Technical Article
Seven steps towards Internet of Machines
No fear of Industry 4.0
The digital age has long begun; the fourth industrial revolution is already
in full swing. Industry 4.0 – Wherever you look. However, many companies
do not know what this development means for their own businesses and
how to implement them for themselves in a targeted manner. There is no
path to solution for digitalisation and networking of processes. Peter
Barkowsky, managing partner of symmedia GmbH, has seen this in many
discussions with his customers. For more than 15 years, symmedia has
been developing industry 4.0 services for machine and plant construction.
His customers – all of them leading medium-sized engineers – are already
profiting from the benefits: Process acceleration, flexibility in customer
support and an improved market position. From his experience, he
knows: Once engineers have seen the specific use from digitalisation and
networking, they are highly enthusiastic about industry 4.0. Seven steps
have turned out to be the best-practice solution to date.
Many machine and plant constructors see that there are still many questions to
be answered on the subject of industry 4.0: Is it all just a marketing campaign of
the IT-industry? Will my customers even play along? What specific benefits
does digitalisation offer? "We often find that industry 4.0 is put in the technology
corner too quickly," says Peter Barkowsky, managing partner of symmedia
GmbH. "Many jump into action ad hoc to climb onto the industry 4.0 train - but
without any sustainable strategy. The added value especially for medium-sized
international machine manufacturers is much higher than may be expected,
though. Industry 4.0 changes nothing about the old wisdom: Only where there is
a benefit will there be money." The market is changing: Customer requirements
are increasing, price pressure is rising, new competitors enter the field. How to
prepare oneself? Machine manufacturers must think of the following scenario
first: They are linked to all customers and machines. All business-relevant
communication takes place understandably and in an orderly manner via a
secure internet connection. Every order, complaint, plan change and project
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Technical Article
processing is digitally processed via this connection. The machines are active
and passive participants in this communication as well, leading to enormous
flexibility in meeting customer wishes and reacting to market changes. The
knowledge of the production process and customer needs in "real time" enables
companies to support their customers much more intensely – not only in
removing errors, but as a proactive partner. A new quality of customer
commitment is developed, not only via contracts, but via customer satisfaction.
Industry 4.0 therefore mostly means networking of its customers for machine
manufacturers. This is the basis for all further steps. "If you do not stay up to
date in terms of networking now, you'll be lost from the market," says Peter
Barkowsky. If you still want to be among the top players in the industry ten
years from now, you must fire the networking turbo now." The most common
fear of the machine manufacturers in this subject so far was that customers
would not let them in. Specifically, this means that a networked solution would
not be accepted by the operators. symmedia can now show that it works in
more than 90 percent of the global production operations throughout all
industries. They have recognised the benefits for them and industry 4.0 safety
technology has already proven its worth.
Get ready for industry 4.0 in seven steps
The start is most easily made in the service area. Service networking will render
immediate results and can usually be integrated into the present processes
without any great effort. Networking and digitising your own service business
step by step will help your customers increase their production efficiency and
thus make you a solutions partner.
Step 1: What are the targets of networking?
Once the company is convinced of the potential of networking, it first needs to
consider: Why do I want to digitise my customer relationships and link my
machines? What is the target and what good does it do for the customer?
"Unfortunately, this first step is often skipped. It is about creating the internal
basis and understanding for networking;" says Peter Barkowsky. "Once a
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Technical Article
company has decided to take the step towards industry 4.0, the result is that
they will be linked to all customers and machines. Remote service cannot be
the strategy for this, but it may be an entrance point."
Step 2: Getting all departments on board
The second step on the way to industry 4.0 leads to the formation of
interdisciplinary project groups. The IT-department, service management,
electrical construction, marketing and sales – the executive level should never
connect industry 4.0 only to the service area, even if it may profit the most from
it at first. All corporate areas should be included to develop an implementation
plan together.
Step 3: Test phase creates trust
Once the implementation plan is finished, the first experience should be made.
