STRATEGY
Find the drivers for change and agree on the target.
- Diagnose delivery, quality and margin issues
- Quantify the opportunity (incl. digital products and services)
- Define a clear problem statement and target picture
Typical starting point
"We struggle with delays and quality flaws due to the many special requirements and customized solutions."
Typical target
Higher throughput through standardization across sales, engineering and supply chain – from engineer-to-order towards configure-to-order, with high design reuse and automation.
ARCHITECTURE
Define the needed changes in process, data and systems.
- One shared definition of products and their variance
- Transparent flow of requirements, design and manufacturing specs
- Automated design and hand-over to supply chain and service
Typical starting point
"We fail in bringing our product standardization to the sales agents, so we never benefit from repetitive order execution."
Typical target
A common product-variance model with the business/IT capabilities to support it: modularization, sales tools that enforce the standard, and data management that automates hand-over to production and service.
IMPLEMENTATION
Set actions that make sure the targets are met.
- Vendor-neutral platform selection – beyond the sales pitch
- Balance integration against autonomy (e.g. engineering vs. supply chain)
- Define and track real KPIs to prove impact
Typical starting point
"The vendor sold us a vision of virtual simulation of assets in production, but our installed-base data is not of sufficient quality."
Typical target
The right IT platforms for your product variance, data models for consistent specification and change management across mechanical, electrical and software design, and a validated digital thread from requirements to service.
