Industry 4.0: Building Value‑Stream Organizations for Continuous Improvement

While discussing the results of our market study with manufacturing experts, we were asked a very insightful question:

“In terms of organization, are there any studies about redesigning the processes? Most organizations are structured vertically, yet Industry 4.0 processes require horizontal structures and a process‑oriented organization. Do companies know this?”

Local optimization is already proving beneficial

When we begin a partnership to implement Industry 4.0 solutions, we focus on what we call “point information.” Our goal is to help the customer refine a specific manufacturing process: first providing a holistic view of the entire operation, then identifying more efficient ways to execute each step. Typically, local optimization is confined to a single plant.

Optimizing across the entire supply chain—engaging suppliers, plants, logistics, and customers—requires connectivity, which is no longer a hurdle thanks to mature RFID and other ready‑to‑use technologies. In one of our plants, deploying RFID and re‑engineering the whole system cut inventory by 30 %. This success illustrates the value of moving from single‑step improvements to full‑chain optimization.

Value chain optimization – what’s in it for organizations?

Horizontal connectivity, linking the entire supply chain or value chain across a company, is a natural next step in our projects. While today’s highly optimized manufacturing processes already deliver significant gains—particularly through lean methods—fully connected value chains unlock even greater potential. In the long term, we envision fully integrated ecosystems that span the entire industry.

Think big, start small

To ensure project success, we recommend setting a vision of a fully connected value chain but beginning with a concrete process that delivers immediate results. Several proven technologies and methods exist that allow production managers and manufacturing experts to get started quickly. Once the first wins are achieved, these tools can be scaled across the broader Industry 4.0 strategy.

Two key enablers we emphasize are rules technology and big‑data processing. Both can be operated by domain experts—without waiting for IT staff—enabling rapid decision‑making and providing a real competitive edge during the early stages of Industry 4.0 adoption.

Beyond these tools, we have seen great success with a structured approach to project selection: start with a standard value‑stream analysis, identify high‑impact issues, and then recommend software solutions that deliver the greatest improvement within that value stream.

Our experience shows that this method works best when organizations are ready to embrace Industry 4.0 but are unsure where to begin. While the concept may sound familiar, Industry 4.0 introduces software that supports continuous improvement—often grounded in value‑stream mapping. These continuous improvement processes are already established in our plants, and IT can accelerate progress and elevate performance.

What do you think? How far have we come today on the path toward value‑stream organizations? To what extent can software help to speed up improvement?