Digital Transformation Is More Than a Buzzword
One of the sobering realities in today’s manufacturing environment is that IT systems aren’t as smart and connected as most CIOs would like to believe. Despite growing digitalization, too much data, information and knowledge resides in silos.
Gaining visibility into everything is daunting. Tying POS and supplier data into operations, logistics and shipping on a real-time basis is a mind-bending task. Few organizations—even the smartest and the best—have mastered this concept, which typically encompasses the fourth industrial revolution, a.k.a. the industrial internet of things.
It’s not that the tools don’t exist. A growing array of sensors, smart devices and machines, along with agile cloud platforms, provide the plumbing for real-time, integrated systems. Yet, even with all these technologies in place and a mobile and cloud framework to support digital business, there’s another nagging problem: getting everyone on board and pointed in the same direction.
A supplier might not see the advantage of tagging raw materials and individual items with sensors or RFID. A company may not have the money to devote to an initiative, or it may not realize the same level of value as your company. Multiply all of this across multiple suppliers, partners and customers, and the complexity grows exponentially.
