Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 10 | Page 22

LATEST INTELLIGENCE THREE SURE WAYS TO GET YOUR FACTORY FIT FOR THE FUTURE PRESENTED BY Download whitepaper here W herever your manufacturing business is on its Digital Transformation journey, there’s so much to consider that it’s easy for paralysis to set in. To keep your forward momentum, it pays to learn from businesses that seem unfazed by the challenge and are successfully driving transformation and growth. We call these businesses Grow Getters. Step by step, embrace change One thing Grow Getters have in common – especially the small-to-midsize manufacturers that we talk to – is that they move forward in small, smart, incremental steps. They identify the big changes they want to make, but don’t stress about the magnitude of their ambition. They know that if they keep making smart changes, step-by-step in the right direction, the momentum for innovation and transformation will build. 22 INTELLIGENTCIO Invest in visibility Grow Getters know that they first need to identify the right steps to take. This is why they invest in technologies that give them greater visibility, from the factory floor through all of their core business processes – sales, financials, customer relationship management, supply chains, purchasing, inventory, shipping, invoicing and so on. We see this when we look at their technology investments. In a 2017 paper, Aberdeen Group points to three technology trends driving Digital Transformation for manufacturers – the Internet of Things (IoT), advanced analytics and cloud-based capabilities. All three promote greater operational flexibility and efficiency. Equally importantly, they all promote better visibility of operations, enabling manufacturers to achieve insights that they can translate into smart decisions and action. n www.intelligentcio.com