A Continuous Improvement ( Kaizen ) Driven Approach for Realistic Digital Transformation
Many strategic initiatives such as the Industry IoT Consortium ( IIC ) and e-F @ ctory 2 Alliance , have widely discussed the concept of smart manufacturing , underlying enabling technologies , and impacts on different views of industrial use . To benefit from the full potential of smart manufacturing , many manufacturers are capitalizing on their essential functions as well as innovation to stay ahead of competitors and embrace the change in manufacturing .
However , the broader views of smart manufacturing that manufacturers try to cover , the more difficult it is to abstract the implementation . As a result , the journey to have smart manufacturing fails to achieve its intended results . Therefore , it is vital to take a realistic approach , as manufacturing implementations and improvements happen in steps , not jumps . In business practice , it is equally important to monitor the Return on Investment ( ROI ), where a good ROI can elevate the value capture of a company ’ s sustainability . There is a need in every step of smart manufacturing practice to measure how well the current manufacturing has been employed and predict the achievable capability with reasonable ROI .
In this article , we present a concept for a maturity model to assist manufacturers with a better understanding of the status of their efforts in smart manufacturing and visualize ROI to aid the firm in making continuous improvements for sustainability . We also would like to provide real life case studies utilizing maturity assessment to lower the barriers in understanding .
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IEC MSB FOF white paper