Tacton’s ‘State of Digital Manufacturing Survey’ Reveals the Strategies and Technologies Manufacturers Are Betting On to Help Them Thrive in 2021
Tacton, a global leader in CPQ-based Smart Commerce solutions for manufacturers, today announced the results of its “State of Digital Manufacturing” research. The survey, conducted in January of this year, reflects changing mindsets among manufacturers as they struggled to pull themselves out of the quagmire of 2020, indicating that digital transformation is more important than ever heading into 2021. Indeed, the survey found that manufacturers believe digital transformation is the key to achieving business goals, with 97% of respondents saying it’s at least somewhat important, and 54% identifying it as extremely important.
The impact of recent economic times didn’t slow digital transformation efforts — in fact, the majority of respondents said they have continued or accelerated their efforts. Supply chain optimization is the most critical digital transformation investment initiative among manufacturers during the current economic uncertainty, with 64% citing it, followed by the digitalization/automation of internal processes (59%).
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For the “State of Digital Manufacturing” report, Tacton surveyed more than 100 decision-makers, director and above, from the industrial manufacturing sector.
Most businesses believe that increasing product quality (59%), driving sales and revenue (58%), and improving customer experience (49%), are the three most important strategies for business growth and success. The survey found that leaders with different roles within organizations focus on different initiatives to achieve those business goals. For example, VP and C-level staff consider customer self-service sales an important investment initiative, while directors are more likely to believe digitalization/automation of internal processes are more important.
“The higher the importance a company assigns to digital transformation efforts, the more likely they are to believe improving the customer experience is important to remain competitive,” said Bo Gyldenvang, Chief Executive Officer at Tacton. “With this in mind, it’s encouraging to see manufacturers accelerating their digital transformation and focusing on their customers, to future-proof their business.”
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Domestic and International Manufacturers Differ
According to the survey, U.S. companies seem to be further along in their digital transformation efforts compared to companies in other countries. International businesses do recognize a gap: A full 50% of international respondents said their organization lags behind competitors on the digital transformation front, compared to just 15% of domestic respondents who said the same.
In addition, U.S. companies place higher importance on customer self-service sales and supply chain optimization, while international companies place higher importance on partner/dealer sales and the digitalization/automation of internal processes. Also, international companies place more importance on improving the customer experience and increasing product quality when compared to their U.S. counterparts.