Portuguese Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) provider Critical Manufacturing has acquired German firm Convanit, an AI specialist focused on image-based analytics for high-tech manufacturing. The acquisition will add visual AI capabilities to the Critical Manufacturing Data Platform.

Convanit’s “c-Alice” solution provides image classification engine built for complex industrial environments. The solution is designed to allow manufacturers to swiftly build and deploy custom AI models for visual inspection without the need for specialised programming or data science skills.

Through the integration of c-Alice, Critical Manufacturing’s data platform will now provide easy integration, classification and analysis of image data in conjunction with real-time process data. It will enable automatic defect detection and trigger real-time anomaly alerts across production stages.

Image insights will be connected directly to MES workflows, traceability records, and quality reporting. Manufacturers will be able to deploy scalable AI models with low latency for continuous in-line operations.

“Manufacturers face growing pressure to deliver higher quality, faster, and ensure complete traceability, yet visual data remains one of the most underused assets on the shop floor,” said Francisco Almada Lobo, CEO of Critical Manufacturing. “By integrating Convanit’s advanced AI-Powered image analytics into our platform, we are transforming how customers convert unstructured image data into actionable, contextualised intelligence. This acquisition is a key milestone in our vision for truly data driven, Industry 4.0 manufacturing.”

“We created c-Alice to make visual AI simple, flexible, and effective for manufacturers,” said Michael Meinel, co-founder of Convanit. “Joining Critical Manufacturing brings our vision to a global stage, embedding it into one of the most powerful MES ecosystems on the market.”

Critical Manufacturing’s is focused on high-precision sectors including semiconductors, electronics, medical devices, and industrial equipment industries.

Since 2019, Convanit has focused on AI-based image processing that improves yield with production monitoring for the semiconductor, electronics manufacturing, automotive, plastics, pharmaceutical and food industries.