Volkswagen and AWS Extend AI Factory Cloud for Production
The Volkswagen Group is accelerating vehicle production for an AI-powered future, extending its collaboration with Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) on the Digital Production Platform (DPP). This factory cloud supports automotive manufacturing for an additional five years. The Group utilises the DPP to deploy AI and advanced IT systems across its global production sites, which makes manufacturing more flexible and efficient, lowers IT costs, and shortens the time to market for new models.
Originally an industrial partner network, Volkswagen and AWS have developed the DPP into a core digital link that connects order intake, logistics and manufacturing, ensuring seamless data flows along the entire process chain. This integrated data foundation enables the widespread use of AI, a strategic priority for the company. It allows Volkswagen to roll out standardised solutions across its factories.
Across the Volkswagen Group, 43 sites in Europe, North America and South America already connect to the DPP, supporting smart manufacturing at scale. The Group operates a total of 114 production facilities worldwide.
“Our ambition is to become the global automotive tech driver. To achieve this, we are digitally connecting all areas of our company. Our goal is to bring products and technologies to our customers even faster. The Digital Production Platform plays a key role in this: it is the digital nervous system of our factories – and the key to a future of AI-powered production,” said Hauke Stars, Member of the Board of Management for IT at the Volkswagen Group.
Volkswagen can now roll out key IT systems for production and logistics uniformly across all factories connected to the DPP. One example, called “Guided Vehicle Completion”, is a digitisation that optimises coordination of complex processes in vehicle assembly and is already in use at 13 plants across Volkswagen, Audi and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.
AWS provides high availability and scalability, allowing Volkswagen to host production-critical systems in the cloud and reduce the risk of line stoppages. Standardised systems across sites have been further enhanced, and the Group is already seeing medium-term savings in the double-digit million range. At the same time, central standards create a unified, cross-functional data foundation that enables more consistent use of technologies such as AI. For example, with 'KI4UPS', Volkswagen leverages AI to assist assembly line teams with software deployment for vehicles, enabling them to pinpoint potential electronic issues more swiftly. This leads to a substantial reduction in Volkswagen’s manual workload.
The Group now uses more than 1,200 AI applications, extending well beyond production. Using innovative AWS services such as Amazon SageMaker, Volkswagen trains AI models and builds industrial computer vision use cases that improve quality control and deliver cost savings. These AI applications also support sustainability. At the Poznań, Poland, plant,optimisesple, AI optimises electricity consumption, reducing energy costs by 12 per cent alongside a decrease in CO₂ emissions.
With the DPP, Volkswagen lays the groundwork for data-driven improvements in manufacturing efficiency, including predictive maintenance and remote monitoring of quality assurance processes. At German sites such as Wolfsburg and Ingolstadt, AI systems perform real-time image analysis during production to ensure that every component is accurately fitted to each vehicle’s configuration, enabling faster detection and immediate correction of potential errors.
Continuous data availability throughout the manufacturing process enables quicker decisions and more flexible production adjustments, especially when responding to short-term supply chain disruptions. Cybersecurity and the digital resilience of systems are centralised through standardised guidelines and a unified data foundation provided by the DPP.
“Our high-performance vehicle production is a key driver of success for the Volkswagen Group and its brands,” said Christian Vollmer, Member of the Brand Board of Management of Volkswagen for Production and Logistics and Member of the Extended Group Executive Committee. “By more closely integrating development and manufacturing through a shared, AI-capable data structure, we are creating the conditions to bring our vehicles to customers even faster.”
Volkswagen is now preparing for software-defined vehicles as it advances the DPP. Next-generation models will have most functionalities managed and updated through software, and the DPP will play a key role by enabling software deployment directly during manufacturing. This capability will be shaped by the Volkswagen Group’s joint venture with Rivian Automotive, which is developing the next-generation electronics architecture and vehicle software. AI solutions already developed, such as KI4UPS and their data models, can be adapted to the future electronics architecture, allowing Volkswagen to benefit from the joint venture’s rapid development cycles within its production environment.
"Volkswagen Group is setting new standards for smart manufacturing," said Kathrin Renz, Vice President of AWS Industries. "Our five-year extended collaboration combines AWS's cloud infrastructure and purpose-built IoT and machine learning services with Volkswagen's manufacturing expertise. Together, we're fast-tracking AI solutions that will help unlock new levels of innovation throughout Volkswagen Group’s manufacturing operations."
In the medium to long term, Volkswagen intends for the DPP to represent a significant portion of its production system. At the same time, the platform provides the foundation for forward-looking industrial developments and remains compatible with industry-wide standards such as Catena-X.