A digital revolution is well underway in manufacturing and has been accelerated by the COVID-19 Pandemic. This revolution is changing the way companies produce and sell products and services.
Before COVID many manufacturers were slowly realizing that a new, more customer friendly business model was needed to sell highly configurable manufacturing products. This has changed. From internal operations to customer experience, manufacturers across industries are gearing up for change. Customization, from the customer buying experience to the factory floor, is essential for gaining a competitive advantage and long-term customer loyalty. For the survey “The State of Digital Manufacturing”, Tacton asked +100 leading corporations about their most critical digital transformation investment initiatives.
Speaking with executives it’s clear that nearly all think that today digital transformation is important, while more than half think it’s extremely important. Indeed, the survey found that manufacturers believe digital transformation is the key to achieving business goals, with 97% of respondents saying it’s at least somewhat important, and 54% identifying it as extremely important.
Many respondents noted the next generation of manufacturing buyers will be accustom to a fully online buying journey, with little or no interaction with sales reps or engineers. As one respondent noted, “It is all about customer experience in our industry, we need to make it easy for the next generation of entrepreneurs. We need to create value together with our customers and partners.”
“The higher the importance a company assigns to digital transformation efforts, the more likely they are to believe improving the customer experience is important to remain competitive,” said Bo Gyldenvang, Chief Executive Officer at Tacton. “With this in mind, it’s encouraging to see manufacturers accelerating their digital transformation and focusing on their customer, to future-proof their business.”