Digital Transformation may lean heavily on technology, but the process is about much more than that.
Upgrading technologies is about knowing your processes, knowing what options are available to you and – above all – to have the right mindset and corporate culture to properly put the pieces together!
Though there are plenty of success stories out there for organizations who widely expanded their KPIs, there are just as many that have failed due to the need for fast, short-term solutions.
Innovation is not something with a definitive beginning and end. Innovation is a process; one that doesn’t always have a one-size-fits-all solution.
In this conclusion to our discussion Digital Transformation Discussion, our D4M Senior Sale Team discusses the real metrics of success in a Digital Transformation project: the people AND culture of your organization!
Enough with the preamble; let’s hear what the Senior D4M Sales Team has to say:
Alan: Unfortunately, gentlemen, we’re running short on time. So, let me bring up a last topic!
Alan: Considering the cost (in both time and money) of data, looking through the various technologies that are available, reviewing pain points/technologies at in your production plants and trying to get them to run well, companies are spending money lots of money on digital transformation. At this point, I’d like to get both of your opinions on the importance of measuring the success of those digital transformation initiatives and – based on your experience – tell us the best way to set yourself up for success?
Alan: Afterall, measuring success is going to be a clear indicator about whether or not you’re accomplishing what you want to accomplish!
Jean Yves: First off, I think you raised a very good point. I think that aspect of measuring your business never goes away – whether you’re running old hardware or upgrading to the latest and greatest in Digital Manufacturing. I always use that old adage about corporate management “we manage what we can measure”, and that saying will always ring true.
Jean Yves: However, if you use a measuring stick or a data lake or measurement from a PLC machine, or what have you, I think – even if the process is always ongoing – you need a system measurement in place to gage your of success. And your point is absolutely right! You have to be able to measure how successful your journey is.
Jean Yves: Here’s another problem with companies when upgrading technology: they always think that new technology needs to have huge KPI changes or it wasn’t worth the time. To me, you don’t need to have a 25 KPI in your upgraded plant as proof of your success; heck, sometimes the facilities you upgrade don’t even have the capabilities to get to 25 KPI!
Jean Yves: You have to keep it simple and realistic. You may have the need or capacity of a KPI between five and ten at the most, but you have to pick the output that is right for you!
Jean Yves: But, as you just stated, Alan there’s no question that it will always need to be measured and, and sometimes your approach won’t always be obvious.
Jean Yves: Let’s take insurance companies as an example. one of the biggest measures of success in this day and age: the customer experience. Nowadays, insurance companies place a lot of emphasis on customer experience. They want to make sure their customers have the best experience they can have no matter what the industry.
Jean Yves: How on earth do you measure that? Well, it’s measurable. You can have survey, do some post event interviews, get some feedback to make the client have a better experience, etc. However, no matter what you set out to do, if you want to be a success, you must gage your success in order to improve and – no matter what your business approach or industry is – you have to find and maintain your way of measuring it; even if its just personalized to your business.
Alan: So, yeah, Raj, earlier you said that, and I’m paraphrasing here, that “a continuous improvement mindset is necessary to maintain an agile approach to digital transformation”. Can you expand that a little more or just tell us how important that mindset is to the digital transformation process?
Raj: I think digital transformation is a journey and not a project. To me, the term “project” means it has a start date and an end date. It’s not like that!
Raj: The process you’re starting is slow. You need to understand your priorities, you need to understand your business, you need to understand your system’s processes very well, and – if you are starting with a smaller chunk – treat it like a building block, and then keep on building on top of that!
Raj: The transformation process is not going to end at a particular time because you have to constantly look for innovations and that’s where the transformation, using the right technologies, comes in as it gives you the capability to innovate much faster than if you didn’t have it.
Raj: Now, I don’t want to say that everything is around technology, because – along with technology – you also have to look at the people, the culture, the operations, as well as your approach, your process, everything. You have to continuously be on the path of looking at where your weak points are and keep on innovating so you’re always on the right path and always having an edge.
Raj: Let me give you one statistic.
Raj: In an article written a few years ago by McKinsey, 70% of the business and digital transformation initiatives are failing because they don’t have good planning at their organization. Transformations fail because they have poor planning, poor communication, no consistent commitment from the business group, etc. because they don’t think of this process as a technological and business culture transformation.
Raj: Businesses constantly get into this problem where they think that, “okay, I’ve done this technological change, so I’m done with these conversations.” It’s not like that! It’s a constant process of innovation and businesses have to start thinking about it in those lines because – in the end – that’s the only way that digital transformation can be successful every single time.
Alan: So, there you have it: the human element to digital transformation. Jean-Yves and Raj, you’ve both given us a lot to think about and chew on here today. I appreciate you taking the time to go through this!
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