A billion-dollar manufacturer recently underwent a business transformation. Explore our complete case study conducted by Oxford Economics.
We all know that the pace of change in our society is accelerating, and world events are constantly taking the market by surprise. Meanwhile, technology is evolving ever faster and keeping up with the opportunities created by bleeding-edge tech is a Sisyphean task.
The ability to change the way you do business quickly and repeatedly is becoming the difference between survival and collapse for enterprise. Yet, careful and purposeful change requires comprehensive oversight and deep understanding.
A surgeon studies anatomy for many years and uses advanced tools to scan their patient to build a comprehensive model of their organs before operating. In the same way, successful businesses understand their organization and maintain a viewpoint across their operational and IT landscapes, so they can masterfully carve out legacy technology and inefficient process, and transplant in innovative new tools and methodologies.
Doing this requires complete insight across four domains. You need to have clarity on your:
- People
- Processes
- Applications
- Data
To find out more about this company’s story and other Oxford Economics research on business transformation, download our complete case study:
BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION CASE STUDY: Accelerating At Altitude
The Drivers For Manufacturing Change
“We have been focusing on integrating ‘4.0 technologies’, which covers AI, autonomy, internet of things, and advanced analytics. We have increased the use of digital twins when it comes to manufacturing- and while not fully done, we are nearly complete in our smart factory upgrades. We now have an ability to understand on a digital basis how our factories are actually performing.”
The manufacturer's business transformation was intended to leverage what they call “4.0 technologies.” The manufacturing industry is facing tremendous pressure to leverage innovative devices that would have been science fiction just a few years ago, and this is a challenge for a previously traditional, brick-and-mortar industry.
READ: Re-Architecting Manufacturing - EA For Production
We’ve written before about the transformation of the manufacturing industry, but thankfully, manufacturers are rising to the challenge and “embracing the benefits that something like generative AI can bring”. Yet, they can’t simply stumble into a business transformation blind, as the company had previously learned.
When attempting a cloud transformation, the organization quickly discovered that it wasn’t as straightforward as they’d imagined. “A lot of things were regulated, and we couldn’t just ‘do it in the cloud’, but we learned a lot about cloud security needs, among other things”.
This time, however, our customer was ready for their business transformation. By gaining a full understanding of their current and target states, they were able to find a pathway to move between the two.
5 Stages Of Business Transformation Success
For business transformation success like the manufacturer's, SAP recommends a five-stage process:
1 Discover
Lay the foundation for the business transformation by discovering and understanding your organization’s current processes and applications. This involves collating all the data you have on your processes into one repository, and linking that up to all your live data sources.
2 Analyze
Analyze the data you have brought to your fingertips in order to gain a deeper understanding. This will surface insight into your performance, identify inefficiencies, and provide data-driven recommendations for improvement.
3 Design
Design your vision for the future of your organization. Develop strategies to achieve it, and milestones for measuring progress.
4 Implement
Road map your transformation and implement the steps you need to take to achieve your vision. Communicate effectively with stakeholders, provide training, and document progress throughout the transformation.
5 Operate
Continue to operate your business with minimal disruption during your ongoing transformation. Monitor and adapt to ensure your business remains innovative and responsive to new challenges.
To find out more about how this company leveraged the SAP five-step process and other Oxford Economics research on business transformation, download the complete case study:
