Digital Transformation Journey - First Steps
The buzzword “Digital Transformation” is popular in the business world—and has been for a while. But, while many companies are interested in harnessing the power of technology to automate and streamline their operations, the prospect of undertaking a full-scale digital transformation initiative can be daunting. Thankfully, digital transformation doesn't need to be an all-or-nothing proposition. Corso Systems can help you with a winning strategy of starting small and building momentum for achieving digital transformation success.
In recent years, more and more companies are embracing Digital Transformation initiatives. Companies leveraging digital technologies to automate and optimize their operations are at the forefront of this trend. With digital transformation, they are now able to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and enhance customer experiences. Corso Systems can help you make sure you don’t get left behind.
While the concept of Digital Transformation encompasses a wide variety of technologies—database and ERP integrations, work order management, warehouse management, automation utilizing Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), and overall IT Infrastructure it is possible (and smart!) to start where you are and add one piece to the puzzle at a time. Our approach will let you experience all the parts of the process, see a quick result and begin the continuous improvement process. You’ll see the advantage of each incremental change, how it functions in your business, then improve and add on to it until you’ve reached the goal of your Digital Transformation journey!
Start Your Engines: Ignition as the Foundation For Digital Transformation
Once you understand that you can start small and grow into your systems, processes, and tools over time, you’ll have leapt over one of the biggest hurdles of starting your Digital Transformation journey. You don’t need to plan, finance, and implement an enterprise-wide solution on day one. Instead, Corso Systems can help you pick a single process or piece of equipment and go through the entire digital transformation process focused there first. Later, we can help you add more production lines, equipment, and processes once you’ve experienced all the parts of a successful digital transformation project.
You don’t even necessarily need automated machines to gain many benefits of Digital Transformation. At Corso Systems we heavily rely on the Ignition platform from Inductive Automation to take our customers on the Digital Transformation journey. It connects to just about any business software, gives you the ability to visualize any type of data in many different formats, and can connect the shop floor to the top floor when you are ready to make the leap.
Even with a fully manual process, you can gain value and insight from using digital manufacturing technologies.
Examples of manual processes that can benefit from digital manufacturing technology:
Quality control testing
Production scheduling and job tracking
Inventory and warehouse management
Improved operator training and education
Increased productivity and reduced downtime
Streamlined and repeatable business processes
All of these examples and more can be quickly implemented with Corso Systems and Ignition.
Overcoming Common Digital Transformation Speed Bumps
Starting down the path of digital transformation at a small scale with Corso Systems helps you overcome three major pain points common to all Digital Transformation initiatives:
Legacy systems and data silos
Lack of real-time data and/or insights into your operation
Resistance to change
Legacy Systems and Data Silos
Many companies have outdated legacy systems and data silos which are incompatible with modern digital technologies. These outdated systems make it difficult to implement a digital transformation initiative that integrates all of the company's systems and data. A common trope in the industry is the idea of moving records from paper to digital. As odd as it may sound with mobile devices in everyone's pockets, many companies still use paper records throughout their processes. Ultimately, all of this data is not available to integrate and correlate with modern technology. These practices leave a huge amount of value trapped in data silos.
Corso Systems uses the Ignition industrial integration platform from Inductive Automation as a solution to this problem. Ignition is a flexible and scalable platform that can integrate with a variety of legacy systems and data sources. With Ignition, we can help your company bridge the gap between your legacy systems and modern digital technologies, allowing for a more seamless digital transformation.
Lack of Real-Time Data and Insights
Many companies struggle to get real-time data and insights into their operations. This adds needless difficulty to making informed decisions and optimizing processes.
Leveraging Ignition's real-time data processing capabilities allows you to collect, analyze, and visualize data in real-time. This can help to identify inefficiencies and opportunities for optimization, allowing for better overall informed decision-making.
Resistance to Change
Another big challenge of starting every Digital Transformation initiative is getting buy-in from employees and team members who may be resistant to change.
Fortunately, when compared to nearly every other automation software on the market, Ignition's user-friendly interface and customizable dashboards make it easy for employees to adapt to new digital technologies. Additionally, Ignition's mobile capabilities can allow employees to access data and insights from anywhere (if you choose), making it easier for them to work remotely and collaborate with colleagues. Corso Systems can set it all up securely—in any configuration.
With Ignition as your platform for digital transformation, Corso Systems can help you overcome these significant pain points and achieve your digital transformation goals.
Drive Across Town Before You Go Cross-Country
Starting small with a digital transformation initiative allows you to test the waters before diving in headfirst. By implementing a small-scale digital transformation project with Corso Systems first, you can evaluate the effectiveness of the technology and make adjustments before scaling up to larger projects. This can help to mitigate the risks associated with digital transformation and ensure a return on your investments.
Corso Systems approaches Digital Transformation projects by choosing a single piece of equipment, production line, or process to move from the paper age and into the digital age. This may mean compiling data to start tracking OEE, moving quality control processes from clipboards to a Lab Information Management System (LIMS), or even starting as simple as collecting historical data to develop a baseline for future decision making.
Starting small allows everyone involved with the project to understand all of the moving pieces, how they will impact the status quo. Just as importantly, everyone can get comfortable with the company culture changes enabled by Digital Transformation.
You and your team can experience everything involved in Digital Transformation projects together—and move forward faster. From navigating the information gathering, process documentation, and how to measure the impact of the project on your operations, to the important changes in company culture.
Remember Where You’ve Been and Know Where You’re Going
As you traverse the path to Digital Transformation with Corso Systems, you will gain experience and insight into what technologies are available, how we can leverage them at your company, and where you want to go with your next steps.
The invaluable experience from a small Digital Transformation initiative can be directly applied to a larger implementation for our second go around as the scope of your project grows to the next level.
Starting small will help you see where Digital Transformation can truly excel—while elevating your company to the next level. Each journey along the Path to Digital Transformation will be different, but you will find that it is much easier and more fruitful if you start small with Corso Systems at your side.
Digital transformation can be a powerful tool for improving efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing customer experiences. However, the prospect of undertaking a full-scale digital transformation initiative on your own can be daunting. With Corso Systems helping you in starting small and involving your staff in the process, we can build momentum for future initiatives and ensure the success of your digital transformation journey.
Don't be afraid to take that first step towards digital transformation – contact Corso Systems today. The benefits are waiting for you.
Digital Transformation Case Studies:
