Digital transformation rolls on

The transformation of industry towards digitalization will have a profound impact on industrial manufacturing, according to the machinery, electrical and metal industry association Swissmem. However, there is still little knowledge among companies about how to tackle the challenge. Swissmem, together with other professional organizations, therefore recently launched the national initiative "Industry 2025"was launched. The platform aims to provide information on all aspects of Industry 4.0 - and in particular to highlight opportunities and potential.

All the hype surrounding this fourth industrial revolution is, how could it be otherwise, also already prompting the first cautionary tales. Mechanical engineering in particular is being challenged by the growing number of software solutions. "The digital factory and M2M are still in their infancy. A dangerous stage that always quickly puts the industry in danger of being overrun by unwanted innovations instead of using new and existing content to create new synergies," said, for example, Utz Täuber of the consulting firm Invensity. Täuber, who heads Invensity's Innovation Center, bases his statement on a trend study conducted by the company, "IT and Technology Report 2020. It shows that in terms of software developments, the smart factory is in third place behind Big Data (80%) and IT security (74%).

The fact that digitization is not yet that far advanced in Switzerland was recently also confirmed by the Study of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. It concluded that more than half of the companies lack digital know-how. At the same time, 74% of the respondents are convinced that digitization will have a major impact on their industry. It is also interesting that the respondents name "digital security" as the most important digital technology.

In the next issue of the trade journal SafetyForum the topic of digital transformation process is taken up.