3 Steps for a Successful Digital Transformation in Manufacturing
Sudhi Bangalore, our Keynote speaker shares Stanley Black & Decker's journey toward Digital Transformation in manufacturing
Digital Transformation in Manufacturing
As we enter the next phase of digital transformation in manufacturing, innovation is at the forefront. However, when you’re in charge of digital transformation on a global level the number of hurdles toward change increases exponentially. No one knows that better than the Global Vice President of industry 4.0 at Stanley Black & Decker, Sudhi Bangalore.
“Transformation is a daunting challenge when all of our factories are at different levels and complexity”
Stanley Black & Decker has been on a digital transformation in manufacturing journey for years, introducing automated processes, digital simulation, 3D scanning and much more. The largest global tool making company has more than 120 facilities and more than 61,000 employees.
The daunting challenge for the tool giant is their factories are all at different levels of complexity. However, the tool maker is rising above the challenges and becoming a leader in digital transformation.
Go beyond and scale quickly
In order to go beyond and scale quickly Bangalore explained how they pushed beyond the frontiers of productivity and differentiation. One of the goals was to transform work by digitizing and rethinking the way they do everything in their factories.
“How do we get best practices in every plant and deploy in almost real time?”
The big industry challenge is missing scale. He advised that any company doing a pilot program longer than 2 years is simply too long.
“You don’t want to get stuck in pilot purgatory”
Here are four steps that helped Stanley Black & Decker avoid just that:
- Executive leadership and business unit support
- Assess and prioritize scalable use cases
- Assess capabilities and partnership, then build out
- Implement innovative technology, delivery and process
Digital Transformation Success
Black & Decker factories from Germany to Jackson Tennessee are making big moves. Automated processes like ERP booking, unmanned material handling, collaborative robots and deep process monitoring are now front facing at Black & Decker factories. But Bangalore says none of it would have been possible without great people and great processes.
For success in digital transformation in manufacturing Bangalore recommends:
- Don’t underestimate the prep and planning it takes to embark on a large enterprise transformation like Industry 4.0.
- Partnership when done right can be a major differentiator for both speed, diversity of thought and cost.
- Decisiveness is required to finalize on foundational technology sets, in other words, stop chasing after the shiny object.
GDS Group hosts experts to help experts. We strive to provide an atmosphere for our attendees that enables them to confidently lead their companies through major transformation projects. For information on upcoming events, view our Technology Summits and Executive Events. To remain current on our activities, visit GDS Group on LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter.
