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Only large companies live the digital transformation? Scanning in the middle class doesn’t make big headlines, but it’s real and sometimes works better than big companies.
Courtesy konstruktionspraxis by Katharina Juschkat: Digital transformation is thinking of innovation labs and large enterprise digitization initiatives that save neither the expense nor the hassle of stacking projects and writing titles. The middle class, on the other hand, is said to remain behind, lose its digitization and lose its connection. But is this true?
SMEs face many obstacles for digitization
The middle class is indispensable in the German economy. According to the Federal Statistical Office, 99.3% of all German companies are small and medium-sized and employ 60% of all employees. The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, along with Sirius Minds GmbH, has been looking for examples of small and medium enterprises that have successfully implemented digitization in their company – and has inferred from this that medium-sized companies are not at all. but implement exemplary projects.
Midsize businesses face many obstacles to digital transformation: they often lack the necessary capital, but also the digital skills needed in their own workforce, and the slow Internet in the field is also a hindrance. There is also a lack of incentive for some companies to invest in digitization because the current business is good and there is no capacity.
This forces the middle class to approach digital transformation differently than many large companies do. The following five examples show that this path can also be very successful and imply a company-wide digital transformation.
1- An app for garbage disposal
The company: EMZ Hanauer produces sensors and components for home appliances and employs about 1,000 people. An area also deals with the disposal of municipal waste and access to dumps.
The Scanning Project: Until now, EMZ customers had access to dumpsters using electronic keys. This replaced the company with an application. Customers now also receive the invoice digitally.
Implementation: During implementation EMZ had a heterogeneous team within the company. They worked closely with customers and no longer invested in prototypes until feedback was positive. Where the team faced their own limits, they got the experience from the outside.
The advantages: For customers, reducing hardware means above all a cost advantage. However, they also benefit from additional technology features: for example, they can send a photo through the app to the waste disposal company if there are problems with the waste container – such as dirt or vandalism. Waste disposal companies can also use the app to better plan their routes because they know how full the containers are already.
2- Video glasses for better customer communication
The Company: The Beumer Group specializes in intralogistic systems such as baggage handling and employs approximately 4,200 people.
The Scanning Project: To improve customer service, Beumer has developed video glasses that enable customers to visually assist customer service.
The implementation: In the implementation, Beumer had a start-up. It was also important for the company to bring in its own employees as early as possible.
The advantages: The problems of a system are difficult to describe over the phone. With the help of video glasses, customer service can understand the problem without being present. In addition, the customer can be recorded in the video glasses instructions, he can independently solve the problem.
3- Cloud platform creates new application fields
The company: BHS Corrugated Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH employs over 1,900 people and is a lifecycle partner in the corrugated cardboard industry. Its spectrum of products and services is very large.
The Scanning Project: The company has developed its own cloud platform to make it easy to identify maintenance cases and incidents at its customers’ premises. Plant data is stored and evaluated on the Industrial Industry of Things (IIoT) platform.
Implementation: BHS has established its own company in the company for implementation. The new area was free to handle only the IIoT platform.
The Advantages: With the platform, the company learns much earlier when there are problems with a machine. But the project went much further: With the data analyzed on the cloud platform, customers were able to recognize their own production bottlenecks and tap new potential. This led to extremely poor feedback. and, finally, to new business areas at BHS.
4- Internal wiki ensures better project workflows
The Company: Stoll Group offers design solutions in the areas of building technology, panel building, automation and more. The company employs about 180 people.
The digitization project: In the various customer projects, the company wanted to bring better stability and process dynamics. To this end, the company has implemented an internal reference work in the form of a wiki.
The implementation: Running the wiki took longer than planned. In addition, it was not easy to convince all employees internally to use the new reference work. But some important company people who set a good example supported the project. It was important for Stoll not to rely on short-term success but to follow the project over the long term.
The advantages: The project process has been greatly improved with the help of the wiki, as all employees now have access to the same information. This allows everyone to get everything they need for their project at any time. Both customer satisfaction and project quality have increased enormously.
5- Integrate Online Family Announcements
The Company: NWZ Mediengruppe is a large media company in northwestern Lower Saxony, NWZ Digital is the holding company of the media group.
The digitization project: Family announcements, such as marriage or mourning, are an important branch of daily newspapers. NWZ Digital also wanted to make the ads available online.
Implementation: The company worked with a start-up to implement it. This is how an ad portal designed family ads to appear online. Internal involvement in NWZ Media Group was not easy, especially in sales – the team had to be sensitized first.
The Benefits: The startup’s ad portal works so well that it has created a white label solution that the media company can resell. Meanwhile, the solution is represented in various German media and some Europeans.
SMEs are doing better in digital transformation – digitization
Of the five successful digitization projects, the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society derives three theses from Sirius Minds GmbH: On the one hand, medium-sized projects do not seek a standard solution, which competitors can also pursue, but always had specific problems and their solution as a goal. Therefore, there is no simple formula for the success of digital transformation in the middle class.
The authors of the study also appeal in their second thesis that German companies have to dare more: although German quality enjoys a good reputation, its production requires lengthy processes. However, digital transformation must be more dynamic, go to market early with experimental ideas, and work closer to the customer. That’s why, according to the study, midsize businesses sometimes find it easier to implement digital projects because they often have short paths to decision making, flat hierarchies, customer proximity, and greater fault tolerance.
Proximity to the customer is also a decisive advantage for midsize companies in the final thesis of the study: Here, first of all, existing business problems were researched and solutions developed. In large companies, on the other hand, whole departments are often reinstated, new employees are recruited, and then it’s time to find out what challenges to solve. The challenge for small and midsize businesses, as not being able to afford such investments, leads to fast and uncomplicated solutions, close to the customer.
Related article: The eight steps to digitization- Roadmap