[New report] Digital Readiness for Industrial Transformation

[New report] Digital Readiness for Industrial Transformation

We all know something big is happening “out there” in industrial operations around the globe. Companies are going beyond standard practices in Continuous Improvement (CI) as they seek step change improvement. Among them, programs go by a range of names: Digital or Industrial Transformation, Industrie 4.0, Smart Manufacturing, and many others. Whatever your company calls it, questions remain.

• What are the “big” things industrial companies are trying to accomplish?
• How are they going about it (strategically and tactically)?
• What are the key indicators of digital readiness?
• What, if anything, is delivering significant improvement?

To answer these questions, LNS Research conducted a global survey in December 2018, sponsored by Schneider Electric. The study reveals that two-thirds of companies have implemented, are currently implementing, or plan to implement an Industrial Transformation program.

Read on to examine what the survey data reveals about the exact status of digital readiness for Industrial Transformation (IX) programs globally.

This report includes:

• How companies define, scale, staff, and fund IX programs.
• The duration, technology and organizational structure industrial players use.
• How companies integrate plant management and shop floor employees into the overall program.
• Best practices around Industrial Transformation.

The survey results are clear: Industrial Transformation leaders are defining and executing Industrial Transformation programs differently than the rest of the market. Among the many differences, these leaders are:

• 31% more likely to focus on business and 60% less likely to make “evaluating/testing IIoT and other technologies” a core strategy;
• 76% more likely to combine Continuous Improvement and Industrial Transformation teams;
• 2.7 times more likely to fund a portion of the rollout of Industrial Transformation solutions to the plants;
• Significantly more likely to have an enterprise-wide view of operations, and four times more likely to manage operations as a “tightly orchestrated team;” and
• Making investments in dramatically more types of digital and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies.

The newest data clearly shows that Industrial Transformation is working and that now is the time to pursue such a program aggressively. Ultimately, the report finds that technology doesn’t drive success; instead, success is the result of process changes empowered by collaborative technologies.

This is an excerpt from the LNS Research report entitled “Digital readiness is the foundation for success,” sponsored by Schneider Electric.