Automation And Energy How Delta Wants to Make Smart Manufacturing And Buildings Autonomous Through AI

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At the Hannover Messe (Germany), Taiwanese electronics specialist Delta is showing how artificial intelligence controls production and air conditions buildings. With strong business figures and new research centers, the Group is also underpinning its growth strategy.

Delta's presence at the trade fair essentially revolves around the fusion of the virtual and physical worlds. For example, Delta uses Nvidia's Omniverse platform for its Diatwin system to create digital twins. Or a circuit board assembly system works live with its digital image. This setup enables engineers to simulate and validate the entire production process in physical models before the real machine performs the first operation.

Real data from ongoing production flows directly into the virtual models. The system checks created production sequences in advance for possible collisions between the tools and iteratively adjusts the movements. Such digital images form the basic prerequisite for the use of self-learning algorithms. Michael Mayer-Rosa, Senior Director for Industrial Automation, points to the rapid rise of humanoid robots. In Germany alone, there are now 117 manufacturers of such machines. In order to control these complex systems efficiently, AI is required, which in turn relies on data. "How does AI work if it has no digital information? You need a copy of reality in the digital world," explains Mayer-Rosa. The aim is for the systems to be autonomous. "We can only set the guidelines. In future, the machine will be able to make its own decisions based on the history and information packages."

AI Reduces Energy Requirements in Buildings

Delta is increasingly transferring this predictive principle from the factory floor to modern offices. Instead of only starting up an air conditioning system when the sun's rays have already heated up a room, algorithms calculate the heat input in advance. The system proactively adjusts blinds and cooling. This approach avoids high consumption peaks when the compressors start up and significantly reduces energy requirements.

In order to keep pace technologically, the company is investing heavily in its own development sites. In 2025, Delta increased its global turnover by 36% to 17.8 billion US dollars. Between eight and ten percent of this revenue flows directly back into research. The Group is currently massively expanding its capacities in Germany alone: In addition to the existing robotics competence center in Stuttgart and a location for wireless energy transmission in Amberg (Germany), a new center for electromobility and AI data centers with 500 engineers will start operations in May. Another location for IT infrastructure will follow in June in Drammen, Norway.

Responses to Volatile Energy Markets

Dalip Sharma, President and Managing Director of Delta Electronics EMEA, believes that the industry is currently being challenged by three factors: A shortage of skilled workers, volatile energy markets and data security. When it comes to industrial AI in particular, Sharma warns against careless action, as companies are reluctant to move sensitive data to external clouds. "Data is the new gold or the new oil," emphasizes Sharma. "We help our customers set up edge data centers in smart factories to ensure that data stays where it should."

Delta also relies on local independence for its power supply. "Relying solely on the central power grid today is another business risk," says Sharma. The company is therefore equipping smart factories and AI data centers with decentralized energy infrastructure. Plants that produce hydrogen are equipped with liquid-cooled power supplies that react flexibly to fluctuations in the grid. Energy-intensive companies can rely on solid oxide fuel cells. These generate electricity directly on the factory premises and safeguard operations.

Delta will also be showcasing modular solid-state transformers with an efficiency of 98.5 percent, which efficiently meet the extreme energy demands of modern data centers. Delta is also demonstrating that its efficiency efforts are having an impact internally with a milestone: the company says it is already working entirely with renewable energy throughout the EMEA region.(mc)

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