Crossover Talks Series

Global Server Leader Fosters an “All-in AI Culture” through AI-ML Thinking Workshops; User-Friendly AI Empowers a 30-Year SMT Veteran to Successfully Transform into a Hardware Innovation Hub

The adoption of AI applications in enterprises is already underway in Taiwan. The most pressing issue is how to leverage various resources to empower employees quickly and establish an internal AI culture.

Profet AI, recognized as one of the Top 100 Startups of 2024 and deeply rooted in the AI software market for manufacturing, recently hosted a dedicated Crossover Talks EMS event titled “Straight Talk! Ask Us Anything About Real-World AI Implementation Experiences!” The event featured experts from industries such as Wiwynn, a global leader in cloud servers; Mighty Electronics, a renowned EMS brand with 30 years of experience; and Super Dragon, Taiwan’s first publicly listed environmental technology company.

These industry leaders shared their comprehensive journeys from initial AI adoption to subsequent promotion, offering authentic insights to the audience. Through practical case studies and a live Q&A session, attendees gained a deeper understanding of the challenges in promoting AI within the industry and sparked ideas for further innovative AI applications.

Comprehensive Team Engagement: Wiwynn Boosts Talent Quality through AI Machine Learning Workshops

Dr. Bey Yu, Director of Information and Digital Technology at Wiwynn, shared the company’s motivations and strategies for AI adoption. He emphasized that Wiwynn’s core principle is “strategy from the top down, execution from the bottom up.” He highlighted that promoting AI should start small and gradually expand across the organization by connecting AI teams horizontally, ultimately integrating it into the company culture.

Dr. Yu mentioned that the rise of generative AI in 2022 spurred Wiwynn to actively pursue a company-wide AI initiative. To achieve this goal swiftly, the company chairman personally oversaw the effort, mobilizing all departments and establishing a Center of Excellence (CoE) as a dedicated team for AI promotion while seeking external collaborations.

Being a key player in NVIDIA’s supply chain, Wiwynn collaborated closely with Profet AI to accelerate AI technology adoption. Wiwynn valued Profet AI’s extensive expertise in the manufacturing industry and decided to partner with them. Profet AI’s experienced consulting team and industry-specific AI implementation methodologies guided Wiwynn’s team in brainstorming actionable AI topics. Over a four-month AI workshop, nearly 100 domain experts across different teams built close to 800 predictive models and successfully generated nearly 30 AI topics.

While simultaneously validating the feasibility of these AI topics, Wiwynn successfully established a culture of AI engagement, enabling non-IT employees to use data-driven thinking to improve their current work processes. Dr. Yu shared that many successful topics were related to cost estimation. Previously, the component pricing process required over 20 personnel; now, with AI effectively leveraging historical data, they can quickly build models and provide quotes on demand, significantly enhancing operational efficiency.

Another beneficial topic was the optimization of experimental parameters in the R&D department. Engineers used to spend an entire day on repetitive tests, but now AI suggests optimal parameters, greatly reducing experimental costs. Dr. Yu emphasized that the key to AI adoption is not just short-term ROI but also improving employee quality, reinforcing the importance of data, and shifting mindsets, thereby forming a culture that serves as the foundational strategy for long-term AI promotion.

A Champion of Hardware Innovation: Mighty Electronics Expands Its AI Culture from Point to Area

Ray Tai, Vice President of Mighty Electronics and CEO of Mighty Net, shared the company’s real-world experiences with AI adoption. He recalled how, under the guidance of consultants, the company began experimenting with AI in 2019, starting with small-scale applications and gradually expanding to automated deployments, helping employees transform their thinking patterns.

When the pandemic suddenly broke out, significant adjustments to personnel arrangements were necessary, prompting the company to embark on a series of digital transformations. Tai personally led the initial push for digitization, helping employees transition from paper-based operations to automation. He pointed out that the biggest challenge in digital transformation is changing habits, so it’s crucial to lower the barriers to entry.

The simplicity and user-friendliness of Profet AI’s tools have been the primary reason for their ongoing collaboration since 2019. In the initial phase of transformation, Tai aimed to first address supply chain-related pain points, selecting employees with a stronger data mindset as the first batch of seed members, and then gradually expanding AI data thinking to other operational departments.

Tai mentioned that the greatest benefit of AI adoption has been enabling employees to gradually establish a data-driven mindset. He cited an example of transitioning from “manually recording lunch orders” to “scanning QR codes to order meals.” While this shift in daily habits may seem minor, it gradually establishes an internal AI culture, preparing every domain expert for the best transformation and upgrade.

Beyond building a habit of data thinking, AI has also helped the Mitec team uncover new key factors that had previously gone unnoticed. For example, when addressing issues with SPI printers, the lack of effective data initially hindered model performance. However, by involving on-site personnel directly in the AI modeling process, they identified unexpected key factors, effectively improving data collection quality and model performance. These outcomes, from starting at a single point to laying a foundation for expanding to broader applications, reflect the company’s commitment to digital and AI transformation, paving the way for a solid future in comprehensive AI applications.

Strategic Partnership with Super Dragon: Deepening Smart Applications in Renewable Energy and ESG

Profet AI and Super Dragon formalized a partnership at the forum, committing to jointly advancing smart applications in areas ranging from waste management to renewable energy. Super Dragon President Ken Wu also shared how the company integrates storage technologies for renewable energies such as solar and wind, as well as virtual power plants and other smart applications, and plans to incorporate more AI technologies to create a more comprehensive renewable energy service system. President Wu noted that these innovative applications are not only Super Dragon’s proactive exploration in the ESG field but also represent a smarter future development path for the industry.

This Crossover Talks event provided a platform for in-depth exchanges of practical experiences in the EMS industry. Through on-site discussions and field visits, participants gained a more intuitive understanding of AI and ESG initiatives’ specific applications in the industry. Profet AI will continue this series of events, bringing more practical cases and expert insights to the industry, exploring the limitless possibilities that AI brings to industrial upgrading.