As the manufacturing industry continues to embrace the concept of the digital factory, companies are beginning to look at the lessons learned from Industry 4.0 – the term used to describe the current digital revolution in manufacturing – as a way to gain efficiencies, digitize operations and differentiate themselves. The challenge for most manufacturing companies on this journey is that their IT and operational capabilities are siloed and that deconstructing and rebuilding them in a more integrated way is difficult. Though Industry 4.0 was conceived with just this goal in mind, many Industry 4.0 initiatives fail because of the effort inherent in three essential activities: creating a top-down vision, building bottom-up use cases and scaling information technology/operational technology (IT/OT) solutions across the enterprise.
These failures are not just a technology problem, but also a cultural and organizational change problem. Successfully making change requires breaking down old paradigms built up over the past several decades and creating an operating model that facilitates digital transformation. A recent ISG white paper Industry 4.0: Bridging the Gap between Information Technology and Operational Technology explores how organizations can make the changes they need to realize the benefits of Industry 4.0.
About the author
Meredith Bilow
Meredith Bilow, director at ISG, brings deep global experience from more than 50 organizational change management (OCM) engagements with companies of all sizes. She is an award-winning professional driven to realize clear value for customer transformation efforts through the use of change management, education and communications. Her work in IT operations, customer service and sales has given her experience in administrative and operational oversight, management of cash flow, sales cycle support and delivery oversight. She also provides OCM and end-user training delivery services directly to key clients. Meredith is certified in team building, leading through facilitation, and strategic thinking and planning.
