Beyond Modular Digitalisation
Published on : Friday 09-07-2021
Moving beyond modular digitalisation to comprehensive digital transformation is the way forward, says Jasbir Singh.
Digital Transformation is beyond just a technology change, but a full transformation of a business platform to make decisions based on realistic data from every available digital source, which are regularly getting updated and fine-tuned. It is neither by just incorporating a new technology into the business process; it’s a quivering change, linking all processes digitally by fastest means to exchange data from units, which forms an enterprise. There is a distinction between digital platform, its modernisation and further to a true digital transformation. Existing systems are regenerated in newly developed hardware/software; manual processes are converted into advanced automatic systems and decision-making based on stored real-time and historical precise stored data.
Major design, engineering and manufacturing firms across the world have significantly accelerated the effort of digital modernisation to continue their business activities, which had almost come to a halt due to the Covid-19 pandemic since March 2020. Most of the companies modernised their systems by adding cloud services, alteration of digital workflow processes and taking additional digital initiatives for some of the processes to remove bottlenecks without significantly altering core business processes. Digital transformation is about changing processes to get more out of its strength by using a powerful tool where actions are based on data used for business development. Data is at the heart of digital transformation. Business leaders looking to the future are ready to take an assertive decision for change in legacy systems and preparing to undertake a unified and large cloud data strategy, to execute at incredible speed and at magnificent scale. Fundamentally, digital transformation in business processes is to build new products and services to improve quality consistency and constructively engage the customers. Digital transformation creates value by digital acceleration in systems to improve products produced by industrial manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, healthcare sectors, and support service sectors before it reaches to customers.
Speed during pandemic
The efficiency and profitability in manufacturing sectors are getting affected due to lack of required modern tools and technologies to facilitate work during the pandemic period. In the course of pandemic situation changes demanded by operation, leadership teams across the business arena forced companies to embrace the new technology platforms for initiating prompt decisions based on available data, reinvented the core processes and adopted new work collaboration tools. Speed is the essence of digital transformation in which organisations will see impressive outcomes, better performance, greater customer responsiveness, and enhanced capabilities to improve cost efficiency, high revenues, and improved return on capital. Organisations that are intended to achieve successes during the crisis time need to forge the new operating model. At the same time the motivational leaders must ensure that they do not revert to old processes and past behaviour of scarifying the speed of execution. It requires making a permanent structural and behavioural change to deal with the requirement to sustain speed in ways that will motivate, inspire and engage employees considering it as a new normal.
Benefits of digitalisation
Digitalisation shall make the enterprises and customers more sustainable and profitable across the complete value chain to maximise return on assets by improving production and supply chain management. Adoption of complete digitalisation in the production ecosystem has created opportunities as newer business involvement enhances customer value proposition. Enterprises need near-real-time data with 360-degree insight across the business value chain from production to warehouse, shelf stock to customer orders enabling online visibility that gives confidence to buyers, increases trust and revenue growth.
Industry leaders may face difficulties in reducing the initial investments required for developing solutions around digitalisation/digital transformation. Selecting the right technology to seamlessly retrieve the methodically stored valuable data and empowers the workforce to access the insight enterprises information required for modern manufacturing. By implementing digital transformation, the workforce and technology collaborate in new ways, which is at the heart of the new operating model by creating value in the enterprises. Digital transformation in other ways provides new platforms that can exploit innovation at every layer of the associated technology stack that is likely to yield new ways of people’s working to create value for the business.
The advanced technologies which drive the digital transformation on Industry 4.0 platform are mainly:
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Automation
Digital Data & Cloud Computing
3D/4D Printing/Additive Manufacturing (AM)
Blockchain
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR)
Robotics & Cobotics
Digital Twins
Wireless Instrumentation
Digital Network Management & Load Optimisation
Automatic Visual cum Product Inspection Image Sensors
Secure Cyber cum Physical Environment (Cybersecurity)
Inter-Machine Com (IMC) or Machine-To-Machine Communication
Immersive Technologies (XR)
Intelligent Sensors
Smart Manufacturing & Modern Operational Technology.