In practice, this can be tested in small pilot projects to increase motivation. The
benefits are usually visible at once. Internally a pilot project creates trust –
particularly in sales, which must be trained for the new solution to represent it
convincingly later. Possible fears must be alleviated and obstacles cleared
away.
Step 4: Networking strategy for long-term success
After testing, the company management will specify the networking strategy. In
the strategy paper, the added value for the company and the target of
networking are defined. The strategy also specifies from when onwards and
with what percentage of customers and machines digital communication is
desired, and in how far the customers are to share the costs for networking.
Step 5: Preparation in the own company
Change management is necessary to replace knowledge and behaviours that
have held true for decades by new ones. In the end, it is not about introducing
new technology, but about the change from offering products to offering
solutions. The entire management must work together. Sales and service
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Technical Article
particularly, also in branches and agencies, require support. Clear language
rules must be applied towards the customers.
Step 6: Networking with the customers
A medium-sized machine manufacturer typically has several 100 or several
1,000 customers. Digitising this customer communication poses an enormous
challenge in terms of mass alone. Assuming that one needs three months of
effort to connect to a customer and his machines, this would amount to an effort
of 25 years with 100 customers. Luckily, there are solutions and best practice
examples for this. For example, plastic machine manufacturer Engel Austria is
able to digitise the communication with another 50 customers per month,
including all their machines.
Step 7: Learning and adaptation
Digitising processes between machine manufacturers and operators is still a
learning field. So far networking experience is often limited to proprietary
teleservice connections, which are usually not helpful for industry 4.0. A stepby-step approach, e.g. starting with a modern remote service, will make sure to
keep you on top of things and help you progress step by step.
From product to solutions provider
The investment in digitalisation of service processes will pay off very quickly.
The manufacturer is developing the high-margin service business further by
networking and strengthening customer commitment. Secondly, he acquires a
competitive head start by reducing process costs, increasing speed and
profiting of reproducible processes. This enables him to react to market
requirements much better. More and more machine manufactures know about
relevant production processes of their customers at all times due to industry 4.0
networking – always under consideration of the comprehensive protection of
production secrets. This way, they are able to meet customer needs "in real
time". "Our customers around the world profit from their digital service," says
Peter Barkowsky. "By treating networking with their customers as a strategic
subject, machine builders will write stories of success with industry 4.0."
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Technical Article
symmedia - the Company
Since 1997 symmedia has been developing Industry 4.0 solutions for mechanical and plant
engineering and is one of the market leaders in this segment. The service portal, symmedia SP/1,
is currently being used in more than 100 countries and links machines valued at more than 40
billion Euros. With four products, Remote Service, Maintenance, Parts, and Monitoring, symmedia
offers a comprehensive range of solutions for communication between machine manufacturers
and operators. In the service sector, Consulting, the Bielefeld-based company supports users in
developing and expanding their service and spare parts business. Moreover, symmedia is a
founding member of the Initiative Service Excellence, an association of leading software providers
and consultants for the service in mechanical engineering. With its own service offerings and the
synergies of the network, symmedia customers are provided with all services related to the
"Internet of Things" "from a single source. Renowned manufacturers and operators of production
machines across industries with globally networked locations, trust the software and solution
competence of the company. References include, among others, SMS group, ENGEL Austria,
VW, Audi, Oerlikon Barmag, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Fette Compacting, Georg Fischer, and
manroland.
Company Contact
Katharina Lantzke • symmedia GmbH
Turnerstr. 27 • 33602 Bielefeld
Tel.: +49 521 966 55 34 • Fax: +49 521 966 55 55
E-mail: lantzke@symmedia.de • Web: www.symmedia.de
Press Contact
Rebecca Schmortte • additiv pr GmbH & Co. KG
Public relations for Logistics, Steel, Capital Goods, and IT
Herzog-Adolf-Straße 3 • 56410 Montabaur
Tel.: +49 26 02-950 99 24 • Fax: +49 26 02-950 99 17
E-mail: rs@additiv-pr.de • Web: www.additiv-pr.de
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