Neurala Announces Strategic Partnership with IMA Group to Accelerate AI Technology for Industry 4.0 Initiatives

Vision AI software company Neurala announced today a new strategic partnership with global manufacturing leader IMA Group. The partnership will deliver AI solutions for industrial machines, focused on field testing of AI that enables monitoring and provides actionable insights from data collected through industrial internet of things (IIoT) systems.

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IMA is a global leader in the design and manufacture of automation equipment for the processing and packaging of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food and beverages. The company’s partnership with Neurala is the latest in its efforts to help industrial organizations realize Industry 4.0 initiatives, with AI and automation playing a key role.

“As the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) becomes commonplace – with dozens of sensors and cameras gathering product data, as well as basic diagnostics from industrial equipment – manufacturers critically need human-level AI that can extract actionable insights from that data at the compute edge,” said Max Versace, CEO and Co-Founder, Neurala. “Data without AI is not useful, and off-the-shelf cloud-based AI is not cut out for the manufacturing floor. Unlike traditional AI solutions, Neurala’s technology is trained at the edge, enabling it to continuously learn based on manufacturers’ data as it varies across specific machines and production runs. We are incredibly excited to bring this technology together with IMA’s industry-leading solutions and expertise. Our new partnership will demonstrate just how far edge AI can go in solving industrial monitoring challenges on a global scale.”

Neurala will work with IMA to deliver its award-winning technology directly on industrial machines, at the compute edge, allowing operators to quickly and independently set up advanced AI systems without requiring specialized expertise.

“Today, factory floors are more complex than ever, and manufacturers are challenged when it comes to managing the extremely high volume of data they’re amassing. To become even more competitive on the global stage, and to help manufacturers overcome this complexity, IMA must improve not only the quality of our products, but also, internal visibility on equipment health and productivity,” said Dario Rea, Director of Corporate Research & Innovation, IMA Group. “These competitive factors are even more acute in light of the global changes we have seen this year. Our commitment to building a company that is defined by innovation, technology and AI is greater than ever before, and our partnership with Neurala represents a key step in that commitment.”

As part of the partnership, IMA has made a targeted investment in Neurala.

About Neurala

Neurala is a pioneer in vision AI software. On a mission to make AI more applicable and useful in real-world applications, Neurala helps industrial companies improve their quality inspection process, with technology that dramatically reduces the time, cost and skills required to build and maintain production-quality custom vision AI solutions. Founded in 2006, Neurala’s research team invented Lifelong-DNN™ (L-DNN) technology, which lowers the data requirements for AI model development and enables continuous learning in the cloud or at the edge. Today, Neurala's technology has been deployed globally, with customers in the manufacturing, drone, robotics, and smart devices verticals.

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About IMA

Established in 1961, IMA is a world leader in the design and manufacture of automatic machines for the processing and packaging of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food, tea and coffee. IMA’s mission is to invest in technologies that will improve the quality of life on the planet, reduce food waste, increase access to more effective drugs and allow greater respect for the environment. Its position of leadership is the result of significant investment in R&D, regular and constructive dialogue with the end users in its sectors and the Group’s ability to expand internationally, conquering new markets.

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