Digital Machinery Decoded

A practical guide for machinery companies to navigate digital transformation and outperform competition
Marc Ziegler | Sven Rossmann
Dec 2017 | Study | English

Digital Machinery Decoded

A practical guide for machinery companies to navigate digital transformation and outperform competition

Porsche Consulting surveyed 50 machinery companies from Germany, Italy and Switzerland as part of a new study on the digital transformation. The findings: In recent years, the focus of digital transformation in machinery was still being directed at efficiency gains. This has since been supplanted by a focus on the growth opportunities being created by new digital products and digital services, as well as the changes to customer relationships in multi-channel markets and customer service. Although two-thirds of the companies surveyed said they would undertake digital activities geared toward growth, efficiency and the customer experience, 88 per cent have become, and will remain, stuck by the time they reach the pilot phase. Company-wide implementation is a rarity.

In the study entitled “Digital Machinery Decoded”, management consultants at Porsche Consulting analyzed how companies can capitalize on the potential of the Industrial Internet of Things more holistically and more sustainably. They also examined how machinery engineers can improve their customer relationships by means of e-commerce and new methods of interaction, while simultaneously stimulating their after-sales business. The Porsche consultants highlight how companies can shape their digital transformation, and achieve digital success more quickly

83%

want to improve customer service through digital transformation.

76% 

expect that digitalization will change required competencies.

56%

find attraction, management, and retention of new talent is biggest obstacle.

Management Summary
  • C-level management recognizes digital transformation as imperative for the future, with digital initiatives expanding across efficiency, growth, and customer experience
  • Most machinery companies are still in the proof-of-concept stage and have not exploited digitalization’s full potential
  • Following a bolder, more highly structured, people-centric digital transformation approach, driven by the CEO, helps to become a digital leader
  • Change communication must be conducted across a multitude of channels– as practiced by 83% of successful CEOs
  • Self-directed learning must replace more rigid, directed learning curricula– otherwise, the likelihood for transformation failure increases significantly

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