AI Won’t Fix Manufacturing Until Manufacturers Fix The Work

BusinessManufacturingAI Won’t Fix Manufacturing Until Manufacturers Fix The WorkByEthan Karp,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about transforming businesses through technology & innovation.Follow AuthorJun 09, 2026, 04:57pm EDTNew technology is tied to a real operating question: how do we improve production without learning every lesson the expensive way? Pick a problem that is already costing the business money. Then ask what has to change for the problem to improve.gettyA check-engine light doesn’t fix the car. It tells you something under the hood needs attention. Maybe the problem’s small. Maybe it’s the first signal of a major failure that’s been building for months. Either way, once the light comes on, you know you have to do something.Manufacturers should think about AI the same way. The technology can predict machine failures, improve quality and speed up production. But first, it’ll likely turn on the factory’s check-engine light, showing leaders where the operation is messy, fragile or running on workarounds.That might be painful and expensive but it’s necessary. AI won’t fix manufacturing until manufacturers fix the work. And this is where many companies are getting stuck. MIT NANDA’s 2025 GenAI Divide report found that 95% of enterprise generative AI pilots showed no measurable profit-and-loss impact. And manufacturing has an even more basic problem. A full 70% of manufacturers still collect data manually. That means many companies are trying to add advanced intelligence to operations still running on handwritten notes, side spreadsheets, and individual memory.Here are six places that need attention before AI can deliver real value.1. Start With a Problem Worth FixingBMW’s virtual factory work started with a practical production problem: how to improve the plant before disrupting the real line. The company used AI and simulation to create digital twins of its plants, allowing teams to test layou...