Speaking at AIST’s inaugural Digital Transformation Forum for the Steel Industry on Thursday, Pratt, whose firm provides supercomputing power to Big River Steel, argued that a focus on tons per hour leads to bottlenecks and actually stalls profits flowing through a mill.  

But through artificial intelligence and the deep pools of real-world data on which it relies, it’s possible to discern patterns and correlations that were previously invisible. In turn, operators can make decisions that accelerate revenue growth by precisely synchronizing production with demand and improving on-time delivery.

“We think putting artificial intelligence to work is the key to profit flow,” he said.