How strongly digital competitors threaten the Swiss industry
60 percent of Swiss companies already see the risk that their current business success will be challenged by new digital competitors. They see a remedy in joint investments with their business partners in Industry 4.0.
The independent end-to-end IT service provider DXC Technology surveyed 100 industrial managers in Switzerland on the opportunities and risks of the smart factory of the future. 60 percent of Swiss companies already see the risk that their current business success will be challenged by new digital competitors. Against this backdrop, around two-thirds of companies are prepared to join forces with their business partners for Industry 4.0 projects in order to invest jointly in digital infrastructure. The survey was conducted in July 2017 via a market research institute. Industry managers in Switzerland were surveyed. The study focuses on the automotive industry and its suppliers, mechanical engineering, the electrical industry, manufacturing, transport and logistics, and the construction industry.
The risk of losing market share to digital competitors
"Digital transformation in industry requires new strategic thinking," says Liliana Scheck, General Manager of DXC Technology Switzerland. "As our latest Industry 4.0 study shows, for the majority of companies, the market success of their current business model is based on a specialized product with which they have developed a unique selling proposition - this is reported by 54 percent of Swiss industry managers. At the same time, only around one in three currently categorically rules out the risk of losing market share to new digital competitors. In this situation, 65 percent rate positively the idea of working together with partners from their own value chain and investing in cooperatively used digital platforms."
Nearly 40 percent of industry managers even rank close cooperation in building digital platforms with business partners from their own network among the most important investment goals for the next three years. Just as many are prepared to join forces with competitors to share the investment costs in digital infrastructures.
Accompanying companies on the digital journey
As the Industry 4.0 survey shows, the use of digital platforms in Switzerland plays a key role for solutions in the smart factory of the future. This creates entirely new opportunities for companies to collaborate with their value creation partners across traditional boundaries. These digital platforms pave the way for linking business and production networks with each other and thus tapping into shared resources and connected marketplaces. Digital platforms will thus be the basis for operating entire value networks - including order management, automated contract processing or supply chain integration. For this purpose, a digital platform not only enables the use of cloud solutions. Hybrid systems with edgeline components or, for example, blockchain solutions will also be used to implement functionalities of business and production platforms.
Source and further information: www.dxc.technology/ch.
