The ultimate guide

to ensure a complete
digital transformation
in an industrial
company
Table of contents:

1. Digital transformation: what it really is

vs what is said about it 4

2. What digital transformation means for businesses 6

3. How your industrial company can achieve

digital transformation 9

4. Nexus Integra: the IIoT and Big Data platform

with which to achieve the transformation of your
industry will be simple and fast 12

The ultimate guide to ensure a complete digital transformation in an industrial company 2

The ultimate guide to ensure a
complete digital transformation
in an industrial company

Technology is advancing at a dizzying pace. Big Data,

Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning... Experts
already speak of the current period as the Fourth
Industrial Revolution, a process that has brought
innumerable changes at all levels.

This is a moment of transition. Consumers have

already changed their habits and needs and expect
companies to respond with innovative and effective
solutions. To do this, industrial companies must bet
on a complete metamorphosis, take the reins and
start restarting their systems and processes applying
new technologies.

Digital transformation is a gradual way

of adjusting a business to new ways of
producing, managing or communicating. Those
who do not participate in this change run the
risk of remaining anchored in the past.

The ultimate guide to ensure a complete digital transformation in an industrial company 3

Digital transformation: what it
really is VS what is said about it

In recent years, digital transformation has been on everyone’s lips. It is explained

that it is an essential step for companies to adapt to the new technological
landscape. But what does it really involve? If a company already uses computers to
manage information, email for communication and has profiles on social networks
and a web, does that mean it has already been part of the digital transformation?
In order to answer, it is first necessary to know the definition of this concept.

Digital transformation can be defined as the process of change that

companies must go through to adapt to the emergence of new
technologies. In this sense, it is about applying digital skills to a
company’s processes, products and assets. All this to improve efficiency,
the customer experience and find new ways to generate revenue.

From this definition it can be deduced that the adaptation to digital tools implies
a mutation of the organization from its very foundations.

Thus, to get involved in the digital transformation, there are certain things that a
company must understand:

1. It is necessary to change attitudes (and at a dizzying speed).

Perhaps one of the most important but also the least obvious changes is the
modification in the positions and attitudes of a company.

The current scenario is characterized by constant mutability at all levels, as

economic expectations and available technologies vary incessantly. Through
digital transformation, companies must become flexible organizations,
capable of adapting to a constantly changing environment.

And you mustn’t waste time doing it. As technologies become faster and faster
at processing data and delivering solutions, organizations must also adjust
their business culture to enable agile thinking and acting.

Thus, the digital transformation is also a change in the attitudes of a

company: in the new digital landscape, the norm is experimentation,
eliminating the fear of change and failure. In this way, it rewards leaving
behind previous assumptions and focusing on finding new opportunities and
value in a totally different world.

The ultimate guide to ensure a complete digital transformation in an industrial company 4

 In many cases, this first step will involve attracting new talent to the company
that knows how to see beyond traditional processes and attitudes.

2. It is required to use the technology in a transverse way.

To achieve transformation, a company must understand the power of
integrating digital in all its areas: from the supply chain, to the way it
communicates internally, to the customer experience and the skills of its
employees.

In other words, digital transformation is not just knowing and using the right
technologies, but applying them to achieve your goals.

You will have to move from the process paradigm to the data paradigm.
Increasingly, the world is dominated by digital technologies and defined
through data. Although until now the industrial world tried to bring excellence
towards processes, in the future it will be necessary to reduce processes and
automate them through digital and the information it offers.

The data allows us to better understand what problems arise in the

organization and what, on the contrary, can be its points of excellence. The
optimization of sales channels (knowing where our customers are and how
they consume) and the generation of new products that users need are just
some of the processes that can be improved thanks to the data. In this way,
efficiency is possible at levels previously unimaginable.

3. Understand the value of analysis and improvisation.

Data does not mean anything on its own: it is necessary to analyze it in order
to understand it and take advantage of it. Enterprises undergoing digital
transformation must invest in technologies that enable them to examine
information and draw conclusions.

Similarly, awards are given to those who lose the fear of innovating and
improvising. The information provided by data analysis gives an organization
clues as to the way forward. However, it is the companies that are in charge of
daring to take the steps to undertake it.

These and other processes are indicating that digital transformation is not simply
a course or a software application to simplify certain tasks: it is a complete change
and a reinvention of the organization at deep levels.

Only in this way can industrial companies compete in the changing environment of
today’s world dominated by globalization and technology.

The ultimate guide to ensure a complete digital transformation in an industrial company 5

What digital transformation
means for businesses

The change towards digital technologies can have an impact at different levels in
an organization and it is convenient to know that applying it is going to suppose
an effort throughout the organization chart.

In other words, the process of change will require everyone’s involvement in the
company: from management, leaders will be needed to encourage change; from
staff, training in new skills will be required for veteran employees and the search
for new talent may be required.

