Elements of Structural Change and the Management of Transformation

Abstract

Successful industrial transformations mean moving beyond insular one-off solutions to standardized product and platform environments. As discussed in Chap. 2, industrialization in the form of standardization in the automotive industry has produced unified workflows and platforms, streamlined processes substantially, and achieved major improvements in quality, effectiveness, and efficiency. The first milestone on that journey was the switch from manual production (“cottage-industry” manufacturing) to assembly line scenarios. This tectonic shift was followed by an era of standardization, prefabrication, and modularization, which is currently experiencing a turn towards more consolidation, less vertical integration, and the global sourcing of supplier services and components. All of these measures are designed to counter the impact of tougher competition, the rising burden of costs, and the deteriorating margins in the industry. IT service organizations, which are facing challenges not dissimilar to those faced by carmakers, can learn a lot from this pioneering role-model. For a lasting boost to efficiency, they would do well to scout other industries for industrialization concepts that could reasonably be applied to their own processes.