MBR_ISSUE 46_NOV_DEC_18_LowRes

Malta Business Review
ICT
When it comes to Digital Transformation,
there’s more than one way to skin a cat
(but only a few ways to get quick ROI)
Last week in San Francisco, I met with a major automotive manufacturer. We’ve been working with one of their divisions for
many years, so this meeting was about taking the learnings from that division and applying them to another.
The challenge they outlined: “It’s not that I don’t
know where to start. We’ve already started. I need
to know where to focus!”
Sound familiar? If you’re in a large or mid-sized
manufacturing company, chances are you’re
already trialling new technologies for a range of
niche use cases. As productivity pressure piles up
and new solutions become available, it can be hard
to know where to focus your digital transformation
efforts.
I’m excited to be at the Manufacturing Leaders’
Summit next week, discussing this very problem
and how our diverse range of customers are
approaching it. For a preview of my presentation,
read on…
Productivity Pressures vs New Technologies
Since the dawn of the industrial revolution,
manufacturers have been looking for ways to boost
productivity. Whether through Taylor’s Time &
Motion studies, Toyota’s Total Quality Management
system, or GE’s Six Sigma programme, the most
successful companies do more with less. With
today’s new technologies, we have opportunities
to drive productivity further.
Is it really needed? Well, to give some context,
in North America unplanned downtime costs
process industry businesses $20bn annually, 80%
of which is preventable. Conversely, our own
estimates suggest that adoption of Industrial
Internet technologies could add between £200bn
and £320bn to the UK's GDP by 2030. Industrial
Internet solutions could bring greater efficiency
to key UK sectors, translating into real growth.
New technologies offer a way out of this stagnant
growth – but as my customer said last week it
can be hard to know where to focus. Today, new
technologies enable greater productivity, but not
all tech is created equal; some are more mature
than you might think.
There are a host of tech buzzwords out there, from
drones to digital twins, additive manufacturing to
augmented reality, blockchain to big data, edge
to the cloud, predictive maintenance to machine
learning. Many companies dabble in these but find
themselves bogged down in proofs of concept or
pilots that never take off.
Avoiding Pilot Purgatory: Why Build if You
can Buy?
Many IT departments invest in local solutions
tackling specific problems. To release value from
these initiatives, business leaders need to focus
on projects that can scale across multiple sites
and use cases. It wouldn’t make sense for your IT
team to build a new version of Microsoft Office, so
why should they build software for your industrial
assets and processes?
The key is understanding how to get from where
you are to where you want to be, tying investments
in digital technologies back to business strategy.
Opportunities to experiment are greater than ever,
but while it’s great having so many options, it also
means making more decisions – which solution to
choose, who is best aligned with your business,
what you can afford and what will bring the best
return.
Examples Worth Following
Many companies are already making great
progress. Here are some use cases from our
customers:
Gerdau, the largest producer of long steel in the
Americas, had a focus on ROI and reducing costs
from the beginning. They knew the importance of
a clear, outcome-focused ROI strategy – saving $4.5
billion annually. By connecting their digitalisation
activity to their business strategy they pioneered
the definition of productivity in the global steel
industry.
Intel proved the importance of scalability after we
ran a successful pilot with them installing APM on
fan filter units. Now, we’re partnering with them
to sell the solution across the semiconductor
industry. The model demonstrates the benefits of
greater processing power – from edge to cloud.
SIG, Swiss German food & beverage packaging
manufacturer, have a long history of data collection
and analysis on their machines. Their in-house IT
team had started over 150 digital transformation
projects, so they identified six priorities and
channelled their efforts there – focussing on our
unique Asset Performance Management and Field
Service Management solutions. A full analysis of
the upfront and hidden costs will help you make an
informed decision for the success of your business.
SIG knew that for them, buy was better than build.
Deborah Sherry is the Senior Vice President and
Chief Commercial Officer at GE Digital Europe,
Russia & CIS MBR
Creditline: GE Gigittal Europe
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