Study confirms companies’ increasing commitment to digitalization

The industry managers in the DACH region agree: entrepreneurial success is now more closely linked to digital transformation than ever before. According to the current study “Digitization 2024,” more than half of industrial companies are intensifying their digitalization activities despite an overall tense economic situation. “Digitalization is a source of inspiration and an ideal instrument for increasing your own performance in times of crisis. This realization is becoming more and more widespread in the industry. Every second company has decided to further increase the pace of digitalization. That’s right,” says Dr. Michael Feldmeth, who at Staufen leads the Digital & Industry 4.0 practice unit. This offensive and future-oriented attitude is a ray of hope in the current market environment because it shows that companies are aware of their potential and opportunities.

Industry expert Feldmeth recommends an ambitious and multi-dimensional transformation strategy that goes beyond pure efficiency optimization. So far, 63 percent of companies have responded to the global economic crisis with cost-cutting measures, while 45 percent are concentrating on their established core business. “New business models are only mentioned in third place, followed by collaborations or strategic partnerships. More courage is required here,” continued Feldmeth.

Understanding and evaluating connections between data

Even among companies that say they are intensifying their digitalization activities, optimizing the status quo is currently still at the top of the agenda. 82 percent are currently working on “digitizing processes,” 57 percent are implementing “cybersecurity measures” and 48 percent are pushing ahead with “cloud migration.”

In order to fully exploit the potential of digitalization, recommends Ignacio Quiñonero Ferrer, Managing Director of AppliediT, a comprehensive approach: “When data is viewed in isolation, the company only receives a snapshot. It is more effective to understand and evaluate the connections between the data. This increases the information gain enormously. In this way, the adjustment screws with the greatest leverage in the process chain can be identified.”

Digitalization provides a lot of data – but few insights

Digitalization expert Ferrer is convinced that the promises of technological change can be fulfilled and disappointed expectations can be avoided: “While digitalization has already significantly increased transparency in four out of ten companies, only about half as many have so far recorded really noticeable positive effects in these areas Innovative power, quality and costs. This suggests that companies collect a lot of data, but its evaluation has not yet led to deeper insights. In short: It is time to tackle the second part of the digitalization journey now.”

About the “Digitization 2024” study

For the “Digitalization 2024” study, Staufen and AppliediT surveyed 417 industrial companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The survey was carried out in October and November 2023. The complete study results can be requested here: www.staufen.ag/studie-digitalisierung-2024.

Also read: UR presents a collaborative robot with a payload of 30 kg