The digital ecosystem has been growing and transforming every day. Businesses are changing fast and everyone is trying to keep up with the speed. In this situation, manufacturers are also trying to find the best digital transformation tool for their business. They are looking for a platform that can handle all their tasks from inventory management to customer communication. However this process is lengthy and sensitive. One wrong step can greatly affect your efficiency.
In this blog post, we will take you through the 7 digital transformation best practices and how you can implement them into your business.
What Is Digital Transformation?
Digital transformation is the process of changing how a business operates with the use of technology. It involves integrating many technologies for all functions to achieve a better output. In the manufacturing business, you need vendor and supplier data maintenance. Further, you need to understand the sales and work on raw material procurement. Task scheduling and final product testing are required steps in a small business as well.
But, you have to make sure that you are following the best practices for the digital transformation of your business. It allows you to work with new technologies like cloud-based business development and management for tasks like automatic e-invoices, material dispatch management, and vendor support.
Importance Of Successful Digital Transformation
Digital transformation initiatives can bring many positive changes to an organization. Let's understand why digital transformation is important for a successful manufacturing business:
1. Customer Experience: Digital transformation tools improve your communication with your customer. They give you the option for your customer and your team to communicate at every stage and keep you on the same page. This helps you provide a better experience to your customers.
2. Increased Efficiency: Digital Transformation can automate tasks like e-invoicing and quotation sending through WhatsApp or email. Further, you can keep track of inventory and payments without hassle. You get features to maintain information about product manufacturing and finished goods testing.
3. Better Adaptability: Your business should evolve with the changing market. You need cloud-based tools that can digitize your inventory management processes and maintain customer data. This can help you adapt to the changing needs of the user. You can work on stock management and expand production per orders and demand.
Identifying Best Practices For Successful Digital Transformation
Let us know the 7 best practices of digital transformation that can help you grow your manufacturing business, with ease.
1. User-focused Workflow You can start with in-depth user research. Understand how you are managing your customers and orders. Look at the sales and how they increase or decrease after a certain time. Also, understand your production planning process and its alignment with the production needs. Check if you have the required pricing and maintenance strategy.
2. Digital Planning Integrate your digital transformation strategies with the specific requirements of your business. These conditions include market share, required customer satisfaction, and an increase in work efficiency. Take advice from business stakeholders and include them in the decision-making process. Make sure that these stakeholders and department heads are on board with digital transformation adoption.
3. Select Right Technology Research and find the requirements of your business. If your selected technology does not align with your business goals, you may not benefit and make use of the best practices for digital transformation. Integrate the new system into available software and look for potential ROI. Update yourself with the new technologies and examine if they can help your business.
4. Business Operations Find a method to control the stock levels of your product digitally to achieve better efficiency. Look for a tool that provides a complete dashboard for inventory management. Digitize testing and know if products are selected or rejected for dispatch. Further, transform your payments and make them digital. Check every payment with ease, set payment reminders, and keep a record of all transactions for better communication.
5. Onboarding Team Look for a tool that will be easy for the team to learn. The software should also help in team collaboration. Your software should have a buyers and suppliers module to store information about the people involved in your business transactions.
6. Data-Based Decision Making Use real-time data to make adjustments to your business plans. You can use a platform that contains a production module to give you reports on manufacturing processes. Moreover, inventory management tools can save you from stockouts. Data-based decisions can improve business performance and save time.
7. Continuous Improvement In the end, you have to work with the growing and changing market. If a technology is new today, another tool will come into the future that may function better. Further, get feedback from the users and improve wherever possible.
Implementing Digital Transformation Key Initiatives
Let's talk about the key initiatives associated with the best practices for Digital Transformation by Government of India under ICT Scheme:
1. Awareness Programme: The XII five-year plan includes at least 100 awareness programs on ICT benefits for MSMEs, organized by MSME-DIs and associated with industry associations, featuring live demonstrations and technical expertise from Specialized Institutions and Cloud Service Providers. These programs, funded up to Rs. 1.5 lakh each based on participant numbers, cover expenditures including honorariums and are managed financially by Field Institutions of the office of DC-MSME/MSME-DIs.
2. Cloud Computing: To promote ICT usage, a subsidy on cloud computing costs for MSMEs is proposed, with a pilot phase covering 2300 MSMEs, offering a maximum of Rs. 3 lakh per unit over three years, split between the government and the MSME, and implemented via a tapering subsidy model. The scheme's budget is Rs 69 crore, with disbursement managed by SIs who evaluate MSME applications on various criteria and ensure compliance with budget allocations.
3. Publicity and Mobilization: To enhance MSME engagement with ICT and Cloud Computing for business promotion, a Rs. 5 crore initiative includes hoardings at MSME-DI sites, a regular media campaign via electronic, print, and radio, and documentaries about ICT benefits, with activities managed through MSME-DIs, DAVP, and potentially private agencies via tender. Activities are subject to approval by PMAC and aim to maximize MSMEs' utilization of digital technologies.
