Three Trends in Manufacturing Smart Transformation

Trends in manufacturing smart transformation

Global manufacturing sees digital transformation as a matter of urgency. However, digital transformation involves a wide range of aspects, from operational thinking, business models to talent transformation, etc., which are issues that companies must ponder under the topic of digital transformation. At present, enterprises are faced with the four problems usually encountered in digital transformation, including the lack of cross-border innovative thinking, data governance, information security, and talent transformation. He further pointed out that, for example, the current definition of digital transformation by many manufacturers in Taiwan usually still focuses on equipment investment. Under cost considerations, they hope to improve production efficiency, but they rarely lack the thinking of cross-border innovation.

Now the trend of manufacturing styles is changing, such as the change in the way end consumers obtain product information, the shortening of the early-adopting period, which intensifies the pressure of product manufacturing, or the change in sales channels. Therefore, the market has also begun to link the consumer side through digital methods. Some industries have started cross-border cooperation through breakthrough innovation, which will be a major trend in digital transformation.

For the three major trends observed in enterprise smart transformation, he pointed out that there are more and more smart manufacturing issues returning to the experience demand, including enhancing the experience of consumers and customers and even focusing on how to improve the experience of factory employees. Reduce the risk of factory accidents. In addition to the experience requirements, information security and risk considerations are also becoming more and more urgently focused on by manufacturers. Now many industrial computer manufacturers such as Advantech and NEXCOM are beginning to seek transformation, instead of simply providing hardware, but from Smart systems provide customers with complete software and hardware solutions, but at the same time, end-users’ doubts about security may affect the willingness of the solution to be introduced. Therefore, these manufacturers are now beginning to incorporate related IoT security companies through mergers and acquisitions. Become part of the solution to increase the trust of the industry.

The second trend is the driving energy for growth and innovation. In the process of smart transformation, more and more companies are beginning to seek new business opportunities, such as from the government's implementation of the "5+2" policy, whether it is renewable energy, medical technology, etc., are emerging industries that investors invest heavily in. Also, many manufacturers are driving service-oriented transformation. Wen Shaoqun pointed out that many manufacturing industries have begun to transform into ODMs, brands, and even service providers, and those originally doing R&D talents have turned to sales or marketing business, and there have been innovations in talent mobility.

The third trend is in the current process of restructuring the global supply chain. The layout presents diversification including centralization, globalization, or localization. In recent years, under the change of supply chain, Wen Shaoqun observed that companies are also looking for talents. Change, and there are two types of talents that are needed by companies in the future, one is digital transformation talents, and the other is strategic procurement, especially strategic procurement talents, in response to supply chain transfers, especially in the face of the current unfinished trade war and production bases Where it is located will determine the cost of production, and also in response to the trade war, when citing advanced technology, it is necessary to pay attention to whether the intellectual property right is prohibited by mistake, which is also closely related to strategic procurement.

With the complexity of geopolitics, the shortage of talents, the popularity of 5G, and the maturity of Industry 4.0

The manufacturing industry is undergoing a large-scale digital transformation. The so-called fourth industrial revolution has already arrived. Not only are they largely replacing inefficiencies, high costs, inflexible production lines, slow time to market (Go-To-Market), etc. The transformation of traditional manufacturing, at the same time, manufacturers who embrace Industry 4.0 are constantly introducing destructive power products, services, and even business models.

However, in the modern era in which the pace of transformation is accelerating and many technologies are gradually maturing, the world has encountered the worst epidemic of this generation. Problems such as loss of production capacity, broken supply chains, and a drastic reduction in demand have seriously affected the prospects of manufacturing. Countless manufacturers Affected, some even declared bankruptcy.

In this extremely efficient industry, this epidemic has severely thwarted the development of the manufacturing industry, but at the same time, many manufacturers have reflected on their own operating models, and supply chain risk management and organizational resilience have once again entered the industry. The mainstream of development drives the next wave of transformation.

If we use a few words to describe the recent manufacturing environment, then "persistent confusion" may be more appropriate. The first is that the Sino-US trade war has led many foreign investors to withdraw from China and transfer investment targets. Many companies have stopped purchasing from the Chinese market because of tariffs. Although Taiwan is a beneficiary, the decoupling from China has also hurt many companies that rely on the Chinese market.

The second is the epidemic that is ravaging the world. Initially, the worst epidemic in decades has caused many manufacturers to rely on Chinese manufacturing to break the chain. Later, as the epidemic in Europe and the United States was severe, global demand fell sharply, causing many businesses No orders at all, no business to do. Now, the epidemic situation seems to be improving in many countries, but in developing countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, and Mexico, the number of people infected with the epidemic is increasing, and such uncertainty has also increased the pressure on many operators.

Finally, the maturity of Industry 4.0 technology, technological advancement, and many destructive digital technologies continue to surface, and also squeeze the survival space of traditional manufacturers. Digital transformation is imminent.

Many technologies in Industry 4.0 have exploded in the past five years. At the same time that the maturity of AI has greatly increased, the ease of use has also increased significantly, so that more and more businesses can use it. The growth of 3D printing technology has also Let it be no longer just a tool for making prototypes, but one of the tools that can be applied on a large scale; the maturity of the hybrid cloud model also allows operators to better manage data and so on.

The maturity of digital technology has not only changed the sales model of manufacturers but also changed the relationship between OEMs and end-users. Now, operators can have more and more touchpoints in the end user’s customer journey and thus improve the core competitiveness of the brand. Such a change also means that the boundaries of many existing operating models such as B2B sales, distribution, and agency will become blurred, and this model is often referred to as B2B2C.

Although the concept of supply chain resilience was put forward decades ago, with the intensification of globalization and the current pressure of market competition, the risk of supply chain seems to have become the legacy code of many companies, making the team timid. However, this epidemic once again brought the theme of "resilience" back to the mainstream, driving many companies to establish a supply chain management model that is more aware of risks, resists attacks, and can quickly recover.

In the current situation of slowing demand and intensifying competition leading to the compression of gross profit margins, manufacturers must find new growth strategies in this market-driven by technology, economic development, and new sales models. Sales of pure products will no longer be the primary goal of manufacturers but will focus on strategies to improve the growth of after-sales service. Today's manufacturing is no longer just the production and foundry of physical products but includes growing products and services.

What 5G brings is faster, more stable, and extremely low-latency network transmission. Just as a few years ago, the increase in computing speed drove the vigorous development of the entire artificial intelligence industry. With the gradual deployment of 5G in the world, the benefits it will bring will further drive factories to become more intelligent and connected. Stronger and more diverse business models will flourish. A study even found that 5G will create a value of 13.2 trillion dollars by 2035.

Brexit, the China-US trade war, and the epidemic that raged across the world. The market in 2020 is full of uncertainty. The pace of globalization seems to be slowing down. Many players even believe that the recession, the epidemic does not know when it will end. At the same time, China-US trade the war has not yet reached a conclusion. For manufacturers, such uncertainty will greatly increase the difficulty of doing business, but it will also be the new normal of the entire manufacturing industry.