Global Survey on Comprehensive Industry 4.0 Strategies

Many CMOs and other leaders are mindful of the need to incorporate emerging technology – AI, IOT, robots, cloud, and others – into operations for longer-term market growth. But Deloitte’s third annual survey, The Fourth Industrial Revolution, notes that those who are most effective in using these skills to achieve their efficiency targets have a systematic approach.

The study looks at how managers handle the transition to Industry 4.0, the fourth industry transformation, which is described as the alignment of physical and digital tools in order to better make choices and to improve relationships with customers and others. According to a sondage by over 2,000 global executives and the public sector, companies with detailed Industry 4.0 policies see better returns in general than their counterparts, who do not have those proposals.

The study also explores how leaders balance the transition to Industry 4.0 — capitalizing on emerging technology to help pursue their companies and taking a more socially conscious path, particularly in the field of environmental stewardship.

Industry 4.0 Global Survey

“These survey findings recall that the Fourth Industrial Revolution is not the only big obstacle posed by global corporate executives,” says Punit Renjen, global chief executive officer for Deloitte. Although seven out of 10 C-suite managers surveyed agree that the introduction of Industry 4.0 technology into their service is a long-term market achievement, nine out of 10 predict climate change to have a detrimental effect on their companies. “These other issues will fundamentally alter the way companies change their strategies and practices in the future,” said Renjen.

In compliance with the resolution of last year redefining the intent of the company, issued by the Market Roundtable and signed by C.E.s of almost 200 global firms, the managers of C-Suite are gradually looking at a wide spectrum of stakes for their strategic planning. This sentiment was echoed in the declaration made by the World Economic Forum in December 2019 “Davos 2020: the Universal Objectivity of a Business in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” “Owing in part to consumer and employee pressure, executives are raising fundamental fears about climate change, the lack of energy, which was on the agenda of just a few years ago,” said Renjen.

There is also a wider perspective of society’s effect.

Just 35% of CXOs claimed that two years ago the leading companies of the future needed more time to plan for the effect of emerging technology solutions on society. In the study now under way, however, almost six out of 10 CXOs state that growing the positive effect of their organisation on society was one of the top five results of their 4.0 investments in business. Moreover 62 percent of CXOs show a preference for investing in industry 4.0, the second-most quoted priority after educating and cultivating talent, and at the same time making a profit and making a positive contribution to society.

CMOs may play a major role in aligning technology plans with organisational intent and consumer priorities, with their extensive awareness of the identity of the company and stakeholders. “To better grasp and represent their clients and industries, advertisers should exploit Industry 4.0 technologies including AI and advanced analytics,” said Deloitte’s Diana O’Brien, CMO Global. They may be a strategic analyst who works together through the C suite to find ways to encourage growth, creativity and advance branding across these technologies.

Industry 4.0: Toward Better Outcomes

The investigation further indicates that companies with full Business 4.0 plans financially outperform others. In the last year, nearly 90% of those with systematic plans had at least a 5% annual sales increase; just 72% of organizations that had ad hoc or no strategies or had only started implementing larger strategies may have at least 5% growth in contrast.

In comparison, those who have detailed plans value their talents and future more. About 75 percent of CXOs that say they have holistic technology to incorporate Industry 4.0 often say they are able to take the potential of Industry 4.0 to their companies. Of those with ad hoc strategies or no strategies, just 27 percent had the same confidence.

Where More Can Be Done

CXOs mostly aim to gain better profits and cost savings in their activities in Business 4.0. However, politicians are much more hesitant to employ these technologies to disturb their business or their own organizations. Just 17% of surveyed CXOs say that the goal is to invest in productive Industry 4.0 technologies. The lowest of the 12 investment priorities. Equally, fewer than half CXOs tend to be able to grasp the importance of a linked, interconnected approach to the application of these innovations. With just 11 percent of this population showing substantive improvement in this field.

