Rapidly advancing technologies like augmented and virtual reality are changing the way plants are operated in the digital era. With innovations like wireless equipment monitoring, data can be gathered on equipment in the field and sent back to engineers so failures can be better predicted and avoided.
To realize the true value these technologies can offer, though, companies need to develop a digital strategy plan, according to Coila LeFleur, enterprise capability architect -- manufacturing for ExxonMobil.
"You're really not going to get the value of using these [technologies] unless you have an idea of where you want to be as a company and a plan of how you're going to get there," she said at the TEC Next Conference in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. "You need to move from an area where you're 'doing digital' to one where you're 'being digital.'"
The first step in creating a digital strategy, LeFleur explained, is to understand the business in question and the goals it hopes to achieve 10 or 20 years down the line. To do this, companies should study how their industry is changing and what their competitors are doing in the digital space, coupling those findings with insights about their partners and the markets they choose to enter.
"Once you understand where you want to take things, you want to get some people together," she continued. "You want to start with the people who are really innovative, but you also want to get the people who are naysayers -- the people who say, 'We've been working like this for 40 years. Our people aren't going to use technology in the field. There's no value.'"
It is important to include naysayers in the process, LeFleur said, because if they are not included, they will likely disrupt the changes a company is trying to make.
After crafting a vision for a business in the digital era, companies need to identify the barriers between their current standing and where they want to be in the future. These barriers come in four distinct areas: people, processes, information and technology.
"People" barriers are caused by cultural differences, workforce shortages and skills gaps. "The skills gap is not just in the craft," LeFleur said. "It's in the ability to understand how to use technology in the craft and keep up with technology as it's changing jobs." Companies need to understand not only the culture at their plants but also their employees' willingness to adopt new technologies.
Next, it is important to look at barriers that arise due to business processes; at most plants today, such processes are likely to have been written decades ago and merely tweaked as years went by. Companies should ask if their aging business processes are going to make sense to recent graduates just entering the workforce.
Information can also be an obstacle. "Do you have the data you need to do what you want to do?" LeFleur asked. "If you can't get to the information you need -- if it's sitting on your equipment on a network you don't have access to -- you're going to have a problem."
Last, companies should examine technological barriers.
"Even if I've been successful for 100 years, to go forward, I might need to do something different. How is technology going to take me there?"
After studying these areas and gaining insight on pain points and opportunities, companies can create a roadmap and put governance in place "to make sure people are responsible for getting you where you need to go."
Once decision makers have a firm grasp on their digital strategy, the final step is getting every member of the team on board.
"Go out, listen to the people, get their input and refine it," LeFleur said. "Once you have that strategy and you put your people in place, you can create the plant of the future."