Based on and inspired by the PWC survey on Industry 4.0
In our effort to highlight the importance of digital maturity and its benefits till now we have clearly established that there are high cost savings, efficiency increments and revenue maximization up for grabs. One of the most critical aspects of I 4.0 and our focus for the today’s post is the importance of establishing deeper digital relationships with more empowered customers.
As per the survey conducted by PWC, an incredible 72% of the companies which took part in the survey voted that their use of data analytics and digital technologies will focus on improving the customer relationship and customer intelligence along the product life cycle for the next five years. This finding clearly sets the precedent for what is to come.
It is extremely important to note that the future of manufacturing will completely change: sale of products will no longer be based on the traditional ‘Push’ model, instead goods will be manufactured based of ‘Customer Pull’, demand driven production, with varied degrees of customization subject to industry segment. In certain cases manufacturing will be so much customized that a production lot size would be limited to one item per lot. So what are manufacturers dealing with here and what is the approach recommended for them to seize the opportunities which come with the inherent challenges of these changes?
With the advent of consumerism and well informed customer base, thanks to the information available in public domain, manufacturers are looking at highly demanding customers in the future. In both B2B and B2C transactions, customizations and production based on customer specifications will be the norm in the future, one size fits all sort of mentality will be completely outdated. Manufacturers around the world are already dealing with these challenges by increasing use of 3-D printing and other such technological marvels, to allow for both economies of scale and higher value generation through provided customization.
Software applications like the MES, which act as a connector between the shop-floor and the top-floor applications will play a major role in helping organizations digitize their product offerings and form customer intelligent platforms. MES applications will help seamless transfer of data and orchestrate operation in a way the PLM can best utilize the market intelligence collected from customer to help modify manufacturing operation both within the organization and for key value chain partners.
First movers in the I 4.0 are already at advanced stages where they have been able to offer customers the interactive digital platform. The customer’s opinion is converted to actual product and services. The future of manufacturing will be governed by such customer empowering, intelligence based platforms, which are characterized by the nexus of information exchange and interoperable technology.
Key for manufacturers who are still at the Digital Novice stage of digital maturity, is to see the big picture and plan their digitization. The focus has to be on the customer and not on the product. What is important to recognize here is the need for harnessing the modern software technology (MES, ERP, PLM, SCM, CRM, etc.) on offer today along with other technological advances like 3-D printing, Augmented Reality, AI, to devise a way to channel benefits to the customer, while reducing operational costs and increasing overall efficiencies.
In our effort to highlight the importance of digital maturity and its benefits till now we have clearly established that there are high cost savings, efficiency increments and revenue maximization up for grabs. One of the most critical aspects of I 4.0 and our focus for the today’s post is the importance of establishing deeper digital relationships with more empowered customers.
As per the survey conducted by PWC, an incredible 72% of the companies which took part in the survey voted that their use of data analytics and digital technologies will focus on improving the customer relationship and customer intelligence along the product life cycle for the next five years. This finding clearly sets the precedent for what is to come.
It is extremely important to note that the future of manufacturing will completely change: sale of products will no longer be based on the traditional ‘Push’ model, instead goods will be manufactured based of ‘Customer Pull’, demand driven production, with varied degrees of customization subject to industry segment. In certain cases manufacturing will be so much customized that a production lot size would be limited to one item per lot. So what are manufacturers dealing with here and what is the approach recommended for them to seize the opportunities which come with the inherent challenges of these changes?
With the advent of consumerism and well informed customer base, thanks to the information available in public domain, manufacturers are looking at highly demanding customers in the future. In both B2B and B2C transactions, customizations and production based on customer specifications will be the norm in the future, one size fits all sort of mentality will be completely outdated. Manufacturers around the world are already dealing with these challenges by increasing use of 3-D printing and other such technological marvels, to allow for both economies of scale and higher value generation through provided customization.
Software applications like the MES, which act as a connector between the shop-floor and the top-floor applications will play a major role in helping organizations digitize their product offerings and form customer intelligent platforms. MES applications will help seamless transfer of data and orchestrate operation in a way the PLM can best utilize the market intelligence collected from customer to help modify manufacturing operation both within the organization and for key value chain partners.
First movers in the I 4.0 are already at advanced stages where they have been able to offer customers the interactive digital platform. The customer’s opinion is converted to actual product and services. The future of manufacturing will be governed by such customer empowering, intelligence based platforms, which are characterized by the nexus of information exchange and interoperable technology.
Key for manufacturers who are still at the Digital Novice stage of digital maturity, is to see the big picture and plan their digitization. The focus has to be on the customer and not on the product. What is important to recognize here is the need for harnessing the modern software technology (MES, ERP, PLM, SCM, CRM, etc.) on offer today along with other technological advances like 3-D printing, Augmented Reality, AI, to devise a way to channel benefits to the customer, while reducing operational costs and increasing overall efficiencies.
