How digital transformation changes the future of manufacturing

Digitalization has touched every business sector to one degree or another, and this is just the beginning. Enterprises aimed at success and development must accept all the challenges of the modern economy – only, in this case, they can become leaders. This is where digital transformation can help. In fact, the manufacturing industry is the realm where digital transformation always takes place. In this blog post, we will explore how digital transformation changes the future of manufacturing. We will also define the role digital transformation plays for the future of the company. Stay tuned.

Digital Transformation in manufacturing

Digital transformation in manufacturing is the introduction of modern technologies into the business processes of an enterprise. This approach implies not only the installation of modern equipment or software, but means fundamental changes in approaches to management, corporate culture, and external communications that result in the improved quality of customer service. Digitalization of business processes has far-reaching results on many areas of human activities such as businesses, suppliers, customers, and other third parties. Entire industries choose digitalization as a path of its further development that helps to comply with the rapidly changing conditions in the world.

What are the benefits of Digital transportation in manufacturing industry

Digital transportation in manufacturing companies  

Customers are the main drivers of digitalization. Every day they interact with commercial and government companies, many of which have already begun to transform their operations. In such cases, the client sees that modern technologies make processes faster and easier, and therefore expects such changes from other enterprises.

Digitalization technologies allow us to organize the most personalized interaction that most customers prefer. Digital communication channels, omnichannel, artificial intelligence, robotization - we already face all this in our daily life. For example, the digital transformation of banks could not do without chatbots, and pharmaceuticals are actively using modern mobile devices in their work.

By customer experience, we mean not only interaction with the company of external customers, but also internal customers. Digital transformation of processes optimizes the work of enterprise employees, thereby increasing the productivity of each individual team member. For example, the automation of routine operations provides more time for solving really important and complex tasks.

What digital transformation means for the company

Ready or not, digital transportation in manufacturing companies is reinventing your business. Every enterprise including yours now faces the choice between innovation and extinction. Digital transformation is not specifically about IT and Technology - it is about redefining your entire business strategy, perhaps it is even about changing your corporate culture. To succeed digitally your company must think about technology not as just a support function but as strategic competency. Digital transformation is not just about applying technology to your business it is actually about creating an entirely new business model on the backbone of technology.

Amazon.com was not just a website – in fact, this is a new business model that forever disrupted and revolutionized the entire concept of shopping and more. It is now imperative for every business to adapt to and take advantage of the digital world.

This world has radically changed consumer behavior as well as further expectations of the consumers. Your customers, your channels, and your competitors – they all have already gone digital. Starting from 2017 mobile devices started to dominate customer's total time spent online including searching, reading emails, browsing, and buying online.

Digital transformation has the potential to level the plane for you. It provides low-cost tools and enables strategies that give small and medium-sized businesses a chance to compete at the same level as major enterprises. Successful companies have transformed their business processes and models for improved customer experience.

Data is what makes these new models possible to implement. Digital transformation depends on data, and data depends on the effective collection, cybersecurity, analytics, and application. Get the data, protect that data, analyze it, and then utilize all that data – these are the essentials of a digital transformation, and these are the essential skills that your company will either have to outsource, hire or train.

Do you have a digital transformation strategy?

According to the 2017 Forrester Report, 74% of business executives say their company has a digital strategy but only 15% believe that their company has all the skills and capabilities to execute that strategy.  Digitally transforming your organization can change everything - it changes your corporate strategy, changes your business processes, changes your marketing capability, it can even change the roles and skills you need to acquire in order to bridge the gaps between your company and the technology you need to master. 

If properly applied, digital transformation in manufacturing can bring a whole list of far-reaching changes. All these changes are critically important to manufacturing. It has been estimated that by 2022, nearly half of manufacturers will be increasingly investing in improving their business productivity, better resilience, and artificial intelligence.

Flexibility and acceleration of business processes

Business digitalization opens the way to innovative ways of enterprise development:

• Cloud technologies allow several teams to work on one project at the same time and efficiently use company resources.

• Using the Mobile First strategy, the company receives and monetizes mobile traffic, which by its indicators has already caught up with traffic from stationary devices.

• Ready-made solutions allow you to save time on solving problems. Various applications, extensions, and connectors optimize the work of the company and require minimal time spent on their implementation and adaptation.

All these and other digital transformation technologies have lowered the threshold of entry into many areas. Starting your own business and developing it has become easier thanks to the huge number of tools that the digitalization of industries and enterprises provides.

