
Why Manufacturers Need to Rethink their Digital Strategies
Learn about a new service-based approach to digital transformation that will help manufacturers to grow their businesses – even in uncertain times.
With ever-shorter product lifecycles and a rapidly growing number of product variants, discrete manufacturing companies are facing growing challenges. They need to reduce time to market, shorten lead times, and manufacture products in smaller lot sizes. While these demands are nothing new, digitization has upped the pace.
This calls for streamlined manufacturing operations, optimized value chains that extend across companies, and sensor technology. In this way, you can offer your customers individualized smart products with new features and services, and shift to consumption models based on the Internet of Things (IoT). Moreover, by connecting machines, devices, IT, and products, the IoT enables you to enhance internal manufacturing processes and create a smart factory.
In the past decade, advances in technology have enabled manufacturers to achieve significant efficiencies with their supply chain and manufacturing operations. In fact, according to McKinsey & Company, manufacturers that embraced these technologies are already seeing a 7% revenue growth advantage over their peers.
The impact of the current pandemic will likely create a much deeper divide between manufacturers that have digitized and those who are just starting to digitize their operations.
We believe the path forward will require a new approach to digital transformation. Manufacturers need a service-based approach that replaces traditional large-scale projects with a series of smaller projects that provide a quicker, smarter way to respond to challenges in technology, the industry and the business.
We can help you create a dynamic technology roadmap designed to help you pivot and adapt quickly.
To support our group’s digital transformation journey, we needed a trusted advisor who would stay with us in the long run. itelligence fits this description perfectly and ensures that our projects run smoothly from start to finish.
Today’s customers increasingly demand individualized products. This means manufacturers need highly flexible production processes and responsive material requirements planning. By utilizing tailored manufacturing solutions, you can accelerate product development and bring innovations to market faster and more cost-effectively than the competition.
Consistent product lifecycle management (PLM) from research and development to aftersale service is crucial in manufacturing operations. By taking an approach that integrates people, data, processes, systems, and tools such as CAD, you can accelerate manufacturing cycle times and reduce waste. Solutions such as SAP Product Lifecycle Management increase engineering efficiency and reduce time to market.
The Internet of Things enables businesses in discrete manufacturing to make precise predictions based on real-time sensor data from machines and give their customers recommendations for future actions. It also paves the way to new business models, such as consumption-based contracts, allowing you to offer your customers more added value.
Manufacturers are in the midst of digital transformation. With sensor technology and advanced manufacturing execution systems, companies can unleash the potential of their data. What’s more, flexible platforms help you realize the connected smart factory and facilitate better collaboration with other companies.
As a basis for strategic decisions, greater transparency into all manufacturing operations is required: from production planning to aftersales service. With technology for real-time monitoring and data analytics, you can leverage sensor data to create new, service-based business models and gain additional capabilities, such as predictive maintenance. And by using artificial intelligence, you can increase productivity and accuracy through automation.
What are do industrial manufacturers need to know in the era of Industry 4.0?
The ultimate business advantage and a competitive edge, the SAP S/4HANA Cloud Partner Packaged solution for Component Manufacturing can help you scale up your manufacturing operations. The package comes with a defined scope for manufacturers, enabling you to build world-class customer centricity and production excellence and manage your supply chain based on real-time customer demand.
The overwhelming volumes of data in discrete industries are having an impact on business; manufacturers now have to simplify their IT landscape in order to handle the data and quickly turn it into actionable insights. With a next-generation ERP solution like SAP S/4HANA, you can connect machines and processes to a digital core. This allows you to monitor and analyze data from multiple sources in real time – and transform your challenges into opportunities.
Enjoy our interview with Günter Knorr, Program Manager it.machinery at itelligence. Listen to what he says about our solution it.machinery, specially developed for the industrial machinery and components industry.
Since we were the first SAP partner worldwide who has created an innovative industry solution based on SAP S/4HANA, we know all necessary ingredients to speed up your industry processes.
In discrete manufacturing, IT and business processes are extremely diverse and complex; itelligence can help you to master them. We work closely with you to find the right SAP solutions for your needs, support implementation, and adapt your business model to capitalize on the opportunities of the Internet of Things. What’s more, we also offer our own solutions and add-ons, such as it.manufacturing and it.automotive, tailored to the specific demands of the discrete industries.
For more than 30 years, we have specialized in discrete manufacturing solutions. In fact, a third of our total business is dedicated to supporting companies in this sector. To ensure we always deliver outstanding results, we have a team of 1,500 employees devoted to discrete industries, including 150 experts in IoT solutions. So whether you operate in the automotive industry or the high-tech sector, we can help you find the right solutions to successfully realize your digital transformation.
In light of modern developments, such as big data, cloud computing, and IoT technology, data protection is more important than ever before. Manufacturing companies require IT solutions that protect them against digital threats.
Thanks to connected sensors, machines can automatically alert technicians before they break down. Platforms such as SAP Leonardo and the SAP Asset Intelligence Network connect manufacturers and operators, enabling them to profit from the Industrial Internet of Things.
The user experience is all-important in discrete industries to help employees clearly visualize data and make informed decisions. There is also huge potential for UX innovations in the smart factory, with technologies such as voice control and augmented reality changing the game.
With an intuitive online store, manufacturers and suppliers can boost revenue by making it easier for customers to compare products, configure variants, manage machinery, and order spare parts. Full integration with the ERP system streamlines the sales process.
The opportunity for industrial manufacturers lies in two areas: topline revenue growth through differentiated products, and bottom-line cost savings through more-efficient processes.
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