Industrial pros looking for a more focused approach to digital transformation

A highly focused approach to digital transformation is challenging the traditional top-down, all-or-nothing strategy, according to a report from Plutoshift.

The findings revealed just 25% of industrial professionals said digitizing their entire company at once was the right approach. Rather than embarking on an organizational overhaul, industrial professionals are looking at digitizing and automating specific tasks, departments and functions within their organizations.

The report details a more targeted, incremental approach to digital transformation called ​operation-specific (or op-specific) digital transformation.​ An ​op-specific​ approach focuses on implementing digitization and automation techniques to specific workflows.

Op-specific digital transformation more manageable and cost-efficient

According to the report, 66% of industrial professionals believe op-specific digital transformation would be more manageable and cost-efficient.

The report comes at a time when many organizations are reevaluating or changing their approach: 74% said their digital transformation strategy has changed over the past six months and 84% said that COVID-19 expedited their need to digitize their workflows.

“Industrial companies have felt more pressure to digitize and operate more efficiently, especially amidst the pandemic and changing work conditions,” said Prateek Joshi, CEO at Plutoshift.

“A company-wide overhaul is not optimal for companies that need to quickly pivot their digital strategies in challenging market conditions. Industrial professionals are now looking for new approaches to drive ROIs on a more manageable scale. Op-specific digital transformation empowers professionals with the right tools that can transform their day-to-day operations.”

Other key findings

• 78% said that as they began to implement their digital transformation efforts, it uncovered underlying issues in the process
• 94% said they’d like to be able to do more with their digital transformation efforts
• 68% said there are specific workflows they would like to improve
• 58% said they have explored operation-specific digital transformation. 79% of those respondents said the effort was successful or somewhat successful.