Rockwell Automation has partnered with Microsoft to develop advanced cloud and AI solutions for manufacturing customers by combining its industrial automation expertise with Microsoft's cloud and AI capabilities.

The collaboration integrates Microsoft's Azure IoT Operations with Rockwell's FactoryTalk Optix to enable manufacturers to capture shop-floor data insights. Additionally, Rockwell introduced FactoryTalk Design Studio Copilot, powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, for PLC code creation and launched an AI-powered Food & Beverage model using Microsoft's Phi-3 small language models.

The partnership aims to help manufacturers improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, and increase productivity by combining Rockwell's industrial automation expertise with Microsoft's cloud and AI capabilities.

Analyst QuickTake: Over the last year, Rockwell Automation has been steadily expanding the capabilities of its industrial automation platform through integrations with Microsoft, particularly in the realm of AI. Last October , the company integrated Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service into its FactoryTalk Design Studio. It went on to integrate its edge and cloud solutions, Plex manufacturing execution system (MES) and DataMosaix, its factory data analytics solution, with Microsoft's Cloud for Manufacturing, in April .