Many manufacturers may not fully appreciate the effort needed to execute a successful digital transformation program during this fourth industrial revolution. To achieve success, manufacturers must have a natural hunger for continuous learning and not let perceived knowledge get in the way of their progress. As any company that has successfully undergone digital transformation will tell you, the process is a marathon, not a sprint.
Whether your company is just getting started or is in the middle of its digital undertaking, here are three tips that will help ensure your chances of success.
Understand the “Why and What” Before Getting to the “How:” Doing the research and gathering the relevant data to support your company’s digitalization goals are essential. Start with “why” you need to do it and “what” you aim to gain before getting into the ”how” of it. Beyond trying to keep up with the latest hype and striving for quick wins, manufacturers must ask themselves what going digital really means for their business:
“Have other companies succeeded with this shift?”
“What will it cost our business if we don’t seriously commit to embracing digitalization?”
“By contrast, how will an effectively executed strategy reshape the future of our company?”
While digital solutions can unlock lofty benefits such as operational efficiencies and greater ROI, they mean nothing if your company doesn’t allocate the necessary resources to support a path forward.
Invest in the Right Resources: Adopting a digitalization strategy is a significant undertaking and requires the right resources to be deployed at the right time. Determining who will oversee various project initiatives, what technologies you will need to implement, what the right hiring strategy looks like, and with whom you should partner are all essential facets of your overall strategy.
It’s important to remember you are simultaneously investing in your people and in new technologies. Ensuring that your employees feel like they are being brought along in the process, and instilling that they are being empowered (not replaced) by their new tools, will only make your business’s commitment to digital transformation stronger.
People are the key; we hear it every day. “I’ve had more employee-initiated conversations about productivity and performance with our line operators over the past three months than I’ve had in the last four years combined,” said Adam Carlton, the operations manager at Jack Daniel’s Bottling, after we worked with the company on its digital transformation efforts. No matter the size of the company or the industry, people are essential to creating a culture of transformation to see the journey successfully through.
Be Ready for Adjustments Along the Way: No manufacturer has achieved digitalization without facing setbacks. It’s not a matter of if you will run into unexpected challenges, but when. How you respond and solve problems will be the true tests your company will face. Your willingness to learn from the challenges that arise will only make your company (and culture) stronger and will help you avoid settling for ineffective “set it and forget it” solutions.
Committing to continuous learning, managing changes, adapting to new approaches, and modifying your behavior on the path to digitalization will help you achieve your goals. Remember to set your goals objectively, then keep adjusting your execution strategies and plans as needed to meet expectations.
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