Resource Guide
Getting Started In Manufacturing 4.0
Manufacturers are challenged with deriving new value and ongoing revenue from their hardware. Explore our step-by-step guides ensuring everything from business alignment to your digital marketplaces achieve your manufacturing 4.0 goals.
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Step 1: Business Alignment
Currently three out of four industrial manufacturers have technology initiatives driven by digitalization, but project failures are more than 85 percent.
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Taking the time to plan your digital initiative is one thing, but ensuring proper alignment across your entire organization and your partners is key to creating a solid foundation for your digital project.
Read our white paper, "120 Days to Plan Your Digital Transformation," to kickstart your company's digital transformation strategy and ask the critical questions your organization needs to consider at every step to ensure success. You can also read our blog post on the topic, Business Alignment: Setting the Right Foundation for Your Manufacturing 4.0 Initiatives
Step 2: Success Metrics
Defining new successful business models that go beyond traditional hardware sales is a challenging project for many manufacturers. According to BI Global, nearly 40 percent of manufacturers struggle with defining value for the customer and aligning a proper sales strategy that complements their core business.
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Watch our webinar, "Success Beyond the Product," to understand how you can begin to determine a clear path to digital transformation and what types of business models will enable you to successfully generate new ongoing revenue and customer touch points. You can also read our blog post on the topic, Success Metrics: How Manufacturers Can Define Digital KPIs that Matter
Step 3: Build vs. Buy
For many manufacturers, a promising path to effective digital transformation is emerging: Providing a digital platform alongside their hardware that allows them to offer new value-added services and unlock new sources of revenue long after initial sale.
These initiatives can only succeed if they are supported by strong technology that can seamlessly monetize, distribute, and manage devices and software. With this in mind, the question then becomes: What’s the fastest, lowest risk, most cost-effective way to launch an digital platform? Read our eBook, "Build vs. Buy: Making the Right Choice for Your Manufacturing IoT Platform," to understand which path aligns best with your organization's capabilities and ensures you get to market quickly and successfully. You can also read our blog post on the topic, Answering the Digital Platform “Build vs. Buy” Question for Hardware and Device Makers
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Step 4: Digital Marketplaces
Digital marketplaces offer a wealth of opportunities for manufacturers to bring new value-added products and services to customers, unlock revenue streams, and reduce churn. Without the proper components, however, digital marketplaces run the risk of adding complexity to the customer experience, negatively impact revenue expectations, and rapidly decrease in value.
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Download our white paper, "Five Critical Components for Successful Digital Marketplaces," to discover what your digital marketplace needs to ensure it not only launches successfully, but scales with your business. You can also read our blog post on the topic,The Five Elements Every Manufacturer Needs for Marketplace SuccessManufacturers elevating their businesses with AppDirect
Take the next step and explore your manufacturing 4.0 initiatives with an AppDirect Success Specialist.