To promote the market benefit financially and operationally, the following moves should be considered by the C-suite management in companies missing formal plans to leverage Industry 4.0 innovations or depending on ad hoc approaches:

• Conduct audits to evaluate technical deficiencies and prospects in Industry 4.0. Whereas 48% of respondents said that they did not perform the test. This is a crucial starting point for any plan.
• Build Industry 4.0 leadership positions. Just 20% of the organizations have. But approximately 40% state that these positions occur among CXOs that registered a 20% or greater growth last year. Encourage these pioneers to affect investment and systemic transformation in Industry 4.0.
• Use Industry 4.0 business models to redesign. Just 9% revised their market models, and none of the respondents selected Industry 4.0 investment as the highest priority. However, almost 30% of businesses with a rate of growth of 20% or more claim this has been achieved.
• Build committed innovation-oriented teams. About 80% of the growing companies have teams of this kind.
• Increase the use of Business 4.0 technologies by manufacturers and collaborators. Just 13 percent of CXOs state that their businesses do. But the fastest expanding companies are again ahead of their curve.

“This survey demonstrates tangible market success on the road to balance benefit with meaning,” said Renjen.

“CXOs are helping faster with a greater emphasis on policy and wider acceptance of emerging technology, both in an organization and in culture.

During the pandemic COVID-19, suppliers had to struggle to deliver new offerings to consumers. Now that the first round of vaccination is coming out. It might be tempting to presume that business is back to usual pre-pandemics to almost bring an end to this health crisis.

It is very clear that much of the lessons learned since the pandemic are now applicable to manufacturers. A significant lesson is the importance of agile data-driven enterprise practices and smart technologies – also called Industry 4.0.

Here are aspects that Industry 4.0 has allowed manufacturers to achieve greater efficiency and versatility during time of transition:

Smart operations and employee safety

Technology for the welfare of workers on the factory floor is used for Industry 4.0. PPE can include, for example, IoT sensors transmitting messages when employees meet one another at six feet. The shop floor conditions can be controlled by similar sensors, including oxygen levels, temperature, air quality, etc. The effect is a further move forward in occupational welfare. Wether it is to monitor the transmission of illness or to confront any other threats to workers.

The technology Industry 4.0 also uses processes to automate processes in order to prevent harm and increase productivity for employees. For example, operators can train with virtual reality before they go into an unfamiliar job or situation. Particularly dangerous aspects of a job can be entirely automated with robotics.

Tedious and repeated work, such as transportation of goods to a warehouse or QA inspections on production line, can also automate. Organizations increasingly automate robotic warehouse logistics which calculate the fastest route from point A to point B. While people are working with the robots to optimize warehouse operations. Even after COVID- 19 passes, expect more of the same.

Empowered people are happy people

How exactly could people in warehouse scenarios work with the robots? One way of doing the picking is for people to load trailing robots to carry orders in the shipping region. But industry 4.0 can also help when it comes to picking.

Imagine enhanced vocal control capabilities in reality goggles showing relevant information in the field of view of the worker. This technology can use to guide the worker in the warehouse to the right warehouse area to pick a product. Then the worker can deliver the product to a winged robot.

The technology of Industry 4.0 empowers people in different ways. Consider artificial intelligence decision support, process automation, freeing workers to add value, and predictive analytics. That help organizations see what is happening.

These technologies have contributed to a better response by leading organizations to changes during coronaviruses. Suppose that organizations will continue to appreciate this response.

Intelligent assets and products make supply chains smarter

Smart assets have been critical to helping companies cope with instability in the last few months. These will also prove worthwhile in the future.

Intelligent assets use sensors to report on the health of assets continuously. They also create a digital thread from design to decommissioning that can be tracked.

For example

The digital twin of an asset may use for simulation of scenarios and assessment of future asset output in variable terms. This can lead to improvements in architecture that increase asset efficiency, boost availability, and maximize maintenance.

The same intelligence can also be extended to goods marketed to retail clients by suppliers. Sensors interacting with the vendor will continue to develop consumer relationships. While creating useful feedback leading to product updates and new technologies. It starts only when COVID-19 is in the rearview mirror of prospective self-sufficient cars.

The road ahead

It’s because the outlook is promising for producers. Many organizations have assisted by technology to survive pandemic today to help same organizations succeed in the history of pandemic.