Leveraging Industry 4.0 Technologies For a Post-Pandemic World

It’s nearing the six-month mark since most of us began reeling from effects of Covid-19, even longer for those working in the manufacturing sector, whose supply chain was likely the first to feel its impact. Once this widespread crisis is over, and we emerge into a post-pandemic business environment, will your manufacturing corporation be a technology have or a have not?

According to a recent McKinsey insight report, you’ll be one or the other, and the dichotomy is being forged even deeper during the crisis.

“Industry 4.0 technologies were already transforming manufacturers’ operations before the pandemic. Now, adoption is diverging between technology haves and have-nots,” according to Authors Mayank Agrawal, Karel Eloot, Matteo Mancini and Alpesh Patel, who reference ‘acceleration’ as the watchword of this experience.

As businesses now adjust to as the ‘next normal,’ they say, executives are grappling with longer-term questions about what manufacturing will look like, citing that “most important, they are likely to be much more digital, as is already evident in the immediate response to the crisis.”

As the authors explain, Industry 4.0 includes connectivity, advanced analytics, automation and advanced-manufacturing technologies and was gaining momentum before Covid-19, helping companies transform their operations in everything from production efficiency to product customization, with improvements in speed to market, service effectiveness and new-business model creation.

The role of Industry 4.0 becomes even more critical in the backdrop of a crisis such as Covid-19, authors state. “Players utilizing digital solutions are better-positioned to weather the storm, having moved faster and further than their peers during the crisis. As companies think about restoring operations and building the muscle to deal with future crises, using digital technologies will be top of mind for many.”

Cue viax’ holistic enterprise commerce solution — built with manufacturers specifically in mind, supporting the migration to Industry 4.0. viax’ cloud provides manufacturers with access to our full suite of integrated solutions –modules, such as such as OMS, Product Configurator, CPQ, Billing and Subscription Management, Advanced Pricing, Workflow Automation, BI/AI/Machine Learning, and more, plus our architecture, operations and support. The July 29 article also posits that manufacturers will likely follow different adoption rates for various components of Industry 4.0 solutions.

“Early successes have shown that companies can start on their industry 4.0 journey in a small way and then scale quickly if they commit to Industry 4.0 transformation in line with their business environment and their strategic objectives.”

To support this, viax’ modular commerce building blocks provide the flexibility to implement features as you need them, when you need them. viax modules natively integrate with each other and seamlessly integrate with existing systems, allowing a transition to digital transformation at your pace.

Thanks to the authors for this insight and the nod to partnership models and collaborations for helping to advance this movement forward.

Reach out to viax today to see how we can help ensure your B2B or D2C business emerges on the other side of this pandemic, not just resilient, but ready to embrace Industry 4.0 and ahead of your competition.