Steypustöðin brings artificial intelligence into its operations

Icelandic concrete company Steypustöðin has agreed with software firm ExOS Labs to introduce artificial intelligence into its operations, mbl.is reported.

The collaboration will begin with a roadmap reviewing the company’s main processes and identifying where AI could deliver the greatest benefits, including in production, distribution and sales. ExOS will also be introduced and connected to the company’s systems, allowing managers to ask questions about operational data in plain language and receive alerts about possible deviations.

AI consultant Anna Garðarsdóttir is working with ExOS on the roadmap, which will take account of the company’s goals, prioritise opportunities and consider changes to working practices.

“We see artificial intelligence as an operational project, not a technology project,” said Björn Ingi Victorsson, chief executive of Steypustöðin. He said the company wanted to start where the benefits were greatest, measure the results and build on what worked, with the aim of providing customers with better and more efficient service.

ExOS Labs chief executive Bjarni Ingimar Auðarson said Steypustöðin makes many decisions each day, including which truck goes where, what is produced and when, and how quotations are priced. The aim is to help the company make decisions faster and on the basis of better data, he said. The partners will begin with defined projects and clear measures of success, then assess what to do next based on the results.