4. Licensed Software: To address the high cost of licensed proprietary software for MSMEs like Tally, MS Office, and AutoCad, the office of DC, MSME will facilitate economical procurement through partnerships with software majors, managed by Sis and approved by PMAC, allowing MSMEs to purchase needed software at reduced rates directly from registered providers. This initiative will also enhance MSMEs' access to a diverse range of business applications, contributing indirectly to their growth and operational efficiency.
5. Miscellaneous Expenses: Miscellaneous expenses under the scheme include seminars and workshops on global ICT developments, with a funding cap of Rs. 6 lakhs each, and publications like a knowledge book on ICT for MSMEs; project-related travels for officials to national and international events, and essential administrative costs for scheme implementation and monitoring, managed by PMAC and various MSME-related bodies.
Leveraging Digital Adoption Strategies
Digital adoption strategies like automating quotations and payments can help you save time and use it to prioritize other business operations. Digitization with the right tools helps maintain records about required raw materials, available stock, and quality testing. You can further make sure better communication among teams and between suppliers and vendors.
Choosing The Right Software For Digital Transformation
Choosing the right software for digital transformation can be a complex task. Follow the following steps to make informed decisions:
1. Define your Digital Transformation Goals The first step to finding the ideal digital transformation software is identifying where your traditional system lacks. You have to figure out if the use of digital transformation tools improves your business operations or customer experience. Set your objectives and move forward.
2. Analyzing Existing Techniques Create a record of your current software tools and how they function. Understand the possibility of integrating new tools with old ones. Check the compatibility of both. Security is an important factor for any business. You have to examine if your current system provides the necessary security.
Understand your current process and examine if you are getting the required return on your investment. Research and check if digitization can help you improve your ROI and business efficiency.
3. Research and Compare The next step involves researching the available software solutions in the market. Further, you have to create a list of software systems that come within your budget. Perform an in-depth examination to find features and reviews for every software. Try testing the software on the first go and checking its compatibility.
4. Training, Implementation, and Software Adoption Plan After you select a software and want to adopt it, provide a training model to your team. Try working on phased implementation. This technique allows your team to adapt with the best practices of digital transformation without hassle.
Real-world Examples Of Successful Digital Transformations
Let's talk about some real-world examples related to Digital Transformation.
1. Mahindra & Mahindra:
Let's talk about Mahindra and Mahindra, a well-known automotive giant, and their digital transformation journey. They used a cloud-based manufacturing execution system to improve production and use of resources. They further focused on real-time data to make predictive decisions and to analyze potential equipment failures.
2. Tata Motors:
This enterprise is a household name in India and one of the biggest competitors in the automotive industry. They used digital transformation to get insights into their network of supply chains. Further, they used inventory management and data-driven decision-making to reduce costs. Digital Transformation helped Tata Motors improve its product quality by keeping track of its production and testing phases.
3. Bharat Forge Ltd.:
This business leads the forging components industry today. Bharat Forge Ltd. connected all their business phases from production to manufacturing and sales in a single platform and focused on real-time data tracking. This connection helped them keep track of their products and helped them identify profit areas in their business.
Measuring Success And Continuous Improvement
The main focus around the best practices for digital transformation is the implementation of new technologies, determining success, and working on continuous development. If you want to work on continuous improvement, getting user feedback is the best way under digital transformation methodologies. You can get feedback through focus groups, surveys, and user testing. You can even test different versions of a digital solution to find the better one.
How Tranzact Helps Scale Up Your Digital Transformation
Digital Transformation is important for every small business in today's market situation. Some of the digital transformation best practices can help you stay ahead of your competitors. TranZact plays its role by digitizing SMEs into growing businesses. Get tools like inventory modules to take care of the production planning process. You can maintain data about buyers and suppliers, raw materials, and manufacturing.
FAQs
1. What Are The Key Effective Strategies For Digital Transformation?
The key effective strategies for digital transformation are:
- Focus on digital transformation adoption from the user end
- Make use of required data and analytics
- Find the perfect technology for your business
- Prioritize continuous development
2. What Are The 7 Principles Of Digital Transformation Strategy?
Here is a list of seven principles related to digital transformation strategies.
- User-centricity
- Business Alignment
- Change in Culture
- Agile Methodology
- Selecting the right technology
- Data-based decision making
- Continuous improvement
3. What Is A Digital Transformation Initiative?
A digital transformation initiative is a process allowing the use of digital technologies, software, and tools to transform how any business operates. Tasks like production management, transactions, records, quotations, and others are tracked with efficiency.
4. What Are The Three 3 Main Components Of Digital Transformation?
The three main components of Digital Transformation are technology, people, and processes. The technology involves the use of new tools. People adopt these tools and work on innovation techniques. Processes are the reason why business workflow can get better.
5. What Are The 5 Pillars Of Digital Transformation?
The 5 pillars of digital transformation are:
- Customer Experience
- Operational Efficiency
- Business Model Innovation
- Workforce Enablement
- Data-Driven Culture
6. How Do You Create A Digital Adoption Strategy?
Here are some steps you can follow to create a digital adoption strategy:
- Identifying user and client needs
- Communication for better adoption
- Training and modules
- Tracking overall progressDevelopment based on feedback
