\u2022 Brick-and-mortar retailer Blockbuster<\/A> ignored Netflix\u2019s digital streaming threat.
\u2022 Digital photography inventor Kodak<\/A> feared cannibalizing its existing film business, leaving its invention for Sony, Nikon, Canon and smartphone manufacturers to exploit.<\/P><\/p>\n
These companies stumbled in the early years of digitalization, a trend that has since swept through nearly all industries, transforming products and how they\u2019re purchased and delivered. Now leading-edge organizations are deepening digitalization strategies<\/A> to include how products and services are developed, produced and evolved.<\/P><\/p>\n This latest wave of technological change, Industry 4.0, is redefining service capabilities, competitive requirements and customer expectations throughout the manufacturing supply chain\u2014big and small.<\/P><\/p>\n Industry 4.0 technology enables digitalization, where digital technologies are integrated into all business processes, creating an end-to-end system that seamlessly connects the virtual and physical. Digital twins<\/A>, virtual representations of products, processes and performance, are electronically linked through a digital thread, an always-on, always-accessible feed of real-time data. Available to anyone at any time, the digital thread allows product engineers and operators to work concurrently, because they have immediate access to the information they need.<\/P><\/p>\n Industry 4.0 technology is transforming modern-day machine shops no less than new technologies transformed the movie distribution, mobile phone and photography industries. However, recent research suggests that many machine shops are not prepared. Of surveyed machine shops<\/A>,<\/P><\/p>\n \u2022 Over 50 percent still rely on standalone CAD and CAM systems Too many machine shop owners believe that strategies that helped them succeed in the past will drive their success in the future. Manufacturing expertise has been the competitive advantage of machine shops, but it\u2019s no longer enough. As vital links in an increasingly global supply chain<\/A>, machine shops must pivot from their traditional internal focus on manipulating materials toward a customer-centric focus on quickly turning around flawless products where and when the customer demands.<\/P><\/p>\n A digitalization strategy isn\u2019t only about gee-whiz technology, though often it\u2019s presented as such. Digitalization is about business strategy to run a successful manufacturing operation.<\/P><\/p>\n Machine shops that adopt Industry 4.0 technology are better prepared to:<\/P><\/p>\n \u2022 Win bids over competitors worldwide by delivering higher-quality products faster It\u2019s important to note that Blockbuster, Blackberry and Kodak didn\u2019t fail because they weren\u2019t aware of how the new technologies were transforming their industries, or even because they didn\u2019t change. They failed because their response was inappropriate to the challenge.<\/P><\/p>\nBig and<\/EM> small manufacturers need to change<\/H3>
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\u2022 Fewer than 30 percent manage and control their data
\u2022 Approximately 75 percent rely on disconnected CMM inspection processes
\u2022 61 percent still use paper documentation on the shop floor
\u2022 Only 37 percent use 3D printing in production<\/P><\/p>\nThe virtual supply chain is about business, not technology<\/H3>
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\u2022 Boost margins by investing in new processes, rather than tinkering with old ones
\u2022 Diversify into new markets as they redeploy their manufacturing experts toward innovation and growth
\u2022 Cement existing customer relationships with ever-improving demand responsiveness and service
\u2022 Enable the adoption of the latest manufacturing technologies, like additive manufacturing<\/A>, advanced robotics and automation<\/A>, and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality<\/P><\/p>\n
![\"Digital](\"http:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2019\/09\/Digital-Machine-Shop_Post-1-1.png\" "\\"Digital")