What is Industry 4.0?
Industry 4.0 refers to the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies. It originates from the high-tech strategy of the German government, which promotes the digitization of manufacturing, and it represents the 4th industrial revolution that takes place in manufacturing.
In the Netherlands there is a similar initiative named Smart Industry. Like 4.0, it encourages a so called “smart factory”: a fully connected and flexible manufacturing environment using data from connected operations and production systems to learn and adapt to new demands.
How to gain competitive advantages in the Industry 4.0 era?
Today, technological capabilities evolve rapidly, supply chain complexity increases and global fragmentation of production and demand develops at a fast pace. As a result, competition pressure grows, especially from unexpected origins. Business as usual is no longer valid to respond to these developments. And above all, company size does not matter, company speed does.
The Industry 4.0 era affects businesses in the customer life cycle, operations cycle and R&D cycle. Putting the customer first, leading companies recognize the opportunities of digital transformation and value strategies based on customer intimacy, Industry 4.0 and thought leadership. Customer centric thinking is placed at the core of their organization and digital transformation enables them to deliver beyond customer needs. It transforms companies from a cost driven to a value driven approach. It opens up new revenue streams through new business models, leading to higher margins, a more agile response to customer demand and a faster time to market.
How to materialize on the opportunities in the Industry 4.0 era?
A transformation is required that includes technology, resources, organization and culture to fully unlock the business opportunities. The ultimate goal is to become a learning, agile company capable of continuous, agile adaptation to a changing environment.
Where to start?
The acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index provides companies with guidance for carrying out this transformation. Mark Global partnered with the Industrie 4.0 Maturity Centre and incorporated the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index in our NxXT Approach to build vision, define strategy and build a clear digital transformation roadmap for our manufacturing customers.
Materialize on the business opportunities. Stay ahead. Get Aligned. Start your 4.0 journey with the Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index.