Here, Claudia Jarrett, US country manager at automation parts supplier EU Automation, explains how big players can learn from local businesses, using the IoT to their advantage. Harvard Business Review reports that multinational companies are finding it difficult to optimize their products, services and culture to local markets. The article says that big players are finding international growth costly and cumbersome, especially in countries where they don't have staff who are familiar with local cultures and customers or reliable local supply chain partners. Local companies understand the culture, language and compliance issues, of course, which raises the question: is there a better and more cost-effective way for large manufacturers to integrate local businesses and workers into their networks? Let's look at some steps big manufacturers can take, and why the IoT will prove essential. Three quarters of German manufacturers surveyed in Pricewaterhouse Cooper (PwC)'s Digital Factories 2020 report named regionalization as their main driver for investing in digital factories.