FUTURE MANUFACTURING
Using digital platforms to drive growth
GERD BART
Many technical decision-makers in manufacturing companies are asking themselves which platform model will best enable them to implement their growth strategy and avoid data silos . For the individual use case , they should know exactly the advantages and disadvantages of different platform models . Because only the right platform benefits the digital transformation of the business and leads to growth .
Sources : Transaction-Network
Digital platforms : Open standard solutions are cost-efficient , customer-oriented and user-friendly .
Until the present time , companies have typically looked to proprietary systems for the solution . They have established stand-alone solutions for individual business areas such as production , sales and service . However , without success , because these individual systems create one thing above all : inconsistent data silos that make unified data management difficult .
Therefore , a rethinking takes place and many technical decision makers are taking the next evolutionary step of using closed platforms from enterprise resource planning ( ERP ) vendors . At first glance , this seems to be a good solution due to the interlocking of the individual processes . Few realize that many platform providers are taking advantage of the situation to create a lock-in effect with closed architectures . This makes it more difficult to switch to other providers .
Digital backbone : open platforms gain importance
Open platform with interfaces to the outside are therefore a reasonable way of realizing one ’ s own digitization opportunities compared to competition . The stan-
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