Traditionally, assets in industry have included competence, quality and cost efficiency. As digitalization reaches further and further into industrial sectors, new paths to success are forged: speed, agility and utilization of new technologies. Often the ability to be a leader in change determines who will succeed.
In order to get the benefits from digitalization, strong and inclusive leadership is essential. New operating methods must be introduced before being able to benefit from technology, and this change requires people that are motivated and committed to development. Digitalization requires a lot but the reward is worth it. The changing work tasks in industry become more meaningful and more challenging to the human mind than before.
Faster development cycles support competitiveness
In industry, digitalization shortens development cycles in the organization which contributes to faster turnaround in innovations and development measures. As learning becomes more frequent, the company also improves their competitiveness. Digitalization enables predictions and better planning in a completely new, data-based manner which in itself means getting a headstart on your competition.
In industry, the reasons for acquiring new technological solutions are many: targeting a new position on the market, minimizing losses on the production line, aiming for a higher occupation rate or dismantling bottlenecks in production. However, technology alone is not enough to solve all challenges and provide efficiency since digitalization is not a single IT project that you could jump in technology first - it is a more holistic change in leadership.
By e.g. digitalizing data collected from production in real time, it is possible to cause a spike in the efficiency of production since data necessary for decision-making is immediately available. However, the real challenge is figuring out how and how soon you can react to observations revealed by the collected data. Technology brought about by digitalization makes continuous improvement a part of everyday operations, frees time for creativity and, as a result, makes development cycles faster.
As I said in the beginning, your ability to lead in change is what really determines your success. Include your staff in development; the chance to be a more integrated part of the development and improvement of competitiveness in the company increase the meaningfulness of work and commitment of staff significantly. The digital operating environment is an opportunity that allows many to develop their role at work to provide additional value, become more analytical and have more opportunities to influence as a part of something bigger. The only organizations that have a competitive edge are those that put a little bit of effort and time into the development of operating methods and leadership together with the introduction of new systems. The role of a leader in technological change is a challenging but a rewarding one.
Read more
