The winners of the 2026 Microsoft Intelligent Manufacturing Award (MIMA) have just been announced. The prestigious award is now in its seventh year of recognizing pioneering solutions that are shaping the future of the manufacturing industry. The winners were once again selected by a high-profile jury of experts from industry, academia and the consultancy sector. The award, presented by Microsoft Germany in cooperation with the strategy consultancy Roland Berger, honors innovative teams and solutions, which are showcased at www.MIMAwinners2026.com.
Outstanding projects were sought in the categories Innovate!, Scale!, Add Value!, Disrupt!, Sustainability!, and SME!, as well as the overall winner of MIMA 2026. Since November, companies from across the EMEA economic region had been invited to submit their digital solutions for the manufacturing, process, construction, and automotive industries.
A total of 15 finalists from nine nations qualified during the application phase to present their projects at the Pitch Day on February 24. Following intensive evaluations and in-depth discussions, the MIMA jury selected seven projects that stood out for their exceptional innovative strength and their potential to significantly advance digital transformation in their respective industries. Almost all of the solutions honored with the MIMA 2026 are based on artificial intelligence (AI).
“Artificial intelligence is the key driver of industrial transformation and will determine how competitive the industry will be tomorrow,” says Gabriele Eder, General Manager of Manufacturing at Microsoft Germany.
„With the Microsoft Intelligent Manufacturing Award 2026, we are highlighting solutions that are not only technologically leading but are already delivering measurable value today. The award-winning companies demonstrate how AI helps advance efficiency, transparency, resilience, and sustainability simultaneously – thereby enabling fast, robust business results.“
„Artificial intelligence has moved beyond pilots and is now delivering real value on the factory floor,” says Jochen Gleisberg, Partner at Roland Berger and member of the expert jury. “The MIMA 2026 winners show how industrial companies are putting AI to work to fundamentally rethink their operations. Success is not about the technology itself, but about measurable impact: faster decisions, more resilient processes, and clear productivity gains.“
These are the winners of the Microsoft Intelligent Manufacturing Award 2026 in the various categories:
The winners of the Microsoft Intelligent Manufacturing Award 2026. © Roland Berger.
AUMOVIO (Germany): Driving industrial innovation with internal AI hub (“Innovate!”)
German automotive supplier AUMOVIO’s internally developed AI platform integrates artificial intelligence directly into employees’ digital work environments. The platform enables teams to analyze documents, generate content, conduct research and automate workflows while interacting with specialized AI agents directly within their existing tools and systems. Through the AUMOVIO AI hub, employees can access or create AI-powered agents tailored to specific tasks. For example, it supports software developers in checking compliance with coding guidelines, helps purchasing teams analyze and assess contracts, and assists maintenance teams in diagnosing technical failures in manufacturing environments. With more than 1,500 AI agents deployed and over 21,000 users worldwide, the AUMOVIO AI hub helps simplify complex industrial processes, accelerate access to knowledge and increase productivity across the organization.
From insight to impact: AUMOVIO’s AI hub brings AI directly into daily workflows – accelerating decisions, automating complexity, and boosting productivity across industrial operations. © AUMOVIO.
Yara International and Kongsberg Digital (Norway): Intelligent digital twin – a unified, real-time workspace for industrial decision-making (“Add Value!”)
Kongsberg Digital’s Industrial Work Surface provides Yara Porsgrunn’s maintenance, operations, and engineering teams with industrial intelligence software that creates an exact replica of their production plant and its processes. The solution is built from high-resolution 3D scans, 3D models, the entire functional location structure, half a million documents, and 25 years of maintenance data – all connected and contextualized in a user-friendly web interface. It enables remote collaboration, faster decision‑making, and a clearer view of what matters. For Yara employees, this is a new way of working – it means a simpler, faster, and more precise workday by providing ‘right-time’ data at their fingertips, site-wise and in context. The goal is to ensure that no data is lost and that it is quickly and easily accessible to those who need it, from the frontline to the boardroom. This ensures the lifecycle of dynamic data in the transition from the project phase into operations and maintenance. The result is significant time savings, improved reliability, and higher productivity.
A unified industrial work surface that brings together plant data, documents, and operational context—enabling remote collaboration, faster decisions, and more reliable operations at scale. © Kongsberg / Yaraht. © Kongsberg / Yara.
Tetra Pak (Switzerland): Tetra Pak® Factory OS™ is unifying factory data to accelerate digital transformation at scale (“Scale!”)
Tetra Pak® Factory OS™ is a suite of modular, open and scalable smart factory technologies designed for food and beverage production. By unifying automation, data and analytics into a consistent, factory‑wide operating environment, it connects equipment regardless of age or supplier, transforming fragmented factory data into a unified, contextualized, real-time view. Deployable across sites with varying levels of digital maturity, Tetra Pak® Factory OS™ strengthens operational performance, accelerates digital transformation at scale and opens new growth opportunities by bringing coherence, repeatability and intelligence to end‑to‑end factory operations. Built with security-by-design and layered defenses to mitigate risks to operations and data amid today’s heightened cyber security landscape, it provides an AI-ready foundation that turns real-time data into contextualized insights for faster, smarter decisions.
