Google Cloud for manufacturing

As a Google Cloud customer, you own your customer data. We implement stringent security measures to safeguard your customer data and provide you with tools and features to control it on your terms. We similarly secure any service data generated through providing the services; service data itself is critical to help ensure security and availability. Learn more about this through our Privacy Resource Center.

No. Our platform is built on a foundation of openness and choice, designed to support your multi-cloud or hybrid strategy. We believe you should be able to run your applications where they make the most sense for your business, without being locked into a single vendor.

We provide a consistent platform that allows you to build an application once and run it anywhere—in your own data center, on Google Cloud, or even on other public clouds. This gives you the flexibility to use the best technology for the job while managing all your operations from a single control plane.

No, in fact, we recommend the opposite. The most successful transformations start by focusing on a single, high-impact business problem.

Our approach is to partner with you to identify a specific challenge—like reducing unplanned downtime on a critical production line or improving demand forecasting for a new product—and deliver a fast, measurable win. This allows you to prove the value of the technology quickly and build momentum for a broader transformation at a pace that makes sense for your business, not ours.

An AI agent is a specialized digital worker that you can build and assign to a specific business goal. Unlike traditional AI which only provides insights, an agent takes autonomous, multi-step action to solve a problem.

Google Cloud enables you to create these agents securely, grounded in your own company's data. For example:

• For operations (diagnostics agent): An agent can be tasked to “diagnose Machine 7.” It can analyze live sensor data, instantly find the right page in a complex service manual, and deliver step-by-step repair instructions to an operator's tablet.
• For product innovation (engineering assistant agent): An agent can help an R&D engineer who asks, “Find all approved polymers that meet these specific stress tolerances and are compliant with EU regulations.” The agent can instantly search millions of pages of internal spec sheets and public compliance documents to provide a concise, accurate answer in seconds—a task that could take a human hours.

No. Our goal is to empower your existing experts—your mechanical engineers, plant managers, and supply chain planners—not to require you to hire a new team of data scientists.

We provide a spectrum of tools, including many low-code and no-code solutions, that allow your current teams to build powerful applications and gain insights from data using a simple, intuitive interface. For more complex needs, our platform streamlines the work for data professionals, but our core philosophy is to make AI accessible and useful for the people who know your business best.

This is a core challenge for modern manufacturing. Google Cloud provides an intelligent data platform that acts as a secure bridge between your Information Technology (IT), Operational Technology (OT), and Engineering Technology (ET) systems, without requiring you to replace these valuable investments.

Using secure connectors and APIs, we unify this data, allowing you to:

• Connect engineering with operations: Your engineering teams (ET) can access real-time performance data from the factory floor (OT) to design more reliable products.
• Link operations to business systems: Your business applications (IT) can receive live production data from factory operations (OT), leading to more accurate inventory control and realistic customer delivery timelines.
• Create a complete digital thread: You can build a holistic view of a product’s entire lifecycle, from its initial design file (ET) and production history (OT) to its final sales and service record.

Our approach is to use AI to solve specific, high-cost operational problems. We help you create a more connected and sustainable operation by turning data from your existing factory systems into measurable outcomes.

For example, our platform allows you to:

• Predict equipment failures: Use AI to analyze live sensor data and perform predictive maintenance, turning costly unplanned downtime into scheduled, low-disruption service windows.
• Improve quality control: Deploy computer vision on your assembly line to automatically detect product defects that are nearly invisible to the human eye, reducing scrap and warranty costs.
• Optimize energy consumption: Analyze data from across your facilities to identify opportunities to reduce energy waste, helping you lower costs and meet sustainability goals.

We help you build a strong business case by shifting the focus from large, upfront capital expenses to measurable operational outcomes. Instead of just "moving to the cloud," we partner with you to solve a specific, high-cost problem first.

This allows you to prove the value quickly by demonstrating tangible returns, such as:

• Reduced operational costs from less unplanned downtime and lower energy consumption.
• Decreased cost of quality by using AI to catch defects on the line, leading to less scrap and fewer warranty claims.
• Improved engineering efficiency by giving your teams tools that accelerate product development and testing cycles.