Embracing digital transformation enhances the interconnectivity between modular systems that opens up a myriad of benefits in manufacturing for the enterprises, improves its agility, boosts flexibility and upgrades the operational performance.
Steps for adaptation of new digital platform
1. Relearn the processes with cross functional teams in organisation
2. Study the current platform, its flexibility and strength
3. Identification the bottlenecks and area of improvement
4. Plan for advance digital solution and its implementation process
5. Implementation and integration with modular approach, and
6. Training and continuous improvement for additional features.
The digital transformation creates an environment where human and technology are closely integrated that helps to take quicker decisions based on activities occurring within the organisations. Business requirement of current time is for secure and faster response, in easy and real-time based prompt feedback, while protecting obligations of each stakeholder.
Contracts in sales
Automated rule-based standard contracts are required in business, which can be dynamically updated with the scope for every transaction and acceptable to buyers. This reduces the friction points and lengthy negotiation every time. These agile contracts can bring value to produce defect free contracts. This whole process improves confidence with customers and leaves less/no chance of reinventing the wheel to prepare a new contract on every project. Such a modular contract once prepared shall automatically update its content with similar transactions by changing common variables. The same contract can be adopted for new products in the extended business line at their global offices/production lines.
Horizontal integration and expansion
Importance shall be given for seamless horizontal integration in each and every digital module used in the company and bridging the gap by adding/improving automation to every possible activity. Mapping the horizontal integration of similar operations/activities using digital twins generates a large amount of data and this improves overall performance by comparing the best out of each line. Digital twin shall be implemented to the production line, products, operation and finally to performance simultaneously. With this user can predict the future performance of the product development and product delivery.
Vertical integration in digital world
The next step is the vertical integration which improves the performance by data analysing automated tools/software and a team of experts by creating/injecting known errors. The software tools analyse the outcome and consequences of these errors, its benefits, in many possible scenarios under pre-considered business dynamics using new technologies in the modern environment. Digital transformation, by adding artificial intelligence to the level of the human mind, with on-going emerging technologies in the digital world intended for business, improves engineering and helps researchers to develop innovative product outcomes.
Digital transformation also helps in non-technical areas like finance, accounting, market analysis, system security, administration, product marketing and stores/warehouses to optimise performance and produce reliable results which facilitate management to take the non-risk rapid decisions for expansion.
Chatbots and their utility
Digital marketing is becoming more popular to automate business conversations. The chatbot software prompts automated responses based on user requests of information from a large database. The bots are powered by AI (artificial intelligence) functions for specific response and prompt with logic based conversation tree which is gaining importance for marketing after digital transformation linked to all enterprise modules. In large organisations having multiple products, chatbots can be used in product service to narrow down customer issues before directing them to the right department and concern person to guide/help him. Very common example of chatbots are FAQ – frequently asked questions – where customers ask common questions of bots with various options linked to the answer to satisfy the need without wasting time of audio call connection with the right person. It is getting popular in malls for customers to know the way to the right shop they need to visit. The other common example of chatbots gaining popularity is in-app shopping where the system allows customers to browse through large product database and make direct purchases instructing with best delivery options which suits the buyer.
Risks and mitigation
Anticipating risks and challenges is an essential part of learning before implementing a successful digital transformation. Challenges can be mitigated by experienced skilled staff engaged in processes and knowledgeable experts from technology suppliers will make the transformation successful.
Conclusion
Digitalisation steers on capitalising the human resources intelligently, utilising physical resources effectively, managing the optimum investment and selecting/deploying the right technology in business to keep it profitable for years to come.
Jasbir Singh is an Automation Expert having long experience in Factory Automation, Line Automation, Implementation Strategist, Business Coach, Regular writer on automation, Artificial Intelligence, Robots/Cobots, Digital Technology, Network Communication, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Wireless Communication, Block Chain and use of advance digital technologies. He has established a long association with Business Houses/large production houses to improve factory automation in their production lines as well as productivity improvement in factories in India and overseas; and in advising and designing the units to transform into digital platforms by use of Artificial Intelligence. Email: [email protected]
