All of a sudden, it felt like everyone started talking about Generative AI. Even though the tech had been around for a while, it wasn’t until these new public tools came out that people finally sat up and took notice. Manufacturers like Eastman, a specialty materials company, had a tricky question to answer: Where do we even start? For them, the answer was to focus on what they were already good at. They’d already built up a lot of expertise in data and analytics. Now, they were going to leverage that experience as much as they could.
Generative AI wasn’t even a big thing yet, but Eastman already knew how to turn data into stuff both useful and valuable to customers. Their heat-transfer fluid monitoring service is one cool example. It analyzes data from the fluid to determine how likely it is to degrade, giving engineers time to act before it’s too late. The same data can even predict when maintenance might be needed. If you’re a manufacturer, you probably know how important things like that can be given that any fluid problem could ultimately shut down the entire production line. For Eastman, things like that helped their employees get comfortable with data-driven products long before anyone even knew what generative AI was.
Building Generative AI From What Works
More recently, Eastman has also been exploring generative AI, using it to analyze written natural language and get information that was previously too difficult to extract. This helps them with procurement, and it also turns into sales opportunities. Before, sales notes were a jumbled mess of unstructured text, locked away in an obsolete system. However, generative AI changed everything for the better by sifting through those chaotic notes and unearthing valuable insights and cross-sell ideas for the sales teams. For manufacturers who are exploring similar uses, generative AI for manufacturing with Dedicatted provides a good look into areas like predictive maintenance, document automation, and quality control.
Eastman’s technical ambitions extend beyond AI. The company is actively developing sustainability initiatives focused on recycled plastics and textiles. It even plans to use blockchain to track the origin of feedstock, giving customers peace of mind, as they’ll finally know where their materials come from and how they’ve been handled.
Manufacturers nowadays don’t really compete only on quality and cost. Offering new services and products powered by technology can be great for standing out in the eyes of customers. Having a broader portfolio doesn’t just help you stand apart from the competition, it’s also a major strategic step toward shaping the very future of the company, allowing you to break into new markets.
