reshaping the automotive sector, by driving intense competition for high-quality auto parts with smaller environmental footprints. In response, CITIC Dicastal Morocco deployed over 40 digital use cases for high-precision, flexible production and efficient use of materials. The site deployed advanced algorithms for casting and machining, an AI-generated content-enhanced vision inspection system, and a process control to manage natural gas quality volatility in furnaces – a local challenge. This led to a 17% improvement in overall equipment effectiveness, a 27% increase in labour productivity, a 31.1% reduction in defects and a 53% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
6. Foshan Haitian Flavouring & Food Co., Ltd (Foshan, China): To maintain its cost advantage and produce soy sauces with consistent flavour, Foshan Haitian implemented digital transformation to address rising consumer demands for diverse products and manage increasingly complex orders. The site deployed over 50 digital use cases, nearly half powered by AI to optimize operations. Despite a 54% increase in SKUs and a 64% rise in small-batch orders, these efforts reduced raw material waste by 33.6%, cut product defect rates by 39.1%, and shortened order lead times by 38.7%
7. Guizhou Tyre Co., Ltd (Guiyang, China): Guizhou Tyre faced the challenge of meeting highly customized orders (over 60% of all orders) for heavy load operations, which required strict design, verification and reliability standards. To speed up product design and ensure consistent and stable output, the site implemented over 40 4IR solutions to improve agility and productivity in manufacturing. These solutions, which included AI-enabled design, advanced data analytics and flexible automation, resulted in a 57% reduction in defects, a 68% increase in labour productivity and a 34% reduction in inventory levels.
8. United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) (Tainan, Taiwan, China): To enhance profitability in a rapidly changing chip market, UMC focuses on production of specialized semiconductors, which have higher value but also greater process complexity. UMC’s largest production and R&D site in Tainan adopted agile strategies to deploy over 48 4IR use cases, such as a machine learning model to shorten design kit delivery time by 57% and an AI defect analysis system helping raise yields to 97%. This led to higher customer engagement with specialized product ratio up to 53% from 13%, contributing to a 75% gross margin gain.
9. Valeo Interior Controls (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd Front Camera factory (Shenzhen, China): To maintain leadership in the autonomous driving market and assure product quality, flexible production and optimal costs, Valeo’s Shenzhen factory implemented 42 4IR use cases, including AI-powered solutions and 14 advanced algorithms such as genAI-enabled troubleshooting and fully automated "lights-off" workshops. These innovations reduced finished goods defect rates by 45.9%, cut lead times by 34.5%, increased productivity by 60.2% and lowered unit energy consumption by 27.1%, ensuring high-quality, cost-efficient production.
End-to-End (E2E) Value Chain Lighthouses
The latest cohort of E2E Lighthouses has responded to surging demand with advanced technologies that not only provide enhanced visibility but also streamline complex processes and improve design and planning efficiency. The new E2E Lighthouses are:
1. Agilent Technologies (Penang, Malaysia): Faced with rising demand, material price volatility and a rapidly expanding portfolio (including four mergers and acquisitions and 2,500 new SKUs since 2018), Agilent's Penang site embraced digital transformation to enhance its high-mix, low-volume manufacturing processes. Deploying over 40 solutions, such as AI in supply chains, 3D printing and zero-code workflows, the site achieved a 40% productivity improvement, a 32% reduction in manufacturing costs and a 48% cut in delivery lead time. Its "Everyone-Can-Digital" initiative upskilled 88% of its workforce, leading to a “Great Place to Work” designation for four consecutive years and reducing attrition to 3.5% compared to the 9.4% industry average.
2. Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) (Al Taweelah, UAE): Operating one of the world’s largest aluminium smelters in an industry marked by raw material and freight cost volatility, EGA undertook a 4IR transformation to further increase its cost-competitiveness, agility and flexibility, as well as enhance safety and sustainability. In three years, the site implemented over 80 use cases and upskilled over 20% of its workforce, injecting advanced AI into a traditional and labour-intense industry. The site used deep learning computer vision and LLM to optimize frontline operations, reducing operational downtimes by 50% and non-productive time by 18% – raising overall equipment effectiveness by 12%.