In any case, it is essential to understand that digital transformation requires

involving the binomial technology + people.

Some of the advantages available to companies carrying out their digital

transformation include:

1. Improving the customer experience.

Today, users expect a company to allow them to interact with it through
different digital platforms. If this possibility is not offered, companies may be
perceived as obsolete, lose customers and loyalty opportunities.

In addition, through the digitization of your sales strategies, it is possible

to access consumer behavior data and establish effective and successful
communications with your customers. As an example, automated
communication tools allow your company to establish a dynamic dialogue
that guides your potential customers to the purchase decision.

The ultimate guide to ensure a complete digital transformation in an industrial company 6

2. Cost savings.
Digital tools can give access to valuable information to eliminate certain
unnecessary costs. Cost savings can be achieved by monitoring the energy
consumption of a system and optimizing it, up to analyzing production lines,
anticipating future problems and changing obsolete processes.

3. Increase employee motivation and satisfaction.

While digital transformation may seem to focus on technologies, it is actually
aimed at improving people’s experience with organizations.

Through a digital transformation process, workers are given the right tools
to simplify their tasks and enable data-driven decision making. All of this
facilitates employee productivity and improves employee satisfaction.

4. Opens new business opportunities.

The reality of digital transformation is that it pushes companies to explore
new ways of looking at their business. This ability to innovate, coupled with
the power of data amplification, has the potential to take organizations one
step further by finding new products or services to provide.

The process of digital transformation of a company involves innovating,

creating new synergies and learning new skills, which have the potential to
become new sources of income.

5. An unstoppable domino effect.

The digital transformation provokes a metamorphosis in the corporate culture
that is perceived at all levels.

Thus, on the one hand, change management processes turn the organization
into a flexible entity with the capacity to adapt to a constantly changing
environment.

On the other hand, digital communication tools put at the forefront and make
possible the forms of collaborative work, where alignment around objectives
and transversal communication are more possible than ever.

In this way, the impact of the digital transformation of your company is

multiplied in different directions and, in addition to aligning it with the way of
working of the future, make it more effective and attractive to customers.

The ultimate guide to ensure a complete digital transformation in an industrial company 7

Despite the clear benefits already being documented by companies that have
begun their transformation, it is still a minority that are taking concrete steps to
access these benefits.

According to SoftServe’s 2017 digital transformation report, the number of

companies globally that have completed their digital transformation processes
ranges between 10 and 30%. However, 50% of respondents say they have already
taken the first steps towards change.

These figures vary widely according to the different sectors: in the retail,
distribution and transport sectors, 38% of companies claim to have taken
measures; industrial companies, on the other hand, lag behind with 18%.

An analysis of these data leads to a conclusion: although companies have started

to take steps, they are still too shy to complete the transformation.

What’s causing this delay? According to the Roland Berger questionnaire on

digitization in 2015 -2016, the main barriers that organizations face in undertaking
their digital transformation are resistance to change and the cost of doing so.

It is therefore a problem of concepts: if the process is seen as costly or complex,

the transformation is not carried out with efficiency or conviction. On the contrary,
the change must be proposed in a different way: by knowing the advantages
of carrying out the update, involving the people who will be part of it, it will be
perceived as the investment in the future that it really is.

These data also show that organizations that today take the step towards digital
transformation will automatically find themselves at the forefront of the sector,
using new strategies that, although accessible to all, have not yet been assumed
by their competitors.

The ultimate guide to ensure a complete digital transformation in an industrial company 8

How your industrial company can
achieve digital transformation

Like any change management process, digital transformation will require the
development and implementation of a plan that captures the transition process
and projects it into actionable actions.

The fear of change and the perception of technology as complex are causing many
companies to postpone their transformation, particularly within the industrial
sector. This means that they do not have access to the advantages that digital
could bring them, from improved efficiency to increased revenue.

Fortunately, like any other metamorphosis, the digital transformation can be

broken down into several steps. Following these phases allows companies to
embrace their digital shift:

1. Establish what you want to change and why.

Start by analyzing the current situation in your company. Explore
processes that you know could be improved by digital tools: from internal
communication to customer care to managing your own production
processes.

Does your company already use digital tools to communicate with customers?
Have you implemented cloud storage systems? Is there a process that you
have automated through technology? These are some of the questions you
can ask yourself to analyze the current state of digitization of your company
and ask yourself what can change.

It also defines the ultimate goal: a better end-customer experience? Reducing

unnecessary costs? Optimizing efficiency in any area of the company? Digital
tools can do all this for your company and go further.

When studying the current situation of the company and the future to which it
aspires, it is vital to carry out a deep and transversal analysis that includes all
the areas in which the company operates.

The ultimate guide to ensure a complete digital transformation in an industrial company 9

2. Indicate which tools and people you have
to carry out the transformation.
The digitization of your business will require the collaboration of the entire
staff. Also seek out and train those who have the capacity to exercise
leadership and make them lead others towards change.

