Case Study 6: The Digital Transformation of Manufacturing

The Industry 4.0 concept was launched in Germany in the early 2010s. Its aim was to increase flexibility, improve efficiency, and reduce time to market: initially concentrating on automation and robotics on the shop floor, and subsequently building out product-related services (servitization). The next challenge, which is precipitated by the availability of massive increases in quantities of data resulting from the Internet of Things, is that of being able to share industrial data among the various stakeholders of end-to-end product lifecycle value chains. The formation of ecosystems of market players willing to share their respective industrial data will be able to unlock inherent data value through industrial data platforms. Such platforms are expected to bring significant returns on investment in terms of flexibility, efficiency, and time to market.