Empowering smart manufacturing and innovation with AI PCs
A leading automotive subsidiary sought to equip its 30,000+ workforce across engineering, manufacturing and corporate functions for a data-intensive, AI-driven future. Partnering with HCLTech, Intel and Dell, the organization deployed Dell AI PCs powered by Intel® Core™ Ultra processors with integrated NPUs, alongside Intel vPro® platform capabilities. HCLTech led a multi-phase rollout emphasizing persona-driven planning, zero-touch deployment and AI enablement. The initiative delivered real-time insights at the edge, streamlined IT operations and fostered cross-functional collaboration—driving efficiency, innovation and sustainability across factory floors and corporate offices.
The Challenge
The client faced several interrelated challenges like:
- Supporting data-intensive workloads for simulations and predictive maintenance
- Enabling local AI inferencing to keep sensitive data on-premises
- Ensuring real-time insights in manufacturing operations
- Optimizing IT management for a hybrid workforce spread across multiple sites
- Fostering seamless collaboration across distributed teams
- Legacy devices and manual provisioning processes led to slow rollout times
- Reliance on cloud-only AI models raised latency, cost and compliance concerns
- Ensuring hardware security, device stability and scalable management at scale was critical
The Objective
- Enable real-time analytics and productivity across engineering, design and factory operations with local AI inference
- Optimize IT operations by implementing remote management, automated provisioning and streamlined patching
- Minimize dependency on cloud for sensitive AI workloads by leveraging on-device inferencing
- Enhance collaboration across distributed teams through intelligent productivity tools (e.g., Microsoft Copilot)
- Align device strategy with sustainability and total cost of ownership (TCO) goals, ensuring the right configurations per persona
The Solution
Dell Latitude and Precision AI PCs powered by Intel® Core™ Ultra processors with integrated NPUs, coupled with Intel vPro® for hardware-enhanced security and manageability, formed the foundation. HCLTech orchestrated a persona-driven, multi-phase rollout:
- Persona-based planning: Telemetry-driven mapping of job roles to optimal device configurations (CPU/GPU balance, battery life considerations)
- Zero-touch deployment: Leveraging Intel Endpoint Management Assistant (EMA) for remote provisioning, asset tracking and automated patching across hybrid locations
- Local AI enablement: Integrating Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 with on-device inferencing to accelerate simulations, document summarization and generative design annotations without exposing sensitive data externally
- Edge AI integration: Deployed edge AI agents on factory systems for real-time anomaly detection, quality checks and machine diagnostics. HCLTech conducted live sandbox sessions and “AI in a day” workshops to drive adoption
- Training and change management: Role-specific training tracks for engineers, operations staff, IT teams, HR and finance, ensuring hands-on experience with AI PC capabilities and new workflows
- Phased rollout and support: Coordinated deployment of over 8,000 Dell AI PCs across plants, R&D centers and offices with minimal disruption; provided ongoing support and feedback loops to refine configurations and usage
The Impact
- Provisioning time reduced by up to 15% with out-of-the-box AI PC readiness
- Downtime decreased at monitored stations through real-time anomaly detection and predictive maintenance
- Simulation cycles shortened by 15–20% using on-device inferencing and copilot-enhanced workflows
- Copilot adoption increased within 90 days, boosting cross-functional productivity
- Edge cloud dependency reduced by offloading 5–10% of AI workloads locally, improving data compliance and reducing costs
- Support ticket volume dropped by 5–10% due to reduced break-fix
Intel services used
- Intel® Core™ Ultra Processors with Integrated NPUs
- Intel vPro® Platform
- Intel Endpoint Management Assistant (EMA)
- Intel Hardware Security Technologies
- Intel-optimized Edge AI solutions
- Intel Developer and partner university resources
