Unlocked digital potential in engineering:
As a traditional and very successful Swiss machine manufacturer, our client is active in an industry whose heavy machines are characterised by the highest loads and very long operating times – classic engineering. But the market is increasingly pushing for smart support to optimise the operation of the machines as well as maintenance with regard to TCO, sustainability, plannability and transparency. In this (still ongoing) project, we defined a new digital strategy together with our client, based on benchmarks and numerous discussions with its customers. Based on this, a ‚Digital Unit‘ is being created, which is to develop and establish business models that are demanded by the market but go beyond the pure, classic product. The aim is to benefit from the existing expertise from the core business, such as the production and maintenance of the machines, but on the other hand to create the next generation of business models with new methods and technologies. We were particularly concerned with empowering and setting up suitable teams and defining a suitable and transparent project portfolio and roadmap of potential development steps, which in turn defined the teams. At the same time, we support our client in building the necessary foundation, for example in master data management topic
Approach:
Together with our client, we defined a digital strategy, the project portfolio and the roadmap for future development. These are supported by a newly established ‚Digital Unit‘, which is to ensure the success and consistent implementation of the projects. The ‚Digital Unit‘ is also responsible for bringing together both the methodological and content expertise for the development.
Effect:
With the direction of the digital strategy and the new ‚Digital Unit‘, pilot projects can now be launched together with clients. Agile approaches promote the rapid development and validation of prototypes and thus the effective integration of clients and own competences into the development process. The organisational setup as a ‚Digital Unit‘ guarantees a sustainable development in the organisation, to pursue different approaches (for example also the integration of start-ups) and the possibility to keep the projects under one roof until they are ready for the market.