Are you looking for ways to boost your win rate and your ability to attract and retain top talent? We have worked with hundreds of companies, both large and small, that are making a wide range of changes. Some changes are straightforward, like automating repetitive tasks, and some are complex, like implementing new product lifecycle management software. Regardless of the complexity of the change, this adoption of digital technology is transforming manufacturing businesses, helping them gain market share by reducing costs, increasing accuracy, decreasing time to market, and enhancing the client and employee experience.
Moving Past the Status Quo
The factors that made a manufacturer successful in the past, such as strong leadership, useful products, competitive pricing, and a stable workforce, are still important, but they simply aren’t enough in today’s market. Companies that stick with the status quo risk being swallowed by competitors that are taking advantage of the efficiencies possible with digital technology that replaces manual activities or older technologies.
Here are a few examples of how updating technology can improve efficiency and your bottom line:
- Enter information into a database once and leverage it throughout the product’s lifecycle
- Automate laborious tasks like aggregating information and creating BOMs
- Add a digital element to a product, project, or service to create a new revenue source
- Capture all product-related data to share across platforms, supply chains, and with customers
- Reduce the risk of time-consuming and costly cyberattacks with more secure platforms
- Create digital twins of physical assets, like engines, turbines, and factories, to perform simulations of potential changes before applying the changes to assets in the field
- Implement cloud computing so individuals in different locations and time zones can easily access current project data
- Use the vast amount of data available from digital tools (like a website) to drive growth, value, and innovation
- Leverage technology to minimize waste to achieve sustainability goals
Success Factors – Technology and People
When companies initially think of digital transformations, they often think of technology. Yes, selecting the right technology is a critical component of the transformation. Ensuring staff embraces the changes is equally important. By implementing changes that reflect the company culture, such as focusing on quality, customer-orientation, sustainability, and work-life balance, and providing the proper training and support, individuals, even those entrenched in traditional methods, are more likely to learn and use the new tools to help the company achieve its goals faster.
Where to Start
With so many options, the process of just getting started can be overwhelming. Which changes will make the biggest impact? What technologies are best for your company? How will you get everyone – from leadership to staff – on board?
Contact IMAGINiT. Our team of experts will start by getting a full understanding of your current situation before recommending a solution that may include software, implementation services, training, and support. We have experience with hundreds of manufacturers at all stages of digital transformation, from early stages that have relied on the same manual processes for decades to those well on their digital transformation journey. Let us help you automate tasks, remove non-value-added work, reveal useful information faster, and give employees and customers what they want.
