Study on Industry 4.0: Blessing and duty for SME exporters

Sky-Frame AG from Frauenfeld is a specialist for frameless sliding windows. The company opened its US branch with its own showroom in 2014. For this market entry, the independent jury of business, science and media representatives presented the Export Award in the "Step In" category. American builders with high demands on design and quality love the frameless sliding windows "made in Switzerland". Window fronts up to five meters high are possible. For the US market, Sky-Frame had to obtain various new elaborate certifications. In Florida, the Sky-Frame system is even hurricane-tested. In one and a half years, Sky-Frame has realized five projects and achieved a turnover of several hundred thousand US dollars.

The awards were presented by Ruth Metzler-Arnold, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Switzerland Global Enterprise, at today's Foreign Trade Forum. The focus was on Industry 4.0 and the importance of this fourth industrial revolution for Swiss SME exporters.

Export after the fourth industrial revolution

In the future scenario of Industry 4.0, today's linear value chains are transforming into value networks. The basis for this is the exchange of data and the automation of production processes. This leads to companies being able to innovate and produce together, largely without frictional losses between the organizations. A specialist is responsible for each process, regardless of industry, size or distance from the other participants in the value network.

These correlations are shown by a study commissioned by Switzerland Global Enterprise, which was presented at the Foreign Trade and Investment Forum. "The flexibility and niche competence of Swiss SMEs predestines them for the world of the fourth industrial revolution. Never before have there been so many starting points for SMEs to do business internationally," summarises Daniel Küng, CEO of S-GE. "New creative business models enable more revenues while increasing efficiency in international business."

Good starting position for Swiss SMEs

Already today, the difficult currency situation has led to a high level of agility and efficiency among Swiss SMEs. Their innovative capacity, high industrial value added and broad use of technology also equip them well for the fourth industrial revolution. This potential must be exploited in order to realise the opportunities of the future scenario.

"Anyone who doesn't go with the fourth industrial revolution will be gone. This applies not only to suppliers from MEM and ICT, but to all industries," says Daniel Küng. "But SMEs can proceed step by step. Tomorrow, a CEO can already book further training for suitable employees and appoint a person responsible for driving digitalisation forward in the company.

A second step is to use existing tools to digitise international business, for example via the Export Digital platform launched by S-GE and Google." In the longer term, the aim is to get to know customers at home and abroad better, to explore new technologies and business models beyond industry boundaries, and to dare to experiment a little.

Finally, SMEs also need to rethink their relationships with their international business partners and competitors in order to create the basis for more exchange of data and know-how. The more digital an organization becomes, the more urgent questions of security - keyword cyber security - and intellectual property become.

Investments in export markets

The fourth industrial revolution is already advancing rapidly in many of Switzerland's key export markets. Regardless of product or service, industry and target market, B2B or B2C, this is creating new business opportunities for Swiss SMEs that transform their business model and products in time.

Technology companies from the MEM or ICT sector in particular will have concrete opportunities to benefit from Industrie 4.0 in the coming years. In the traditional market of Germany, 40 billion euros will be invested in Industrie 4.0 applications in the coming years, according to a study by PwC.

The technological pioneer nation of the USA, as well as the high-tech-oriented markets of Japan, South Korea and Singapore, are also focusing on the digitalisation of their industries. Swiss SMEs with their reputation for qualitative, precise niche solutions can succeed here.

For more information on the importance of Industry 4.0 for Swiss SMEs and their international business, see www.s-ge.com/4IR

The stories of the two Export Award winners and the other four finalists can be found on www.s-ge.com/exportaward