Volvo to use AI in decarbonisation drive

Volvo Buses aims to have a fully decarbonised supply chain by 2040. The manufacturer and its suppliers plan to use artificial intelligence (AI) to help achieve this.

As a first step in AI use, Volvo plans to take data from its own systems and gather all the details on each supplier and their respective part or component in a bus or coach. This will be combined with data from external environmental databases, to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions of each material included in the parts. Once all this information is collected into one system, AI will be used to generate suggestions on how each supplier can reduce their greenhouse gases. It will also give proposals for parts that can be exchanged and replaced with lower emission alternatives.

“AI will give us solid fact-based information and accurate data that we can then analyse and act on” – Kitty Muffolini, SVP Purchasing at Volvo Buses

Kitty Muffolini, SVP Purchasing at Volvo Buses, said: “AI will give us solid fact-based information and accurate data that we can then analyse and act on. We can also see carbon hotspots, making it easier to prioritize activities in collaboration with our supplier partners.”

The AI tool will be introduced stepwise and is expected to be fully operational by the beginning of 2025. The ambition going forward is to use AI-based insights as a basis for discussions with each supplier. Together with Volvo Buses, a decarbonisation roadmap with set activities will be created and followed up over time.

“This will be a tool for everyone working with purchasing within Volvo Buses and Volvo Group,” says Kitty Muffolini. “It will be used to initiate discussions and be transparent together with the supplier. We are totally convinced that they have the same ambitions as us and that collaboration is the way forward to reduce greenhouse gases.”

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