Customer-oriented innovation and transformation in manufacturing

As mentioned in our Industry 4.0 overview there are significant similarities regarding digital transformation maturity and Industry 4.0 maturity. Manufacturers and other companies in the broader scope of the Industrial Internet, digital transformation of manufacturing and anything related with it share several common challenges and issues as other organizations going through digital transformation. True innovation in manufacturing based upon interoperable and open ecosystems with an end-to-end data approach and a focus on the end customer and consumer is rare if existing at all. In digital transformation in the broader sense there is more focus on customer-facing goals in some areas and in some sectors for all the obvious reasons such as the type of process, the ways to achieve a specific goal, the degree of contact/interaction with the (end) customer and/or the role of the consumer in the digital innovations and business as such (think automotive and the role of technology in the driver experience and in the branding of car manufacturers where'tech' is omnipresent). In some industrial markets such as oil and gas or mining the focus is of course less on consumers.