The manufacturing industry is on the verge of a data-driven revolution. In his revolution, we would see companies collaborating in hyperconnected value networks driven by data and analytics, new customer experiences and social and environmental impacts. The COVID pandemic has bolstered the need for data analytics that enable more resilient supply systems, which could help businesses prepare for future shocks and increase operational productivity to free up liquidity for future investments. However, many manufacturing companies lack the organizational and technological foundations to implement data and analytics applications, both internally and at an ecosystem level.

Data ecosystems enable significant value creation, yet many companies fail to capture that due to insufficient skills/capabilities, data security risk, a lack of effective applications to process the data, complex internal processes and limited clarity in roles and responsibilities. According to a recent report by the World Economic Forum, organizations must overcome those issues by developing a data-to-value strategy and roadmap, incentivizing both internal and external partners and building the ability to capture, use and store data. Manufacturing companies would need to implement a strong data excellence framework based on three standards: the implementation status of value‑adding applications, the maturity of the organizational set‑up and the maturity of the technological backbone. Stakeholders are encouraged to join this initiative to shape the framework, share best practices, nurture new partnerships and disseminate insights, supporting a journey towards globally connected manufacturing data ecosystems.

Read the World Economic Forum’s full report on this topic, in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group, titled “Data Excellence: Transforming manufacturing and supply systems.”