3. Hindustan Unilever Limited (Tinsukia, India): To adapt to the surge in “Instant delivery E-Commerce” via shorter runs and wider product variety, Unilever Tinsukia, operating in a remote region with limited resources, implemented over 50 digital use cases improving end-to-end supply chain agility through machine learning-driven planning, AI-enabled changeovers and a green digital twin. This helped reduce planning frozen periods from 14 days to one, enabling a threefold increase in unique SKUs and cutting the time for sustainable packaging trials by 84%. Additionally, the site supported local community development by fostering digital skills through an Industrial Training Institute and a digital-Braille lab, strengthening its social impact alongside its digital transformation.
4. Midea General Refrigeration Co., Ltd (Chongqing, China): Facing a surge in customized orders – from 31% to 87% – from 42 industries, Midea Chongqing deployed 79 digital use cases powered by machine learning, augmented reality and simulation. This enabled a “Batch Size 1” make-to-order delivery model, optimizing product configuration, intelligent design, agile production and adaptive quality assurance. These measures reduced configuration lead times by 81%, design lead times by 45% and after-sales failure rates by 31% while accommodating a 180% increase in custom orders.
Sustainability Lighthouses
This cohort, five Lighthouses have been awarded the additional designation of Sustainability Lighthouses for their industry-leading reductions in Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, and their advancements in promoting a circular economy. The first three, Ferrovial, Novelis and Nucor, were awarded through a partnership between the Global Lighthouse Network and the Circularity in the Built Environment initiative. The fourth, Schneider Electric (Wuxi, China), was already a Factory Lighthouse and was awarded the supplementary designation this year. The new Sustainability Lighthouses are:
1. Ferrovial SE (London, UK): The Kilo Apron Development Substructure is Heathrow Airport’s largest and most complex civil project of the past 10 years. To prioritize sustainability, since 2017 the project incorporated various innovative technologies and techniques, including drones, hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO), hybrid excavators, low-carbon concrete, design for manufacture and assembly, and three-dimensional building information modelling. This helped achieve a 67% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions and a 63% reduction in Scope 3 emissions.
2. Novelis (Uhrichsville, US): Novelis’ recycling facility achieved 97% recycled aluminium content, significantly reducing its reliance on energy-intensive primary production. This was achieved through advanced scrap segregation, procurement strategies and digital tools, earning GreenCircle certification. Scope 3 emissions from bauxite mining and primary aluminum production make up 85% of Novelis’ carbon footprint. With a greenhouse gas intensity of only 1.1 metric tons of carbon dioxide per metric ton of aluminium – far below the industry average of 5.8 metric tons – the site contributes 25% of Novelis’ North American sales and advances its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
3. Nucor Corporation (Sedalia, US): The steel industry contributes 7%-8% of global carbon dioxide emissions. In January 2020, Nucor launched a $250 million electric arc furnace mill in Sedalia, Missouri, achieving zero Scope 2 emissions via a 75-megawatt power purchase agreement with Evergy Energy. Additionally, Scope 1 emissions were reduced by nearly 60% through the pre-heating of scrap steel with waste heat and an innovative micro mill technology.
4.Schneider Electric (Wuxi, China): Schneider Electric’s Wuxi campus, an electronics manufacturing centre, reached net-zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions in 2022, eight years ahead of its 2030 target. Sustainability initiatives included AI-powered eco-design, a closed-loop carbon-dioxide tracking platform with suppliers, and machine learning models to optimize energy efficiency and the development of circular economy solutions with customers. This led to a 90% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions, a 65% reduction in Scope 3 emissions and a 15% reduction in water use.
5.Siemens AG (Fürth, Germany): Siemens Fürth aims to achieve net zero by 2026, four years ahead of the company’s corporate target. Based on the foundation of extensive energy metering and a cross-department sustainability team, the site deployed multiple solutions including an on-site repair centre for product lifetime extension, electromagnetic filtering for power quality enhancement and end-to-end product carbon footprint management. This has led to energy savings of 12% in absolute terms and 64% per volume, even as overall throughput increased by 145%.
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Productivity News - Knowledge
McKinsey & Company
7.11.2025
AI agents could boost productivity by 3-5% annually and lift growth by 10% or more.
But realizing this potential requires more than simply implementing the tools—to unleash the most value, leaders must enable end-to-end change and tighter human-AI collaboration.
Discover four lessons from front-runners turning agentic AI promise into marketing, sales, and customer service impact💡: https://mck.co/491WrUe
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