Digitalisation: “To be or not to be”

For over 20 years, I have been observing the industry through the eyes of a consultant in the field of manufacturing, logistics, SAP solutions and the set-up of entire IT systems. I also follow the changes in the industry as the CEO of the consulting company PROCESSI.

The very title of this blog contains the thought of the famous playwright, William Shakespeare. It reads: “To be, or not to be, that is the question”. The thought may also relate to digitalisation itself, all the processes, changes, information and marketing.

Why? The thought tells us that digitalisation can be seen as an unstoppable process of change and progress, and the same applies to all transitional industrial revolutions. It is also important to point out that the corona crisis is not responsible for starting the process of change in the field of digitalisation. However, it is undoubtedly responsible for increasing the number of changes in the field of digital transformation.

The figure below illustrates the transformation of information technology over time. The future started all the way back in 2012 with the publication of the guidelines for Industry 4.0.

Both companies and individuals face challenges brought about by the industry within which they operate. In addition, the current IT technology platform and the need to understand the impact and further decisions regarding digitalisation are the real test for entrepreneurs.

Tracking change in the field of digital transformation is extremely important. Cisco’s CEO, John Chambers, wrote that at least 40% of businesses will fail in the next 10 years if they do not find out how to adapt their operations to new technologies.

How can you deal with digital transformation? In general, we can start with the questions below, which require the consideration of basic and advanced business, technological and ethical orientation.

• What is ‘transformed’ in the digital transformation of a company?
  • Do you transform your product or services?
  • Do you transform the path to your product or service?
  • Did you decide to transform both?
• What is ‘smart’ in a smart factory?
  • Is it the use of a robot?
  • Is it the use of artificial intelligence?
  • Is it the use of smart sensors?
• What is ‘digital’ in digitalisation?
  • Is it the use of cloud services?
  • Is it the use of mobile devices?
• What has remained ‘human’ in Industry 4.0?
  • Do we still need workers?

Let’s take a look at the example of the automotive supplier sector, which is very strong in Slovenia. Here the trend of moving from Asia into Europe along with the simultaneous migration towards allocating a share of the car industry in a company into other industries using existing production means is becoming more prominent.

Reducing parts in an electric car also reduces the number of suppliers, who are required to offer more complete solutions that are adapted for electrification. In this case, there is also a need to change the support IT infrastructure , which requires different adjustments and flexibility, so they do not only perform a support function in the company, but are part of the entire chain.

If this article aroused your interest and you wish to learn more about the upcoming changes in the field of digital transformation, sign up for our webinar, which will be held on 20 May 2021. Sign up to our webinar and find out how to overcome the challenges of digitalisation. Find out more >>

Let’s conclude with a statement by Capgemini’s Vice President of Administrations, Didier Bonnet, that the only wrong move in digital transformation is when you don’t make any moves at all.