The way is the goal

Those who want to master the increasingly complex requirements of their customers must not view the topic of digital transformation solely as a task for the IT department. Of course, different IT systems must be able to communicate with each other, "but at the same time, existing business models and internal and external processes will also change," notes Andreas Barth, Managing Director EuroCen-tral at Dassault Systèmes. "In order for such a networked world to become reality, not only is a central platform necessary, such as our 3DExperience platform, but above all people who work together across departments and interdisciplinarily."

More than 400 participants came to Berlin - mainly from the automotive, aviation, plant and mechanical engineering and high-tech sectors. They were interested in making internal processes more effective, improving customer relationships and opening up new sales opportunities through technology-based products and services. The 3DExperience Forum offered presentations on these topics by Industry 4.0 experts from Dassault Systèmes and its partners, as well as numerous customer reports from various industries.

In a digital world, the new product will in future be a combination of product functions, user experiences and new services and will also have to assert itself in this form in competition. Today, service already generates a large part of a plant manufacturer's sales. In order to optimize this, the operational data of the product, the current customer experience and other data sources must be combined.

Riemensperger speaks here of "products-as-a-service". These offerings are only made possible by platforms that are accessible both internally and externally. Such a platform economy will influence business models, increase adaptability to customer wishes and thus shorten value chains. In addition, they provide the opportunity to completely rethink one's own business model. This can be seen in the example of the automotive industry, which is moving towards autonomous driving. This enables completely new customer experiences. Companies like Google have recently started thinking about building cars that have to meet completely different criteria than the vehicles on the road today.

Digital transformation in medical technology and human resources management
Riemensperger also mentioned Philips' Health Watch, with which the company has virtually reinvented its own medical technology. In contrast to other pure fitness watches, it enables a heart patient, for example, to stay permanently in touch with a hospital. Through a combination of sensors and new analysis processes, it is thus possible to determine in advance how and when his condition could become critical. The patient can thus see a doctor in good time and, in extreme cases, receive immediate help. The exploitation of such innovations will become more important for development in the future than all efforts to increase effectiveness.

Personnel development and management are also changing as a result of the digital transformation. According to Prof. Dr. Armin Trost, Professor of Human Resources Management at the Business School of Furtwangen University, the old maxim of "the right person in the right place at the right time" is no longer fundamentally helpful. In the future, employees will have to be able to acquire the knowledge they need more quickly and share it with others as a result of constantly changing problems. Mixed project teams, peer feedback and social media platforms will therefore gain in importance over hierarchical structures. Andreas Barth said that this would be made easier by the fact that the young generation of employees has hardly any fear of contact with modern communication technologies, as they have already grown up with smartphones.

Projects that cannot go live
The findings of the various speakers were underpinned by the study "Digital Transformation in Manufacturing", which was conducted by IDC (International Data Corporation) on behalf of Dassault Systèmes in August 2016. It examines how far companies have already progressed in the area of Industry 4.0. In total, the experiences and perspectives of specialists and managers from 200 companies were included; large companies and medium-sized companies are almost equally represented.

"Although there is a great sense of optimism in German industry," reported Mark Alexander Schulte of IDC Central Europe, companies are often not sufficiently prepared for digitalization and the flood of data. For example, 55 % of companies still need too much time for coordination between departments and process steps, and 42 % lose information along the value chain because a uniform database is lacking.

It is striking that even successful pilot projects often cannot be transferred to live operation. Clear migration concepts are urgently needed here as to how data can be merged onto a common platform. Often, established structures and a lack of willingness to change stand in the way of a broad roll-out. Schulte pointed out, however, that such projects inevitably break new ground; success criteria can sometimes be defined unsatisfactorily and projects can therefore be misdirected. Companies should therefore not shy away from resorting to external know-how. Digitization offers great opportunities to intensify coordination along the value chain, to exchange experiences between departments and to react more quickly to errors or new customer requirements. The greatest potential lies in a closer and more efficient exchange between engineering and manufacturing. The first step should be to make these fully digitally integrated.

Challenges for the industry
The general rule for industrial companies is that only those who are prepared to take risks and explore new avenues will benefit from the digital transformation. Not every pilot project will ultimately meet initial expectations. Ultimately, new technologies and concepts must pay off and contribute to achieving the company's goals. At Henkel, for example, value is placed on a trial-and-error approach. Successful pilots should be scaled up quickly, while hopeless ones should be systematically stopped.

In summary, the study mentions the following challenges: On the one hand, the integration of the different data sources along the value chain, whereby data security must not be neglected. In production, on the other hand, value should be placed on completely restructuring established structures and processes in cooperation with all those involved, and finally, it is important to drive innovative products forward in the engine ring without restricting ongoing operations.