IFS and Siemens Partner to Bridge the Manufacturing AI Gap

Industrial AI software company IFS has formed a partnership with global technology company Siemens aimed at bridging the gap across the manufacturing lifecycle.

The collaboration seeks to enhance productivity and adaptability for manufacturers through the integration of AI-native production planning and asset management systems.

According to McKinsey, AI is becoming increasingly accessible for manufacturers as cloud storage, processing costs and pre-packaged tools become more affordable. This accessibility could help manufacturers improve efficiency, yield and margins, yet many manufacturers continue to operate with siloed, disconnected systems.

Connecting design and reality

The collaboration between Siemens and IFS centres on industrial AI, with both companies working to connect AI-native production planning and asset management systems to deliver productivity and adaptability.

Tony Hemmelgarn, President and CEO of Siemens Digital Industries Software, says: 

“Industrial AI only delivers value when it is grounded in both engineering intent and real-world performance.

“Together with IFS, we are bringing these domains together by connecting design, manufacturing and asset lifecycle data in a secure, contextualised data fabric.

“By converging our combined strengths in industrial AI, together we will empower our customers with our vision of an executable Digital Twin that will enable them to accelerate innovation with confidence.”

According to the McKinsey State of AI in 2025 report, 88% of companies now use AI in at least one function, while 62% are either experimenting with or scaling agentic AI.

Despite manufacturers rolling out various digital tools and improvement initiatives, some have reported results that fall short of expectations. 

McKinsey’s survey – Transforming factories: The power of continuous, connected insights – found that whilst 74% say their company has a global production system, just 29% report full implementation across all sites.

A global production system is an interconnected, international network that designs and manufactures goods.

Addressing the silo problem

Siemens argues that siloed systems present a significant challenge, with manufacturers’ production, maintenance planning and supply chain management systems operating in fundamental disconnection.

This disconnection means that engineering intent, real-world performance and service strategy remain separate from one another.

The two companies aim to help manufacturers address what they describe as a persistent gap between how factory operations are designed and how they perform in reality.

According to Siemens, unplanned downtime, disconnected maintenance schedules, siloed production data and supply chain disruption continue to erode throughput, agility and margin. These operational challenges highlight the urgent need for integrated systems that can bridge the divide between planning and execution.

Bridging the design gap

Siemens brings a comprehensive digital twin to the partnership, drawing on its position as a leader in industrial AI. IFS will contribute service history, asset behaviour and operational lifecycle data.

“Manufacturers need their factory floor to behave the way it was designed,” says Mark Moffat, CEO of IFS.

“This partnership with Siemens brings together two companies that each own a critical piece of the puzzle. 

“Agentic AI is the critical frontier and industrial leaders need solutions with closed loop models and data and a rich set of context that will not hallucinate in active operations.

“By combining our collective strengths in Industrial AI, we can help manufacturers close the loop between design and reality and unlock real, measurable performance gains.”

The partnership represents an effort to connect previously disconnected domains within manufacturing, potentially enabling manufacturers to align their operational reality with their engineering design more effectively.