Tag: digital transformation

The 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) is underway and it is shaping up some of the most significant opportunities and challenges of our lifetime. The surging high-tech, sharing economy is transforming jobs, policies, industries and entire economies as we witness our digital and physical worlds continue to merge.

Originally, process automation was implemented to good effect in the manufacturing space for almost a hundred years. It started as mechanical automation of parts in the early 1920s. In the 1970s, huge manufacturing efficiencies were gained through the adoption of Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM).

As we progress further into Industry 4.0, finance needs to further leverage new technologies to add real value to a business’s bottom-line, yet it remains in its infancy stages. Industry 4.0 has impacted a range of industries, and with the digitisation of industrial value chains, many forget about finance, which has only touched the tip of the iceberg when it comes to leveraging new technologies.

Digital innovation is accelerating in South Africa - from call centres using chatbots and automatic transcription to improve customer service, to financial advisors harnessing machine learning and data analytics, rapidly matching client and solution, and emerging use cases of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and AR/VR training in the mining and manufacturing sectors.  

Nerina van Niekerk is 24 and lives in Stellenbosch, some 52 kilometres from Cape Town, capital of one of Africa’s most wired provinces. In the Western Cape, 75% of people who are 16 and upwards have access to the internet. This compared to Gauteng, at 55%.

Automation offers the supply chain significant advantages across efficiency, capability and reducing complexity. It can take on the tedium while opening up opportunity, and it can cut costs while allowing for improvements in deliverable and customer engagement. 

As we transform products and deliver them to market differently, interact with our customers via different tools or channels and aim to empower our employees to deliver more with the right tools, we need to ensure we provide a framework for this all to happen.

Trust is a firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something. Trust is what every business is built on – the brand promise, the quality of products and solutions, and ultimately, client relationships are based on trust.

As digital transformation continues to evolve the business landscape, the market remains fiercely competitive for businesses and brands – especially when it comes to customer loyalty and retention. One industry where this rings especially true is aviation, where customers’ requirements for on-demand access to expert airline consultants must be met through a variety of channels when navigating their travel experience.

While moving to the cloud might be easier than overhauling on-premise systems, there are still obstacles to overcome. Many companies underestimate the costs of migration and the level of planning required.