EGA Launches Cutting-Edge Digital Manufacturing Platform in Collaboration with Microsoft

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), the largest industrial company in the UAE outside oil and gas, today announced the launch of one of the first digital manufacturing platforms in the region to unlock additional value through Industry 4.0 applications.

EGA collaborated with Microsoft to develop a digital manufacturing platform, advancing its Digital Roadmap. Utilizing Microsoft Azure hybrid cloud and AI, the platform integrates hardware, software, processes, and personnel across EGA's global operations, enhancing industrial process efficiency, quality, and safety. The hybrid infrastructure combines public and on-premises cloud processing, drawing from defense and space project architectures. EGA anticipates an over 80% reduction in AI-based analytics unit costs and a 13-fold increase in processing speed compared to previous solutions. Currently processing over 2.9 petabytes of data annually, the platform will expand continuously.

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA, said,

“EGA’s bold aspiration is to become a digital lighthouse for the region and the global aluminium industry, because we see enormous potential to unlock additional value for our business through Industry 4.0. The digital manufacturing platform, developed in collaboration with Microsoft, transforms our operations by harnessing the power of artificial intelligence at scale, while unlocking significant opportunities for further Industry 4.0 applications.”

Carlo K Nizam, Chief Digital Officer of EGA, stated,

“EGA’s digital transformation strategy has two parallel tracks to fundamentally transform how we operate – implementing high-impact digital solutions for immediate business impact, and building important digital foundations to enable company-wide transformation. The digital manufacturing platform is one of these key foundations.”

Christoph Berlin, General Manager and Partner Architect, Microsoft Azure, added,

“Today’s announcement marks a key milestone in our strategic collaboration with EGA, a company which is a leader in the application of Industry 4.0 in the Middle East. Their new digital manufacturing platform, created in collaboration with Microsoft, is a great example of using Microsoft’s Adaptive Cloud Framework to fundamentally rethink and modernise OT in a cloud-first era to embrace modern capabilities such as Generative AI. We look forward to our continued collaboration with EGA.”

Earlier this year, EGA announced the groundbreaking for the region’s first 100 percent renewable energy powered industrial data centres at its Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah sites. The digital manufacturing platform will be hosted on EGA’s data centres in the future.

News Source: Emirates News Agency