Challenges of industrial transformation-Bryan Christiansen

The digitalization of business processes and industrial proceedings that drive the competition in the market is nowhere more obvious than on the plant floor. Automation, robotics, sensors, and different software solutions have completely changed how people interact with equipment and how products are created.

Heavy industries with high operational costs have a big incentive to pursue digital transformation. However, they are faced with a double-edged sword. While automation and digitalization promise a high return on investment, the transition process comes with big upfront costs and nobody can guarantee a smooth ride.

To maximize their chances for successful digital transformation, here are a few sinkholes they need to avoid.

Getting the necessary buy-ins to aid industrial transformation 

Ensuring the necessary buy-in comes in two parts: budget approval and change management. This is a situation where top management has to be all-in. There are going to be upfront costs, there are going to be ongoing implementation costs, there is going to be some decrease in output while the changes are rolling in, and there are almost certainly going to be some unforeseen expenses.

Top management needs to realize all of that, allocate the necessary budget, and show the commitment to pursue this project up to completion.

The second part is getting buy-in from all other employees. This is often discussed under the term change management and is a challenge for any organization that goes through digital transformation. Industrial organizations might have additional struggles in this regard as they have to replace long-standing legacy systems and push workers to change their workflow which has stayed the same for decades now.

We have seen that first-hand in the maintenance department. An organization implemented condition monitoring technology to measure asset health and develop better digital maintenance calendars. However, for a few different reasons, the technicians and mechanics never fully adopted the tools. The bottom line is that they spent money on technology they barely used.

To ensure that doesn’t happen, top management needs to involve all employees in the process, explain what is being done and why, and show how will that benefit them and the organization as a whole. The right people need to get the right responsibilities and possibly even offered incentives for a job well done.

Setting the right goals, strategy, and pace

The technology itself should not be a driver of change, that’s what the goals are for. In other words, you are not implementing new tools simply because there are new tools available in the market, you are implementing them because you are trying to reach certain goals.

There are many different things that an industrial organization can look to digitalize and automate. The success of the implementation will depend on establishing a realistic plan of action.
First, you look at the goals. By knowing what you are trying to achieve (and the budget you have at your disposal), it is going to be much easier to select which business processes need to be transformed and what kind of technology needs to be implemented.

After that list is ready, the strategy needs to outline the priority of changes. In the industrial environment, one of the common mistakes is trying to get everything done at once. Management underestimates the level of impact that changes in one part of the organization can have on other departments.

Digital transformation is a process that can last for several years and should be treated that way.

Managing and securing data

Organizations that use old legacy systems and don’t run on modern software solutions struggle to fully utilize all of the data that becomes available when they go through digital transformation. Suddenly, they not only need data analysts, but they need to expand their IT department to keep everything running smoothly.

One Deloitte Industry 4.0 study asked manufacturing companies to what extent are they making use of the opportunity to analyze machine data, for example, to avoid defects in the production process. As you can see, only a few organizations are fully utilizing available data.

Securing the data is almost as big of a challenge as managing it. The more industrial business processes rely on data, automation, and software, the more are they exposed to cybersecurity threats.

One way to combat that is by running everything through internal company servers. However, a much simpler and cheaper approach is to work with reliable software vendors to make the most out of the cloud-based technology. The final decision should be done on a case-to-case basis after running a cost risk analysis.

About the author

Bryan Christiansen is the founder and CEO of Limble CMMS. Limble is a modern, easy to use mobile CMMS software that takes the stress and chaos out of maintenance by helping managers organize, automate, and streamline their maintenance operations.

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