Approach Industry 4.0 by putting your know-how first

Bringing Lean principles to Industry 4.0 and Digital Transformation

• 15.09.2019

It is easy to get lost these days in many of the buzz words which orbit around the manufacturing industry regarding all the new technology which continues to flood the market. Such rapid change is putting factory owners in a difficult position when planning for the long term by posing a new series of risks regarding investments in product, production, logistics, and the people and infrastructure which support them.

Since 2017, we have been collaborating with the School of Architecture & Engineering of Fribourg (Switzerland) in a joint Lean Six Sigma / Industry 4.0 project sponsored by the Fribourg Chamber of Commerce. Our objective: to give manufacturers visibility into the many Industry 4.0 opportunities available and the confidence they need to act.

Since its start, we have had the enourmous pleasure to be led under the guidance of a super-skilled team of Engineers who have partnered with us seeking business management and product development consulting services.

Together with our engineering partners we have built a one-of-a-kind quality assessment business audit solution. Our product gives small and mid-size organisations enhanced visibility into the many innovation opportunities available in the market together with a unique analytical toolkit to determine the pros and cons of either making additional investments in technology or investing in process re-engineering activities.

Through our efforts we have created a better way to allow manufacturers to leverage their know-how and experience when assessing opportunity of such to ultimately increase their level of confidence in areas of technology spending

Originally piloted in a large bank in Italy as a process optimisation tool, through this joint venture our product now offers company maturity assessment and change management functionality built on the core principles of Lean Management and the Industrie 4.0 implementation guideline tool kit recently published by the German Engineering Federation (VDMA). In its robust architecture and rich library of know-how easily available to its users, organisations enjoy a more scientific approach to digital transformation and Lean Management.

In addition to the technology assessment aspect, we also created a robust set of functionality to give companies the opportunity to re-evaluate their leadership strategy by introducing new management methodologies to architect their company foundation on a 'company of the future' logic. Our logic puts people-oriented performance management methodologies first, an approach which is often missed using traditional management methodologies coming from the last industrial revolution.

We are delighted to be on the forefront in this area and are grateful to have made the acquaintance of such a talented group of individuals for which we have reciprocally exchanged know-how while capitalising on complementary skill sets which are ultimately the building blocks paving the road to success of this fabulous joint venture.