Digital transformation is achievable for all manufacturers.
A ‘DX’ strategy unlocks real value today and transforms your business for future success.
The problems that digitalization solves strike at the very heart of manufacturer’s challenges today. What is real and what matters right now is how technology can solve immediate problems. Manufacturers are under competitive pressure to deliver better goods at lower costs. They want to reduce costs and streamline processes in their supply chains and factories. At the same time, customers are asking for more unique features in the products they buy. Customization versus standard products are often difficult trade-offs with implications in design processes, production costs, and schedules.
This is where Digital transformation can begin.
A More Efficient Supply Chain
To begin to understand strategic DX, manufacturers need to look no further than current and available technologies:
- For instance, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning can now improve supply chain efficiencies by offering predictions on supplier reliability and cost variability. AI models are also used to improve process quality through real-time anomaly detection.
- To more easily (and more cheaply) accommodate customer demands into quoting, design and customer service processes, companies can use bots. Customer service bots are AI enabled with skills such as product configuration, order taking and query handling which can allow companies to easily scale up without adding overheads.
- Another area of opportunity is in the Internet of Things (IoT) platform. This means installing network-connected sensors in a manufacturer’s products, so that operational performance data (and anomalies) can be stored in the cloud. This data can unlock tremendous value to both the manufacturer in terms of anomaly detection, preventative maintenance, quality and their customers who can understand how these assets are utilized.
Able to Integrate Digital Transformation Technologies
In connecting these technologies, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) platforms such as SYSPRO, now offer manufacturers the chance to integrate all digital transformation technologies (AI, IoT, etc.) to remake, redefine, and broaden their business operations so that they can become more profitable and productive with the resources they already have at hand.
The key to successful digital transformation is aligning these kinds of initiatives to the overall business strategy. By developing a digital transformation strategy, a manufacturer can find cost-saving value in their operations and generate new revenue streams from their customers by increasing the value they deliver. They can even look ahead to monetizing new data being collected through digitalizing products and operations.
Are you ready for Digital Transformation?
DX is a journey and not a result. Deploying point solutions or automation without an overall strategy is not DX. So how do you begin? A few key considerations are important:
- Have you considered how your digital initiatives will change the way you operate, deliver value or earn revenue?
- Have you defined the specific business value that will come from your digital transformation project? Can you measure it?
- Can your technology and operational foundation, your ERP for one, support and deliver on your digital initiatives?
Done right, digital transformation will change your business and position it for long-term success in the years to come.
Find out more here.
