Hovis launches major AI deployment in its bakeries

Hovis is undertaking what it calls “one of the largest deployments of AI and machine learning in UK bakery manufacturing”.

The bread-maker has partnered with industrial AI specialist Intelliam on the project, which it says marks a “game-changing shift for our business”.

“In bakery manufacturing, there’s no margin for error. A single stoppage on one line can ripple across our entire network, disrupting supply chains. By deploying AI-driven, industry-specific sensors and machine learning across our sites, we’re moving from reactive firefighting to foresight,” Chris Lawton, head of engineering at Hovis, told The Grocer.

The 12-month rollout of AI across its production sites is expected to “boost reliability and cut downtime” and “empowers our engineers, reduces pressure on the shop floor, and ensures our customers can continue to rely on us every day”, Lawton added.

South Yorkshire-based Intelliam initially visited three of Hovis’s eight manufacturing sites – in London, Nottingham, and Glasgow – to identify the assets whose failure could bring the factory “to a standstill”.

“In addition to other valuable groundwork that has provided Hovis with a stronger, more resilient asset maintenance strategy, we are now moving deeper into the AI and machine learning journey with them,” explained Tom Clayton, CEO of Intelliam.

“Our technology doesn’t just keep Hovis’s machines running – it unlocks productivity across the whole group. Real-time data gives engineers the confidence to act on insight, not instinct, and that shift from firefighting to foresight is what transforms performance.”

Intelliam – which works with a quarter of the world’s top 100 fmcgs including Müller, Mars, and Weetabix – said its AI technology “self-learns” and by continuously analysing the operating patterns of every individual machine, was able to “spot subtle changes long before a human ever could”, and forecast breakdowns with precision. For Hovis, that means engineers act only when the AI predicts intervention is needed.

“The shift from reactive maintenance to a proactive, self-optimising process improves asset reliability and overall plant productivity,” Clayton said. “And at the end of the day, this isn’t about algorithms – it’s about making sure millions of shoppers are never left without their favourite bakery goods.”