Digitalization has changed every aspect of life, including existing business models. No industry or business is immune from this disruptive change. It’s not if. It’s when.
But, the digitalization disruptor should not be feared. Digitalization enables industry to turn its product ideas into reality in a new way by drawing on technological trends like generative design and intelligent models. Additive manufacturing and advanced robotics put production on an innovative footing, and the use of cloud solutions and knowledge automation lets machine builders develop new service models.
Digitalization is the process of moving to a digital business
This industry transformation is commonly referred to as Industry 4.0, Smart Factory, the Internet of Things, and the Internet of Everything. But, regardless of the phrase that is used, each is an attempt to describe the direction that the industry will develop under the influence of digital technologies.
In order to take advantage of the opportunities, businesses must act now. How? They must define an innovation strategy. One that will transform the way products are designed, engineered, and produced. This overall operations management change will allow for reduced-risk innovation to deliver the highest quality products, at the lowest price.
Beat the challenges: The new opportunities of digitalization
Embracing digitalization will open up new business opportunities and ways to satisfy customer requirements more efficiently.
New business models
Digitalization develops new business models. Many products and production facilities generate data. Being able to record and evaluate it means you can develop new, data-based business models.
Increasing speed, flexibility and quality
Generally speaking, companies need to get their products to market faster while mastering the increasing complexity of products and production methods. Digitalization does this. It shortens the time to market.
At the same time, the increase in individualized products requires flexible and effective manufacturing. In addition, quality is essential if you want satisfied customers. Digitalization can do this too. It increases flexibility while improving quality.
Increase efficiency and cybersecurity
Also, in today's world, not only does a product have to be sustainable and environmentally friendly, but energy-efficiency in production has also become an increasingly important competitive advantage. With digitalization, business will increase efficiency.
Lastly, multi-level security measures to counter cyber-attacks are necessary to protect a company’s intellectual property, both now and in the future. Digitalization increases security.
But, digitalization is much more than digitizing information or applying silo technologies.
Moving towards a convergence between the physical world and the digital one
As we look to the future, it is certain that there will be further convergence between the physical world and the digital one. Manufacturers will need to unify product knowledge, manufacturing and service process innovation across their company’s complete operations, from ideation through realization and utilization. This holistic automation approach interlinks the Digital Twin of product, production and performance.
As all relevant stakeholders have real-time access to information, they are able to transform from a sequential approach to a quasi-parallel working approach, and therefore increase speed, efficiency, quality and time to market.
Siemens has done it. Now, it’s your turn.
Siemens knows from our own implementations that every organization will have a different starting point based on the technologies that they have already implemented.
We know that an integrated value chain is the only way to manage the increasing complexity of products, and the increasing level of customer expectations.
Siemens can help organizations understand their current digital maturity, as well as their future benefit expectations across the value chain. With this knowledge, we work with customers to define a roadmap of customized digital solutions to realize a closed-loop Digital Enterprise.