Canada: Five projects and $16.6 million in artificial intelligence investments for SCALE AI

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Canada: Five projects and $16.6 million in artificial intelligence investments for SCALE AI

SCALE AI, a Canadian super cluster specializing in artificial intelligence based in Montréal, has unveiled the five projects selected, totalling $16.6 million in investments. From quality control to transportation asset optimization to diagnostic tools for truck maintenance, these five projects demonstrate the diversity of AI applications. With a direct contribution of $6.68 million, including $4.04 million from the Government of Canada and $2.63 million from the Government of Quebec, SCALE AI hopes to play a leveraging role in accelerating the deployment of AI within Canadian companies.

The five projects represent investments of $16.6 million:

AI-powered pricing

Partners: Couche-Tard, Thirdbridge, Ivado Labs
SCALE AI Investment: $2.3M
Total investment: $5.7 million

The aim of the project will be to optimise pricing according to consumer demand and behaviour. The solution will also take into account the reaction of competition and market conditions.

Alex Miller, Senior Vice President, Business Optimization: “ La Analytical capability and speed of action are at the heart of our ability to meet consumer expectations to maintain our market positioning. Artificial intelligence allows us to improve our performance based on reliable data. It’s a win-win situation for us as well as for our clients .

Improving the supply chain for truck servicing

Partners: Transports Trimac, Preteckt, McGill University
SCALE AI investment: $1.4M
Total investment: $5 million

This project aims to develop a suite of algorithms to predict otherwise unexpected truck breakdowns and their causes. These algorithms will use data generated during normal truck operation, including engine, brake and tire subsystems.
Ken Trickey, Director of Innovation and Integration, Trimac Transportation: “Unplanned truck breakdowns have a significant impact on our operations and customer service. Beyond repair costs, reorganizing transportation and managing delays takes time and energy without providing added value to our customers. »
Sasha Kucharczyk, Chief Operating Officer and co-founder, Preteckt: “Preteckt is pleased to develop new diagnostic tools that will enable more relevant and accurate maintenance operations, which will reduce unplanned breakdowns and further improve truck reliability while reducing operating costs. »

AI Improvement of the Order Life Cycle

Partners: Bell Business Markets, Inmind Technologies, Maxa AI, MSI, Loblaws Group, Ausenco Engineering Canada
SCALE AI Investment: $1.2M
Total investment: $2.4 million

Bell Business Markets (BMA) offers a wide range of communications technologies to Canadian businesses, including broadband connectivity over fibre. To meet market expectations, the project aims to reduce installation time for new optical connections by accelerating several steps in the supply chain with artificial intelligence solutions.
Ariel Quintin, VP Sales and Services Transformation BMA: “ Bell is one of the largest R&D investors in Canada and we are proud to collaborate with Scale AI to facilitate access to the best connectivity technologies for businesses canadiennes ”.
Jérémie Farret, VP Advanced Analytics and AI at Inmind Technologies: “ Inmind is pleased to put its expertise in AI and its hardware acceleration solution Mind in a Box™ to the benefit of this innovative collaborative project, which is a great opportunity for the Canadian economy. »

Optimization of transportation assets

Partners: Ray-Mont, Argus Transport
SCALE AI Investment: $0.9M
Total investment: $1.8 million

The Ares.AI project aims at developing a decision support system based on Artificial Intelligence for the optimization of Ray-Mont Logistics’ transport assets. Transport assets include a fleet of trucks, truckers, chassis and rails. Road transportation planning will allow Ray-Mont and its partners, such as Argus Transport, to reduce expenses, eliminate bottlenecks, reduce empty runs and improve asset utilization. In terms of rail transportation, the project is expected to minimize switch changes, car movements and operational delays related to rail management at Ray-Mont’s terminals and those of its railway partners.
Luke Mireault, Vice-President and Chief Innovation Officer: “ Ray-Mont has always believed in innovation and cutting-edge technologies to distinguish itself. It was natural for us to embark on artificial intelligence projects. We hope to take advantage of our data to develop solutions that will improve our efficiency and customer satisfaction. »

Demand forecasts for spare parts

Partners: Bombardier, Traxxall
Scale AI Investment: $0.8M
Total investment: $1.7 million

The research and development project partners are using AI models to better predict the demand for aircraft maintenance spare parts. This will reduce the risk of supply shocks and benefit both suppliers and customers along the supply chain.
Jean-Christophe Gallagher, Executive Vice President, Services and Support and Corporate Strategy at Bombardier: “We want to improve the accuracy of our algorithms to work even more efficiently. This project is part of our long-term vision to become a pillar of artificial intelligence in the aerospace industry”.
Scott Henderson, CEO of TRAXXALL: “ Nos Precise, high-quality data from hundreds of Bombardier aircraft are giving substance to our vision. Our important contribution supports our partners in the development of state-of-the-art artificial intelligence applications in the “real world”. »

The Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, said :

“The artificial intelligence sector is a long-term growth driver because it provides Canadians with quality, well-paying jobs. With projects such as those announced today, Scale AI is making a significant contribution to supporting the artificial intelligence sector in Canada and enabling companies to compete internationally. »

The Minister of the Economy and Innovation, Pierre Fitzgibbon, said :

“Artificial intelligence has the potential to accelerate the development of businesses, and we are fortunate in Québec to be able to count on a solid ecosystem of world-renowned researchers in this key sector. That is why we will continue to support business establishment initiatives that, like those of Scale AI, improve the cohesion and competitiveness of our champions in this field. »

While Julien Billot, Executive Director of SCALE AI, said :

“ Certains thought the pandemic would slow down AI projects and investments. After the first few weeks, on the contrary, there is a sense of urgency to act. Companies want to equip themselves to perform better quickly and be able to emerge stronger from this crisis. By supporting strategic investments for their modernization, SCALE AI plays its role as a lever and accelerator to contribute to the success of companies here, in AI and in all secteurs ”.

Hélène Desmarais, Co-Chair of the SCALE AI Board of Directors, added :

“ Chaque cohort of projects reflects the needs of organizations in all sectors for concrete applications of AI. The understanding of AI’s capabilities to find solutions to concrete and specific supply chain issues has taken an incredible leap forward. This is encouraging both for companies that are accelerating the process of integrating AI to boost their productivity and competitiveness, and for Canada’s growing AI ecosystem. »

Translated from Canada : cinq projets et 16,6 millions de dollars d’investissements en intelligence artificielle pour SCALE AI