This stage is crucial. Statistics show that the main obstacle in the digital
transformation is resistance to change: you will need reliable and motivated
people to successfully steer your business towards digital. The acquisition of
talent with the necessary digital skills is also part of this phase.

Regarding tools, make sure you have native professionals in the digital world.
At this point, many organizations choose to outsource the process to digital
transformation experts who can provide their vision on which platforms could
make a real change in your organization.

3. Turn ideas into a plan.

According to the ideas in previous steps, launch to put on paper the steps to
follow through a plan. It thus indicates which actions are priorities and which
people or teams are in charge of carrying them out.

Don’t forget to set deadlines and quantifiable objectives, so that the plan
becomes a work schedule with concrete tasks to be carried out.

The ultimate guide to ensure a complete digital transformation in an industrial company 10

4. Communicates and trains everyone involved.
Remember the importance of overcoming the rejection of change: only by
making sure that the entire workforce embarks on the transformation process
can you guarantee success. Investing time and resources in this way can make
the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful transformation.

Internal communication actions and employee training should focus on two

points:

▶▶ Present changes in a positive way. He explains with concrete examples

how the application of the technology, in the long run, will simplify
the work, saving time and efforts and allowing everyone a better
performance of their tasks.

▶▶ Ensure that employees have the right knowledge to engage with the
organization’s fit to digital tools. Training of veteran employees is
common at this stage.

5. Implement and analyze.

When the time comes, launch your team to implement the digital
transformation plan. Having established quantifiable dates and objectives,
you can measure the effectiveness of the implementation and correct the
results that are not achieved.

In the changing environment in which industrial companies exist today, it is

a fact that digital transformation will never be complete: research processes
will always bring new technologies capable of improving the functioning of an
organization at any level.

Therefore, as part of the digital transformation process, a continuous analysis

must be applied to explore adaptation to the company’s new technologies.
Organizations that are flexible enough to adopt the necessary changes will
make a difference in the future.

The ultimate guide to ensure a complete digital transformation in an industrial company 11

Nexus Integra: the IIoT and Big
Data platform with which to
achieve the transformation of your
industry will be simple and fast

Nexus Integra is an open industrial IoT and Big Data platform that manages,
operates and uses data from products, machines, databases and corporate
systems. Through Nexus, you will get all the value out of the data generated by
your industrial company, putting it to work.

Our platform nexusintegra is a solution for the complete digital transformation of

industrial companies. We thus provide a framework for the management of large-
scale industrial assets, on a single platform and of intuitive use.

With no programming knowledge required, it allows companies to access their

data in real time, store historical information and all through a single interface.
Thanks to the tools provided by Nexus Integra, our customers have already
achieved 20% lower maintenance costs in their processes and up to 1 million
euros in energy cost savings.

In Nexus Integra we have tried to build a simple and fast platform to unify the
data obtained through different teams. In addition, the platform features a single
license at no additional cost.

Among the reasons why you choose Nexus Integra to digitize your business are:

▶▶ The use of open source technology.

▶▶ The ability to use the platform in conjunction with third-party systems.

▶▶ The standardization of data from multiple sources on a single platform.

▶▶ Scalability according to your business results.

▶▶ Customization of the platform, 100% customizable by users.

▶▶ Success stories

The ultimate guide to ensure a complete digital transformation in an industrial company 12

The Nexus Integra platform has already helped companies on three continents in
different sectors with their digital transformation, including ceramics, automotive,
food and beverage, smart cities, energy efficiency and oil and gas.

In our trajectory, there have been several cases of paradigmatic use. It is

worth mentioning the help we give to the water management plant Global
Omnium to process its data. The digitization of their processes through Nexus
Integra provided them with the tools to improve their efficiency, achieving a
20% reduction in maintenance costs and 1 million euros of savings in energy
consumption.

On the other hand, we helped the porcelain stoneware production Colorker

company to create a holistic database that allowed them to have access to
production data in a structured and updated way. Thus, they managed to optimize
their costs in their supply chain, reduce the production price of new industrial 4.0
applications by 70% and their maintenance costs by 20%.

In addition, Nexus Integra’s predictive model helped the automotive company

Seat apply digital technologies to the production of its gearboxes. Through our
platform, they managed to prevent unexpected production stoppages and avoid
the creation of defective units, obtaining total control over their performance,
both predictive and retrospective.

At Nexus, we have already helped industrial companies in many different areas to

make their digital transformation and use the power of data to their advantage.
We generate customized solutions, using IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) and Big
Data to improve process efficiency and bring about significant economic savings.

Do you want to know more about how we can help

you push your industrial company towards the
new digital paradigm?

Contact us and we will get to work to help you take the

steps towards the future of the industry

CONTACT

The ultimate guide to ensure a complete digital transformation in an industrial company 13

 Follow us on:

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www.nexusintegra.io