December - 201919MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTSCXO INSIGHTSBy Döndü Ünal Haktar, Head of Corporate Project Management and Head of HUGO BOSS Solutions, HUGO BOSS Textile Industries (FWB: BOSS)The Trilogy of the Next Manufacturing RevolutionThe massive expectation from digitalization pushes the leaders to take action rather than talking for not missing the next performance leap. A data-driven digital value chain to serve the requirements of "the empowered customer" is the key. A digital community, including employees as well as business partners, is a requisite to manage that value chain. However, in the realization of digitalization, various obstacles appear related with resourcing, organization, and technology in front of practitioners, as they all require radical transformation. The fourth industrial revolution promises to integrate processes and components vertical and horizontal through exponentially developing technologies. In the virtue of that super integration and high technological leverage, industry 4.0 alleges to overcome the increased challenges such as individualization, volatility, sustainability. However, that technology-driven revolution is more demanding than it seems. There is no universal formula to solve every organization's transformation equation for overcoming the obstacles in practice due to lack of skill, organizational readiness level, technological infrastructure, massive investment need, and contradictive payback period.How to Tailor Transformation Regarding your Company Shape?In the matter of digital transformation, the technological challenges mostly seem to be in front.. However, our experience shows that getting smart in manufacturing is more than technology. The most prominent success factors can be segregated into two dimensions:First, strategic management, including vision, strategy, organization, and leadership approach. Second, the capability of bringing the right combination of people, process, and technology. When this sophisticated equation is not designed by considering company dynamics, wastage of resources becomes inevitable. The vision and a thoroughly contextualized strategy, regarding the industry and firm conditions, is the prerequisite for framing this change. However, even if the strategy is formulated powerful, the implementation plans are shaped during the change. This shows that i4.0 vision requires a long-term, but a "blurred strategy," and an adaptive road map. The evolving characteristic of industry 4.0 forces the leaders to envision the way of the future to make people and organizations understand i4.0 expectations.The strong organizational alignment is an integral part of that "blurred" strategy and its execution. Curating the projects and scheduling them correctly is critical for avoiding the risk of conflict with the organizational goals and resources. In parallel, resourcing i4.0 transformation is a highly controversial topic, as the value may not be reflected in tangible/financial results always for the short-term. However, intangible outcomes, like skill development, are critical to managing the more complex future. Hence, the coherence between today's results and future expectations is crucial to coordinating resources appropriately.The "Hidden Heroes" of a Smart FactoryIn the matter of smart factories, the most underestimated factor is "human." We witness many discussions about various other components of the industry 4.0, such as data management, sensor technologies, and more. However, the evolvement and development of people are considered complementary most of the time.Capable people, who act interdisciplinary and are able to learn technologic development, boost the success of i4.0 transformation. However, the cultivation of digital people is much beyond the expected ICT skill-set. Digital competencies contain a
< Page 9 | Page 11 >