Tetra Pak® Factory OS™ enables smarter, faster decision-making in food and beverage production. © Tetra Pak.
EssilorLuxottica (France / Italy): Digital Product Passport solution for eyewear (“Disrupt!”)
Addressing the growing demand for authenticity and transparency in the market, EssilorLuxottica – a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of advanced vision care products, eyewear and med-tech solutions – has developed Digital Product Passport for eyewear. Through an interactive platform, consumers will be able to access a product’s dedicated Digital Passport and explore detailed information about its specifications, journey, brand heritage, and sustainability insights, supporting greater transparency and anticipating upcoming EU regulations. The solution made its debut with the latest collection from Alain Mikli and will be progressively rolled out across the company’s global brand portfolio.
A digital product passport for eyewear, showing how consumers can access verified product information, origin details, and sustainability data via a connected digital interface. © EssilorLuxottica
tesa (Germany): AI platform orchestrates energy operation towards climate neutral production at minimal cost (“Sustainability!”)
As industrial sites face rising energy price volatility and increasing pressure to decarbonize, AI is becoming a key enabler for smarter, more resilient energy operations. tesa, international manufacturer of innovative adhesive tapes and self-adhesive product solutions, has developed a modular AI platform for energy operation, planning, and procurement. It forecasts energy flows and autonomously optimizes on-site assets to reduce both emissions and costs on the path toward climate-neutral production by 2030. Already live at three German production sites, the solution connects and monitors energy data globally, and optimizes the dispatch of combined heat and power (CHP) units and electric boilers in the day-ahead market. In addition, tesa is piloting active flexibility trading to further unlock system benefits. Strategically, the platform strengthens tesa’s energy transformation by turning energy management into a scalable, data-driven capability that supports operational excellence, improves cost competitiveness, and accelerates measurable progress toward the company’s climate targets.
The Energy Intelligence platform connects energy markets, site infrastructure and production through a composable, fully autonomous architecture. It enables three core use cases: global energy and emission reporting, AI-optimized asset operation on day-ahead and intraday markets and future demand simulation & energy procurement. © tesa SE
Erbe Elektromedizin (Germany): AI-Powered Clinical Evidence Mining Transforms Regulatory Intelligence (”SME!”)
Erbe Elektromedizin GmbH, a Tübingen-based German medical device manufacturer celebrating its 175th anniversary in 2026, has developed EvidenceStream, an AI-powered platform that automates the extraction and structuring of clinical evidence from scientific literature. Build in partnership with Flinn, specialist in regulatory conform AI use for systematic, comprehensive, and reproducible literature searches. The platform deploys intelligent screening and extraction agents to process publications in compliance with EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR) requirements across more than 60 device groups. Turning compliance into competitive advantages. Where regulatory literature searches previously required 88 hours of specialist time, EvidenceStream completes equivalent workflows in 44 hours, while eliminating fivefold redundant data extraction across 13 internal departments. In its first full production year, the platform processed over 5,000 abstract screenings and 97 literature searches, with an 8.7x return on investment, reaching payback within 42 days. Erbe achieved this transformation without a single layoff, redirecting recovered capacity entirely toward higher-order scientific analysis and strategic decision-making.
AI‑supported clinical evidence mining used to extract, structure, and analyze scientific literature, supporting regulatory compliance and decision‑making under the EU Medical Device Regulation. © Erbe Elektromedizin
Krones (Germany): Redefining factory performance with AI-powered digital twins (“Overall Winner”)
The bottling plant manufacturer Krones is introducing a new generation of digital twins that combine physically accurate real‑time simulation with AI capable of reasoning and informed decision‑making. These agent‑supported models move beyond simple virtual replicas by continuously refining processes and transferring the resulting insights directly into real production systems. Simulation cycles that once required several hours can now be completed within minutes, enabling more responsive and data‑driven optimisation. The AI evaluates multiple scenarios, adjusts key parameters such as speed or temperature, and identifies the configurations that deliver the most effective outcomes. As a result, production environments become increasingly efficient, precise and sustainable through ongoing, autonomous improvement.
Agent‑supported digital twin simulation, combining physically accurate real‑time models and AI to evaluate scenarios, optimize production parameters, and transfer insights directly into live manufacturing systems. © Krones
Admission to the MIMA Champions Circle
In addition to the winners of this year’s competition, these eight finalists will also be inducted into the exclusive MIMA Champions Circle:
- C. Jentner GmbH
- EPTA Group
- Kerry Group
- Obeikan Digital Solutions & O3sigma
- Publicis Sapient
- Siemens Energy & Inpixon
- Spirax Group
- VIMAR SpA
- ZF & Carbmee
Together with the winners of the 2026 MIMA, they will become part of an exclusive networking platform for technology-leading companies in the manufacturing industry, which brings together all finalists from previous years. A complete overview of all winners and finalists, as well as a list of the 2026 MIMA jury members, can be found at: www.MIMAwinners2026.com.
