Essential Questions Manufacturers Need to Ask to Drive Digital Transformation

In the age of smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0, manufacturing leaders face a multitude of challenges in terms of technology, market, and customers. Industry 4.0 research states that there is a potential value of up to $3.7 trillion by 2025. How does one capture this value and scale up? Approaching innovation to capture value looks different for different companies. However, asking the right questions continuously is critical.

Finding the Right Answers and Leading Through Innovation

A manufacturing company can transform into a smart enterprise by integrating its people, workflows, and data. Therefore, any question needs to consider all three dimensions.

People

Despite technology taking over businesses, the heart of each company lies with its people. Establishing a people-first culture is how smart manufacturing can succeed.

Is the company ready to embrace Industry 4.0 tools?

Understanding this will shed light on how one can start their digital transformation roadmap. Some companies might be ready for large-scale change, whereas others would prefer tackling digital tools one step at a time.

What are the barriers or roadblocks?

These could be anything from lack of knowledge or resources to lack of trust in technology. Addressing each barrier resolves short-term constraints and sets up a solid foundation for change management.

Workflows

Companies constantly seek to improve their processes to ensure uninterrupted work with near-zero bottlenecks. These improvements can also be extended toward establishing smart manufacturing workflows.

How do we integrate silos to guarantee efficiency?

The main office, warehouse, factory, and plants all need to work like a well-oiled machine. Silos only create lags and reduce collaboration. Identifying and integrating such silos is imperative.

How is progress being monitored and measured?

While performance-based metrics are still prevalent, purpose-based metrics have also grown in importance. Not only do you need to know how much progress is being made, but also how it builds relevant business value.

What changes can be made to improve workflows?

This question serves as a straightforward way to track unproductive or defective workflows. It can also enlighten leaders on any red flags.

Data Integration

The smart in smart manufacturing is centered around data and technology. IIoT, sensors, analytics, AI, and ML are just a few examples.

How is data being utilized?

Trends indicate that although manufacturing companies collect large volumes of data, much remains unused. Intelligently utilizing the data to create insights is a must.

What is the status of the existing application landscape?

An as-is analysis of the existing IT landscape helps manufacturers pick out legacy systems that need automation and infrastructure that might not support newer technologies.

A Starting Point to Digital Transformation

These questions are only the beginning. In fact, these questions and their answers will lead to more questions. This is how manufacturers can finalize their approach to innovation and, thereby, their approach to operations, products, and customer engagement. The right beginning can make sure that manufacturers are better equipped to drive innovation.