Digital Maturity: How to Turn Your Digital Strategy into Reality

The manufacturing industry is under increasing pressure to operate more efficiently, flexibly and competitively. Digitalisation plays an important role in this, but many companies struggle with how best to tackle this transformation. Where to start? How to move forward? We're here to help find a path towards digital maturity.

What is Digital Maturity?

Digital maturity determines how well an organisation uses technology and data to operate more efficiently, flexibly and competitively. Manufacturing companies that invest in this method strengthen their competitive position and build a future-proof organisation. An important part of this transition is the digital thread, which links Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. This integrated information flow ensures that all departments always have access to real-time and accurate product information. This leads to better collaboration, more effective decision-making and higher levels of process control.

To strengthen the digital thread, the value of data is leveraged:  smart applications and integrated solutions are essential. Smart applications, like IoT devices and low-code applications such as Mendix,  collect and analyse data in real-time, allowing companies to respond to changes immediately and prevent problems before they escalate. In addition, they allow users to engage with systems or with the organisation. Integrated systems allow PLM and ERP platforms to communicate and exchange data effortlessly, resulting in more efficient and streamlined operations. AI and data-driven insights play a crucial role here. By analysing large amounts of data, machine learning algorithms can recognise patterns and trends that would otherwise remain hidden. This helps companies make better-informed decisions, optimise processes and continuously improve product quality.

Figure 1 Emixa's Digital Thread

Why Is Digital Maturity So Challenging?

Despite the growing need for digitalisation, many manufacturing companies face challenges in successfully implementing it. The transition to a more automated and data-driven way of working is often slower than desired because companies encounter various obstacles.

• No Clear Digitisation Strategy. Many organisations understand that digitisation is necessary, but do not know which technologies and approaches are best suited to their specific situation. Without a clear strategy, digitisation initiatives often remain stand-alone projects without coherence. This lack of a structured implementation plan leads to small, isolated improvements instead of a broad, effective transformation.
• Limited Insights into Return on Investment (ROI). Digitisation brings changes, but without a clear picture of the expected benefits, decision-making often remains absent. This lack of understanding makes it difficult to justify digitisation initiatives internally, making companies hesitant to take the next step even when the benefits are visible. This procrastination increases the risk of organisations being left behind in a market where digitisation is increasingly the norm.
• Shortage of Staff & Digital Skills. Digitisation is not only about technology, but also about the people who can successfully implement and apply it. Many companies struggle with a shortage of employees to carry out digitisation projects. One in three entrepreneurs experience this challenge and say they struggle to find and retain qualified staff. This shortage not only delays digital transformation but also hinders innovation.
• Financial Constraints and Economic Uncertainty.  In addition to internal challenges, external factors also play a major role. Rising energy prices, falling margins and economic uncertainty make companies reluctant to invest in digitalisation. Although the long-term benefits are clear, financial constraints are causing many organisations to postpone their digitisation plans.
• Lack of Top Management Commitment. A successful digital transformation starts with a strong vision and active management commitment. When this support is lacking, digitisation projects often get stuck in the planning phase or fragmented initiatives without coherence. Without a clear direction and commitment, opportunities are missed and inefficiencies arise that, in the long run, weaken a company's competitive position.

What is Your Company's Digital Maturity?

To gain insight into the digital maturity of your production environment, we conduct a Digital Maturity Assessment in your supply chain. This scan is specially designed to identify the biggest challenges within your production environment and implement targeted improvements. The method combines in-depth business insights with more than 30 years of experience in the manufacturing industry, giving your organisation not only theoretical models but also concrete, practice-oriented advice.

The Digital Maturity Assessment offers a holistic approach to analyse and optimise your production processes. Instead of focusing exclusively on the shop floor, this scan also maps the processes that directly or indirectly influence it. Think of goods receipt, assembly, inventory management, planning, quality control, purchasing and logistics. This broad focus creates a complete picture of your production environment and provides strategic insight into opportunities for improvement. The aim is not only to improve individual processes, but also to optimise the cohesion between departments. Inefficiencies and bottlenecks that normally remain under the radar are identified, allowing your organisation to take targeted steps towards smarter and more effective working methods.

How Emixa Can Help Your Organisation

Want to gain insight into your organisation's digital maturity? With the Digital Maturity Assessment, you will discover where the biggest opportunities lie and how you can digitise strategically. Take the next step towards a more efficient and data-driven operation today. Contact Emixa and start your digital transformation.

Get in touch

Want to learn more about Operational Excellence in Manufacturing? We’re here for you.
Reach out to Vincent Verheul, Robert te Vaarwerk or Feike de Groot.