Industry 4.0: How the Swiss economy sees opportunities and risks

DXC Technology, a listed independent end-to-end IT service provider, surveyed 100 industrial managers in Switzerland in July on the opportunities and risks of the smart factory of the future. According to the survey, 70 percent of Swiss industry managers consider the transformation to Industry 4.0 to be important in order to avoid being squeezed out of the market in the future. However, weaknesses are apparent on the way to digital practice: Companies are strongly clinging to traditional thought patterns and neglecting to consistently develop new business models.

Opportunities for new business models underutilized

These are - in summary - the most important findings of the study. "The digital transformation in industry calls for new strategies away from traditional management decisions," says Liliana Scheck, General Manager of DXC Technology Switzerland. "As our latest Industry 4.0 study shows, Swiss companies want to use digital innovations first and foremost to optimize value creation in a very traditional way. The opportunities to develop truly new business models come up short in the process."

DXC Industry 4.0 survey results in Switzerland

Against this backdrop, optimizing costs is the top priority for industrial managers when it comes to the internal use of digital technologies (65 percent). At the same time, not even eight percent currently have the strategic approach of developing a start-up mentality within the company with Industrie 4.0 on their agenda. This is in marked contrast to digitally native companies. Strategists from Silicon Valley, for example, have adopted the disruptive credo and are systematically revolutionizing supply, customer service and other business areas.

Swiss managers show a similar reluctance to embrace digital implementation at the interfaces with external partners that need to be established for Industry 4.0: Only a minority are already thinking specifically about being able to participate in automated supply chains(24 percent), automating their own purchasing and sales (33 percent) or investing in robots and machines (31 percent).

DXC Technology accompanies companies on the digital journey

"The rapid digital developments we are currently experiencing in the industrial sector are more profound and faster than much of what we have seen so far in the world of information technology," Liliana Scheck continues. Connected industry, with the wide availability of data in real time, offers many opportunities for companies. One of DXC's missions now is to make companies fit for new value networks worldwide with the help of digital transformation, the company spokeswoman concludes.

More information: DXC Technology