The manufacturing industry across the globe is undergoing the next wave of radical shift - a shift where what they manufacture (products), and how they design, manufacture, procure, and service these products has become critical more than ever before.
The biggest driver of this change is technology. Since many decades, technology has been leveraged to automate activities in the value chain and integrate these activities across business functions, geographies and boundaries. Advances in technology such as computing power and size of hardware and sensors, affordability of technology, and pervasive internet connectivity, has today, made it possible to embed technology into the products and assets to make them smarter and connected. With Smart, Connected Products, organizations can eventually make sense of the performance of their assets or products in factory, field or wherever the customer is, and proactively respond to ensure continued functioning of the product and service excellence.
The ability to quickly transform the business and to sustain this transformation in the long run is what will differentiate manufacturing organization from competition. For example -
Transforming Business Models – Discovering newer revenue streams such as moving from 'Make and Sell' to 'Make, Sell, Service' by embedding technology in your products
Transforming Processes – Making assets smarter and connected for proactive maintenance and maximizing uptime, and better safety and customer experience