P&G takes Siemens-built AI quality inspection to plants worldwide

P&G takes Siemens-built AI quality inspection to plants worldwide

16 September 2026: Procter & Gamble is extending an AI inspection system called the Visual Inspection Cockpit, or VIC, across its manufacturing operations worldwide. Depending on the product, the companies say it has cut scrap rates by 10 to 20 percent, and new installations are commissioned five to ten times faster than traditional bespoke vision systems.

Not yet independently verified. The scrap and commissioning figures come from a single Siemens press release. No second source confirms them. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

Inspecting every item at line speed

VIC checks products in real time during production and aims for full inspection coverage at line speed. The release stresses how hard consumer goods are for cameras: products are delicate and textured, and they can shift, stretch or wrinkle as they move. Traditional vision systems often need extensive reconfiguration whenever materials, packaging or the surrounding environment change. VIC uses industrial AI to adapt instead.

Results are processed close to the production equipment and fed into manufacturing operations. The system can raise an alert or remove a defective product, and it collects quality data over time so that trends become visible.

Who built which half

The system was developed jointly. P&G contributed its deep learning models, and Siemens contributed its Industrial Edge platform. The hardware is industrial PCs powered by Nvidia GPUs, together with AI hardware and software. Siemens says it also supports the computing infrastructure, the scaling of software and the long-term operation of the system across sites.

The defects that make it hard

P&G's Paul Thomas, Director of Machine Vision and Applied AI, points to overlapping components, low-contrast defects and decorated packaging as the cases that rule out simple rule-based vision. He also describes real-time PLC integration, so that the line controller can act on a result immediately, and the ability to reject a single product at high rates without stopping the line.

Rainer Brehm, chief operating officer for Automation and chief technology officer at Siemens Digital Industries, is quoted on the system delivering full inspection accuracy for thousands of products per minute, and on scaling from one line to a global footprint.

The supplier behind the platform

Siemens issued the announcement from Munich on 16 September, with P&G's Paul Thomas quoted alongside Siemens' Rainer Brehm. Siemens reports fiscal 2025 revenue of EUR 78.9 billion, net income of EUR 10.4 billion and about 318,000 employees. Siemens supplies the Industrial Edge platform on which VIC runs, and P&G is both customer and co-developer.

The scrap reductions are a range, 10 to 20 percent depending on the product. The commissioning claim carries the rollout. Standing up an inspection point five to ten times faster than a bespoke vision project lets P&G put the system on more lines, and the companies present that speed as the reason a global programme is workable.

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• FANUC and Hitachi team up to put learning robots into real production

Sources

• Siemens press release: Siemens and Procter & Gamble roll out AI-based quality inspection worldwide, 16 September 2026