Case Study

An AI assistant improves technical support

For SMI Group, we created a Generative AI solution that offers immediate and highly efficient technical support on production line machines.

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The challenge

To optimise requests for assistance on bottling and packaging plant machines.

SCENARIO

Managing machine technical assistance

The SMI Group is one of the world's largest manufacturers of bottling plants and packaging machines. The company designs and manufactures a wide range of bottling systems and packaging machines for the food and beverage industry, household cleaning and personal hygiene products, as well as chemical and pharmaceutical products. With such a wide range of complex machinery, managing technical assistance represents a significant challenge. Technicians who work on machines often need immediate support to solve problems, configure machinery and carry out maintenance activities. However, the support provided through the call center presented some difficulties in meeting the growing demand. Operators often struggled to handle the high number of requests and language barriers complicated communication, causing delays and inefficiency.

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The solution

An assistant trained on a dedicated knowledge base

To solve these problems, Technology Reply has implemented a digital assistant that uses conversational models based on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Generative AI to support SMI technicians by providing detailed instructions and links to the technical documentation of different machines. Through a natural language conversation with the technician, the digital assistant is able to recognise the problem and generate instructions on how to solve it precisely and accurately. The assistant can integrate and archive huge amounts of documentation of SMI's machines, the company's information assets, in a dedicated knowledge base, thus becoming a virtual expert who is always available.

HOW we did it

An implementation on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Generative AI

The conversational digital assistant, developed for technicians who work on production machines, provides guidance for both routine and critical actions. Oracle was chosen as a cloud provider thanks to OCI services, including OCI AI & Analytics and in particular OCI Generative AI.
The implementation on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure includes:

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Developing a Python application using the LangChain Python library

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Deploying the script in an OCI container engine for Kubernetes

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Using the Generative AI OCI service APIs to manage LLM commands

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Storing conversations on Oracle ADW (Autonomous Data Warehouse)

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Viewing statistics on an OAC dashboard (Oracle Analytics Cloud)

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The implementation of a tool in APEX to allow users to upload new documents and update the knowledge base database

THE RESULTS

Fast and timely answers

By adopting the digital assistant, SMI achieved the following results:

24/7

availability of support services

+90%

adequate answers on the different types of machines

+80

languages available for conversations

+1000

integrated functional and technical documents

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SMI Group is one of the largest manufacturers of bottling plants and packaging machines worldwide and consists of the parent company SMIGROUP, the subsidiaries SMI (the first and largest company in the Group), SMIPACK, SMIMEC, SMITEC, ENOBERG, SMIENERGIA, SMILAB, SARCO.RE and a network of branches that support sales, after-sales assistance and spare parts supply. The SMI Group companies use a quality, environment and safety management system certified UNI EN ISO 9001:2015 and UNI EN ISO 14001:2015 and in compliance with the international standard BS OHSAS 18001:2007.

2 July 2024