Many companies in industrial manufacturing and logistics are positioning themselves to leverage new digital tools for monitoring performance and enhancing value chain communication. However, identifying where and how to begin remains a challenge.
The technology is now more accessible than ever. Large enterprises with the budget for major IT and data projects are making steady progress, while newer companies are also rising to the challenge. Digital tools, including Virtual Reality, are rapidly evolving in both capability and affordability, offering off-the-shelf solutions that enhance process management, productivity, and decision-making. These advancements drive efficiency, improve control, and ultimately increase EBIT.
The Challenges
- While the technology and infrastructure exist, companies struggle to harness their full potential due to disjointed integration of systems, data warehouses, and lack of clear digital and data roadmap along with a cohesive step-by-step approach.
- There’s a need for a smart, structured approach that integrates these tools progressively through agile methodologies and sprint-based planning. Starting with the greatest value creation opportunities. Most of the companies are stuck at the level of pilots and struggle to find a way forward. The combination of digital opportunities into a smart structured and progressive step-by-step approach is gaining favor with companies looking to avoid broad ERP like implementations.
To move forward faster, we need to develop a new Leadership Style that aligns people with the Human Dynamic and embraces new behaviors.
This shift marks the start of a new era—one that can give companies a competitive edge. But to stay ahead of global competition speed of implementation is critical.
Having a clear vision and a flexible plan is essential to create and refine digital tools for communication and performance tracking. This vision will set the stage for a smooth and successful implementation, paving the way to Operational Excellence.
A more conscious leadership style is key to engaging teams, supporting their development, and driving alignment with new behaviors. Building a unified culture—one that treats people, digital tools, and automation as one cohesive opportunity—will be the real driver of progress and results.
The EFESO Approach
The challenge lies in figuring out how to integrate all these opportunities into a smart structured and progressive approach guided by a clear vision, built on sprints, supported by a robust and agile methodology.
Barriers to Progress: Investment & People
For digital transformation to succeed, every level of the organization must undergo key shifts:
- Senior Management: Must develop a vision for digitally connecting Operations, Planning, Customers, and Suppliers. A clear roadmap should be in place—even if the individual steps evolve over time—to set direction, targets, and expectations.
- IT Teams: Should create space for user-driven initiatives rather than focusing solely on large, complex projects. Breaking efforts into manageable pieces builds momentum, fosters adaptability, and clarifies ROI.
- Engineering & Operations: Need to actively engage with new technologies instead of relying solely on IT. As end users, they should define the problems technology should solve, align solutions with the vision, and embrace iterative learning—even when the initial implementation isn’t perfect.
- All Employees: From management to frontline operators, everyone must be open to new ways of working. Encouraging teams to develop new skills and actively engage with digital tools is critical to unlocking their full potential. Without individual effort and buy-in, businesses cannot fully realize improvements in quality, service, and cost.
- Building Digital Capabilities: Teams must learn to manage and optimize intelligent, fast systems that can autonomously highlight critical issues, propose countermeasures, and execute decisions in near real-time. Organizations that cultivate this capability can accelerate digital transformation and drive continuous improvement.
By adopting this structured, people-centric approach, companies can turn digital transformation into a competitive advantage.
Authors
Larry Keeley, Senior Partner, Private Equity the Americas, 30+ years of experience in industry and management consulting partnering with C-level teams from leading companies across industries to optimize business performance.
Bruce Work, Senior Vice President and Partner with more than 30+ years of experience in Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Maintenance, Capital Expense Management.
Chip Barth, Senior Vice President with more than 20 years of experience in consulting and industry with expertise in continuous improvement, manufacturing operations and supply chain management.
Brian Edward Karlsson, Vice President with over 15 years consulting experience and a leader in our Idea to Value and CapEx teams, with projects focused on applying digital tools and concepts across engineering, operations, and supply chain.