Advanced Tech Drives Industry 4.0

Many manufacturing companies are transforming into digital manufacturing enterprises, using emerging technologies and data to improve product development, manufacturing processes, connected supply chains, and customer engagement. This transformation is en

Industry 4.0 applies advanced technologies—such as the internet of things, analytics, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), advanced materials, and augmented reality (AR)—to help drive the physical act of manufacturing. Today, many manufacturers are also using these technologies to address challenges such as enhancing the customer experience (CX) and improving relationships with channel partners. CIOs at manufacturing companies can help CMOs leverage Industry 4.0-driven technologies during three key stages of the customer life cycle.

At the beginning of the sales process, customers typically search for information that will help them make purchasing decisions. For years, consumer brands have led the way in developing compelling digital experiences at this stage; many digital commerce platforms have shaped customer expectations based on the ability to easily research, evaluate, buy, and service purchases online across devices. Industrial manufacturers have often lagged in this area, perhaps due to the complexity of their products. However, driven in large part by their experiences with consumer purchasing, customers’ expectations for B2B purchasing seem to be changing.

According to Forrester, B2B buyers are accelerating their shift to self-service websites and apps and are demanding higher-quality interactions with salespeople.

In light of these shifting customer behaviours and preferences, three Industry 4.0 technologies appear to be emerging as particularly important at the discover-and-shop stage:

Some manufacturers are deploying AI and other cognitive technologies for their products and services to facilitate a natural-language dialogue with customers online and through mobile applications. AI-driven platforms can aggregate information across systems to make recommendations based on a broad swath of data regarding customers, applications, and offerings. Many companies are exploring how to enhance the physical experience through AR and VR. In some cases, these technologies enable customers to try out products and quickly narrow down their preferred features in a realistic, immersive experience, rather than view a limited set of products in a more constrained environment. Many manufacturing companies are starting to fuse disparate online and offline data to gain a more complete view of their customers. This broader view can help create a demand barometer from the beginning of the sales cycle (such as initial website visit) to purchase (such as online transaction), detecting patterns in purchase intent and facilitating more effective product recommendations.

In the purchase and installation phase of the customer life cycle, Industry 4.0 technologies can play a significant role, particularly with managing some of the challenges associated with channel partner relationships. Many manufacturers rely on channel partners such as dealers or distributors to identify customers, sell products and services to them, and manage delivery. These partners can wield tremendous influence; after the initial sale of an industrial product, most maintain relationships with end customers, advising them on the best ways to operate products, selling them spare parts, and providing other scheduled and unscheduled services.

However, working with channel partners presents a variety of challenges for many manufacturers, including: • Educating channel partners on new product offerings and collaborating to develop go-tomarket strategies. • Managing the complexity of touchpoints across functions, business units, and geographies. Streamlining the pricing approval process and increasing the average deal size. Providing seamless sales, service, and support in response to changing customer needs. Industry 4.0-driven digital platforms can help increase the frequency and granularity of information shared between manufacturers and channel partners. They can also help address coordination challenges that can hamper channel performance. Three technologies are especially relevant: • • • can synchronise insights shared between manufacturers and partners. By removing personally identifiable information from certain key data elements, they can also help protect each partner’s competitive position while providing manufacturers with the information needed to optimise their activities. RFID and GPS. Real-time delivery updates enabled through RFID or GPS technology can help dealers coordinate with customers and schedule their crews in advance, increasing resource utilisation and helping improve CX. Predictive analytics. Manufacturers can leverage digital platforms to analyse real-time data from their channel partners, using them to predict likely events and make better operational decisions. For example, a sudden spike in similar repairs on products across multiple dealers can help identity a quality defect before it would otherwise be detected.

The third area in which manufacturers can realise value from Industry 4.0-driven technologies is the aftermarket, which includes all the services, sales of spare parts, and customer interactions that take place after the original sale. While the aftermarket can be extremely important for many manufacturers’ businesses, it can present some challenges, including: • Lack of visibility into customers’ usage of the manufacturer’s products, which can lead to an inability to predict maintenance requirements • Difficulty forecasting and stocking spare parts across the global installed base, which can delay customer receipt of orders • Sourcing and production issues created by long product in-service life cycles and low-volume demand signals. When incorporated into manufacturers’ products, Industry 4.0 technologies can transform the way the aftermarket functions and performs. Many manufacturers are developing connected devices, pervasive sensing, and intelligent products that can be monitored to analyse performance. Intelligent products create “digital exhaust”— a stream of information that includes usage data such as cycles, speed, and uptime; process characteristics such as temperature, pressure, fuel, or energy consumption; and environmental factors such as ambient temperature, moisture, and vibration.

Transforming the aftermarket experience with Industry 4.0 technologies can create opportunities for many industrial manufacturers to capture value, including: to manage their aftermarket services—such as warranty claims, service scheduling, and part deliveries—in one place such as using interactive, wearable devices to improve repair processes dynamic pricing model, in which factors such as availability and urgency influence pricing decisions lenging use cases such as remote mining sites.

By incorporating Industry 4.0 technologies across the customer life cycle, manufacturers can often realise significant benefits, including improved customer retention and loyalty, quality and consistency of the channel experience, and reduced selling and administrative costs. Moreover, these benefits can create a source of potential differentiation for digital manufacturing enterprises—an opportunity to outperform the competition and more efficiently deliver best-inclass CX. For more information, please visit www.deloitte.com/mt