Mechatronics: companies called upon to ‘consolidate’ data

Artificial intelligence has burst onto the scene in the race for business competitiveness. It is not just about analysing product images to detect defects or machine data to identify process deviations. Today, manufacturing companies are increasingly looking to integrate generative or physical AI algorithms into their systems – algorithms capable of managing workflows, from design to production, with a high degree of autonomy supervised by humans. Confirmation of this trend comes from one of the most innovative and creative sectors within Italian manufacturing: mechatronics, which is the subject of an in-depth annual analysis by the Antares economic research centre in Forlì and the Mechatronics Group of Confindustria Reggio Emilia.

This year, Antares has focused specifically on the dynamics brought about by the boom in generative and physical AI which, as Lorenzo Ciapetti, director of the centre, observes, ‘is shifting the value of mechatronic products from functionality – that is, from the machine itself – to the intelligence that governs it’. It is a trend we are also seeing take hold in industry more broadly, where there is increasing talk of “software-defined factory”, or ‘software-defined factory’ , to describe how production sites are increasing their efficiency and productivity not only through the machinery used, but above all thanks to AI algorithms capable of harmonising the functions of the various software systems that manage the manufacturing enterprise, from CAD to MES, from ERP to business management systems. In this scenario, data is the starting point for technological transformation.

So what is happening in the mechatronics sector? We are talking about a sector comprising around 33,000 companies and just under a million employees across Italia, with a production value of over 360 billion. These are the figures compiled by Antares last year. However, the survey for 2026 took a more qualitative approach, examining the content of thousands of hybrid mechatronics and AI patents, as well as surveying a select panel of companies in the Reggio Emilia area, chosen for their technological capabilities. The resulting picture demonstrates, as Ciapetti says, ‘AI is already very much present, but often in a hidden and unorganised way, in the form of “shadow AI”, that is, applications adopted spontaneously by individual staff members via platforms such as ChatGPT, Copilot or Gemini, without a structured corporate strategy to govern their use. Its use is mainly concentrated in administrative, sales and marketing functions. The presence of a structured corporate policy or a dedicated business strategy is rarer, though by no means absent.”

However, the responses from the companies in the sample studied by Antares point to some interesting trends. All are experimenting with different ways of using artificial intelligence, and the majority have pilot projects underway, in limited areas, to assess the investment required and obtain a concrete measure of the returns – something that is always difficult to quantify with an intangible technology such as AI. Competitive pressure is the primary driver behind this move. “For companies,” says Ciapetti, “the ability to use these tools will be a decisive factor in the coming years. But a significant challenge is also emerging: the quantity and value of the data available to our SMEs in the sector are often insufficient to train and operate the models.”

This gives rise to the need to ‘pool’ data, sharing it whilst combining the capabilities and expertise of several companies in the sector that wish to collaborate, whilst ensuring that control and ownership of the datasets are retained. “This is the path that can enable the Italian mechatronics sector to compete in the use of AI in a market dominated by China and the United States,” observes Ciapetti. There are already examples at European level, such as the Catena-X initiative, in which major automotive groups have decided to ‘federate’ their data to enhance the outputs of artificial intelligence.