Using modern technologies for working with data

Information is a key resource in the modern world. Every second, humanity generates huge amounts of digital data that not only take up storage space but also help companies do business. To take advantage of all the possibilities of available information, it is necessary to accumulate, structure, and analyze it.

The digital transformation of the enterprise contributes to this process. Thanks to advanced technologies like Big Data (big data) or Artificial Intelligence (AI, artificial intelligence) that help to process huge flows of information and adapt offers according to the needs of specific customers and predict their future behavior.

Partnership and collaboration

Conditions for digital transformation and the conditions of success

It is difficult to imagine a successful modern business without partners. Digitalization opens up new opportunities for collaboration with other companies - and these opportunities are truly amazing. For example, thanks to modern technologies, geography is no longer an obstacle to work: you can conduct business and look for partners anywhere in the world. And the open API makes collaboration even easier and more convenient. For example, in the digitalization of finance, including the banking industry, APIs have been in use for several years.

It is also worth remembering that without digitalization it is impossible to become the best or work with the best. Leading companies are already implementing digital transformation strategies in their lives and want to partner with those who match their level of development and share their values.

Strategy

An employee of the company who is responsible for the digital transformation of the enterprise (be it a CEO, CTO, CIO, or another authorized person) must clearly understand its need for these conditions. A study by 451 Research shows that 60% of companies that have chosen the digital path for themselves do not have a corresponding approved strategy. This is the road to nowhere.

Without a clear strategy and vision, it is impossible to successfully digitalize a company of any size - you need to understand exactly how digitalization will help an enterprise move in the right direction and achieve its goals.

An important point: digital transformation is a long-term project that requires a systematic and serious approach. But even after the successful implementation of such a complex process, it is impossible to stop: you need to constantly develop the company, taking into account new technologies and developments.

Motivated team

The development of modern technologies, which are the basis of digitalization, is characterized by an interesting feature: every year the developments are becoming more customer-oriented, that is, their use becomes more and more simple and convenient.

In such conditions, the motivation of top management and employees responsible for transformation comes to the fore. Team members must understand the purpose of the changes, get imbued with the idea that digitalization is not an option, it is a requirement of today, and convey this idea to all staff. Only if the team understands the importance of the process, the ultimate success is possible.

Personnel adaptation

The introduction of digitalization technologies is just one step. Often, business owners and change managers find that the most difficult part is adapting the team to the updated business processes. Transformation concerns every employee of the enterprise, in connection with which it will be necessary to carry out a number of activities that will allow people to master new processes and technologies.

Such events include training and master classes in which the personnel receive all the necessary skills to work in the updated conditions. It is also worth noting that modern technologies themselves become assistants in adaptation: for example, the development of UX design makes the program interface intuitive, and artificial intelligence helps to process data faster and make optimal decisions.

Digitalization technologies

A meticulous strategy, a professional team, and motivated employees are a significant but incomplete part of the elements required for a successful business transformation. The digitalization system also includes special tools, in synergy with which qualitative changes are possible.

These days various software are developed on the basis of two modern concepts: Business Process Management (BPM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Automation of actions, predictive functions, application of Agile principles is only a small part of what modern software offers for effective digitalization of enterprises.

Cloud technologies, user-friendly interfaces, ready-made integration solutions, and other advanced technologies make products that are indispensable for large and medium-sized enterprises. And numerous tools for customizing the system allow companies to be flexible and quickly change business processes depending on the changing market conditions. In the future, the pace and scale of digitalization will only increase.

Today the food and beverage industry is faced with relentless pressure on margins due to volatile commodity prices, higher labor costs, and constant shifts in the supply chain. Capital expenditure constraints from low growth in regional demand limit investment in new equipment. With consumers seeking more healthy and organic choices, there is a raising need for variety and more regulatory obligations regarding food safety, ingredient labeling, and the environmental increase. Rapid response to safety and quality incidents can make or break a brand’s reputation and value. Digital transformation can enable industrial IoT, Cloud, mobility, and predictive analytics solutions that empower food and beverage manufacturers to transform their businesses and achieve a significant value. 

Digital transformation in smart manufacturing can increase the productivity of your company, its operational costs, and yield the best results. All this is possible with the modern-driven software approach. Software development services for manufacturing companies can play a key role in enabling digital transformation by improving the manufacturing process, reducing global ownership, and enhancing asset reliability. These services empower manufacturers to manage constraints on global production and increase output from existing assets.