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Brain Circuits
Lessons in digital transformation from industry
In an interview with IMD’s Didier Bonnet, aerospace veteran Mike Ambrose shared his insights on pulling off a successful digital transformation in one of the world’s most complex industries.
Integrate before you transform
The first step is to shift the mindset from digital transformation to digital integration. This means understanding data interfaces that define the design, build, certification, and maintenance of equipment, and knowing which digitally connected interfaces will have the most impactful cost/benefit business case.
Build a ‘digital thread’
Focus on building a single source of data that encompasses every stage of the product life cycle. This means defining the data sources for everything that will be digitally integrated (bearing in mind that not everything needs to be integrated).
‘X before you X’
‘X before you X’ modelling consists of using data to enable designing before you design, building before you build, testing before you test, flying before you fly (or equivalent), and maintaining before you maintain; simulating a task before doing it. This is at the core of industrial digital transformation and de-risking production in complex systems.
Break down silos
Eradicating silos is one of the biggest hurdles in any digital transformation effort; especially in an industry like aerospace, where manufacturing engineers hold key knowledge about how things are built but are often undervalued compared to more specialized roles. The solution is to encourage the ‘builders’ to engage with the entire system, empowering manufacturing engineers to become the crucial link connecting design, logistics, finance, and other functions.
Measure at every stage
When it comes to leading large, complex projects, demonstrating the tangible benefits of digital integration is essential. This requires a combination of near-term metrics that show you’re making intermediate progress and hitting milestones on your journey while keeping track of longer-term goals. By tracking improvements in quality, cost, and schedule at every stage, companies can make a compelling case to stakeholders and justify ongoing investment in digital initiatives.
Understand the impact on every stakeholder
Manufacturing modern equipment often involves complex supply chains and relationships. You need to understand how every stakeholder, both inside and outside the company, connects and interacts, and manage these complex relationships in a structured way.
Have the courage to think differently
Breaking through the organizational resistance that comes with change requires strong, committed leadership from the top. This means having the courage to say, “We are going to think differently, and we are going to do things differently”.
Key learning
In long-cycle industries, the focus should be on building a digital thread across every stage of the product life cycle to enable comprehensive simulation and modelling for better predictive analysis of the product value chain.
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