Event focuses on AI and manufacturing in Yakima County - Yakima Herald-Republic

To kick off its push to strengthen and increase manufacturing in Central Washington, the Yakima County Development Association hosted a roundtable discussion that showcased new ways to make production more effective and efficient.

A large portion of the June 30 event at Perry Technical Institute was a presentation from Simon Floyd, Microsoft’s general manager of manufacturing and mobility, who talked about practical applications for artificial intelligence in manufacturing.

Thanks to AI, today's technology has advanced from relatively simple tasks such as machine learning or repetitive robotic maneuvers to using AI agents and robots that can solve problems which occur during production.

While some might worry about human jobs being lost to automation, Floyd said what will change is the type of work humans must do, with occupations such as data scientists becoming important.

“The results you get from AI are only as good as the data they are trained to find and use,” Floyd told about 60 people attending the YCDA event. “The robots in your factories today are completely out of date. The good news is they can be upgraded.”

Other speakers at the roundtable event included Kirk Davis, executive director of the Center for Advanced Manufacturing Puget Sound — an organization that is expanding into the Yakima Valley to bring ideas and success to the manufacturing community here, Davis said.

Programs offered by CAMPS include workforce and leadership development, access to capital through its Capital Accelerator program, and the CAMPS Health Trust, which allows companies to lower and stabilize their costs.

Jonathan Smith, YCDA executive director, said local manufacturers have expressed the need for opportunities to collaborate and share best practices, and the partnership with CAMPS meets that need and provides additional benefits.

Smith added that like agriculture, manufacturing products are sold outside the Yakima Valley community, bringing in dollars.

“Of all the businesses in the community, manufacturing has an outsized impact on economic development,” he said.

Using AI in manufacturing

Floyd, the keynote speaker at the June 30 roundtable, noted that he is an Australia native who has lived and worked in America for 30 years.

“I worked in a country that lost its manufacturing industry” to focus on tourism and other sectors of the economy, Floyd said of Australia. “You don’t want that to happen here.”

Between the cost and the constant innovations that come to AI almost monthly, Floyd said it’s easy for manufacturers to be cautious and hesitant about embracing the new technology. That would be a mistake, he said.

Floyd said reasons to begin using the practical, everyday tools of AI with existing production and software include:

• An aging, tightening workforce

• Margin and cost pressures

• Hard-to-fill roles

• Volatile demand and quality expectations

“With AI, over a 12-month period we’ve gone from addressing issues of fear and uncertainty to acceptance and discussions about how to target AI technologies,” Floyd said of his clients.

He noted the three types of AI: machine learning, AI agents and physical AI, with all three bringing value to the manufacturing process.

“Physical AI will be the new tech battleground … but those three work better together,” Floyd said.

Machine learning can predict what’s coming, an AI agent can decide what to do, and then physical AI can carry out the decision, he added.

For example, fruit production facilities already use an array of cameras, scanners and other equipment to find deformities and judge the quality of individual apples and other fruit.

Now, robots can be trained to act on that data, packaging some fruit, rejecting others and all the while learning to solve problems encountered during the process, Floyd said.

Various models are available, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Mistral, xAI Grok, DeepSeek and others, with each model having strengths in different areas and tasks.

For all the new technology available, manufacturers still must gauge if the costs are worthwhile in the short and long term, Floyd said.

“Are you using AI in high value ways, or are you using it in duplicate efforts of someone else?” he asked. “We can get a little drunk on the technology. When should you use it when it can be productive for you, and at what amount of money?”

Yakima Manufacturing Initiative

Floyd’s presentation, along with other discussions and a tour of the Adventurer RV manufacturing facility in Union Gap, were part of the YCDA’s Yakima Manufacturing Initiative.

The event brought together manufacturers, industry partners, workforce organizations, educators and economic development leaders to discuss opportunities, challenges and the future of manufacturing in Yakima County and the Central Washington region, the YCDA’s Smith said.

He noted that the initiative is designed to go beyond a single event.

Future programing is expected to include CEO forums, manufacturing mixers, plant tours, more educational roundtables and leadership development opportunities tailored to the needs of Central Washington manufacturers.

“Manufacturing remains a critical driver of the Central Washington economy,” Smith added. “By bringing manufacturers together and fostering cooperation across the region, the initiative seeks to support long-term competitiveness, innovation and growth.”

For more information, visit the YCDA website, chooseyakimavalley.com, or contact Smith at 509-575-1140 or jon@ycda.com.