More quotes from the winning companies:
Kevin Trevey, AI Safety Senior Expert at AUMOVIO and product owner of the AI hub:
”Industrial organizations face increasing complexity across engineering, operations and business processes. Born from a bottom-up initiative, our AUMOVIO AI hub was shaped by the people who do the work every day. By letting teams embed AI directly into their own workflows, it naturally became the central hub of the company the one place where knowledge, automation and decision-making come together to drive innovation.”
Sean Sims, Vice President, Automation & Solutions at Tetra Pak:
“Food and beverage producers are under increasing pressure to deliver more, with fewer resources, while also remaining competitive in dynamic markets. This award recognises the real-world impact of advanced industrial automation making factory data usable and actionable at scale. With Tetra Pak® Factory OS™, F&B producers can turn complexity into clarity, continuously improve performance and build a digital foundation that is ready for the next wave of AI-driven manufacturing.”
Andreas Rummert, Head of Global Operations at tesa SE:
„The Energy Intelligence platform is a key building block in our strategy to achieve climate-neutral production – reducing consumption and sourcing from sustainable energy sources at best costs.“
Merete Østby, Digital Manager at Yara and Roar Nilsen, Program Manager Digital Engineering at Yara International:
“Our operations, maintenance, and engineering teams depend on having the right data at the right time to keep the plant operating safely, reliably, and efficiently. We built a full digital twin of the Porsgrunn plant, called Kognitwin. It’s an exact replica of the production plant, based on 3D models, high-resolution 3D scans, the entire functional location structure, half a million documents, and 25 years of maintenance data – all connected and contextualized in a user-friendly web interface.”
Riccardo Botta, Head of Marketing Operations and Technologies, EssilorLuxottica:
“Digital innovation is reshaping how consumers engage with products, and transparency is becoming a defining expectation across industries. With the introduction of our Digital Product Passport, we are leveraging advanced technologies to offer a richer, more informative product experience that brings together craftsmanship, product journey and sustainability insights within a single interactive platform. This initiative reflects our commitment to staying ahead of regulatory developments while continuing to innovate for our consumers. We look forward to progressively extending this solution across our global brand portfolio as part of our broader digital transformation journey.”
Prof. Dr. Markus Enderle, Chief Scientific and Medical Officer, member of the Executive Board of Erbe Group, Erbe Group:
„As a medium-sized company in a heavily regulated sector, we cannot afford inefficiency, and we cannot afford to lose our best people to administrative burden. EvidenceStream solves both problems. It demonstrates that serious AI implementation in medical technology is not about headcount reduction. It is about building organizational intelligence to compete at the highest level. Our highly qualified experts must not be afraid but can embrace the help of AI.“
Prof. Dr. Nermin Salkic, Global Medical Director, Erbe Group:
„Our operating principle was simple: AI should wash the dishes so humans can write poetry. EvidenceStream handles the mechanical extraction while our specialists invest their time in the judgment and synthesis that only they can do. We gave our experts their minds back.“
Markus Tischer, Member of the Executive Board at Krones:
“With the Agentic Digital Twins, we are demonstrating that digitalization and AI are not just visions for the future but deliver tangible efficiency gains and sustainable benefits today. Together with our partners, we are setting new benchmarks for the beverage industry.”
About Microsoft
Microsoft Deutschland GmbH was founded in 1983 as a subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation (Redmond, U.S.A.). In Germany, we employ over 3,000 people at our seven locations in Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Stuttgart and Walldorf. Together with our 30,000 partners in Germany, we support companies with innovative solutions for the intelligent cloud and the intelligent edge so that they are successfully positioned for digital transformation. In addition, Microsoft is a global leader in many other areas such as productive software solutions, IT security, innovative hardware and development platforms that are also based on open source technology. We also connect more than 950 million people worldwide with our career network LinkedIn. With Xbox and Game Pass, we’re enabling a cross-platform gaming experience. In addition, Microsoft is involved in a wide range of initiatives and projects together with politics, business and science so that all people can participate in the progress of the digital society.
About Roland Berger
Roland Berger is one of the world’s leading strategy consultancies with a wide-ranging service portfolio for all relevant industries and business functions. Founded in 1967, Roland Berger is headquartered in Munich. Renowned for its expertise in transformation, innovation across all industries and performance improvement, the consultancy has set itself the goal of embedding sustainability in all its projects. Roland Berger revenues stood at more than 1 billion euros in 2023.
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