The era of democratized data needs to be led by DX2.0

Over the last few years, we have witnessed process industries digitizing large amounts of their operations. However, despite this accelerated shift, execution remains uneven. In tandem, leaders have been contended with several business challenges such as disrupted markets, changing consumer behavior, data abundance, remote working and regulatory changes.

This has driven the uptake of further digital transformation (DX) initiatives to stay relevant, maintain market leadership, foster resilience and fuel scalable innovation. As the industry battles an increasingly complex operating environment, companies require more comprehensive DX solutions, or what is being referred to as DX2.0.

Introducing DX2.0

Utilizing digital tools, DX fundamentally changes business processes, operations, and customer experiences. DX2.0 elevates these applications through the use of advanced technologies. By leveraging the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), advanced analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) in the cloud, this next phase of digital transformation creates holistic end-to-end visibility of the entire industrial value chain for greater sustainability and efficiency.

Think of DX2.0 as an interconnected network of data highways. In every industrial sector, teams can connect across their commercial industrial ecosystem, empowered with the trusted data, models, insights and visualization they need to make better, more agile business decisions.

In manufacturing, this industrial intelligence spans the supply chain from raw materials through to finished product. In energy, it’s a single source of truth from generation to distribution and consumption. In mining, the network is unified from pit to port. And so on across the industrial spectrum in a flexible, repeatable and scalable manner.

According to IDC’s Worldwide Digital Transformation Spending Guide: “DX remains a global priority as organizations seek to become digital businesses where value creation is based on the use of technologies for processes, products, services, and experiences. To achieve that objective, worldwide DX spending is forecast to reach nearly $3.9 trillion in 2027 with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.1 percent.”

The largest DX use cases, according to the report, include leveraging digital technologies to strengthen supply chain management, design and engineering, operations, and plant floor operations, as well as improving back-office support and infrastructure, and enhancing the customer experience.

Real-world impact, possible with synced analytics

In the renewable energy sector, consulting firm ZGlobal and its main energy partner brought together real-time renewables data from producers, schedulers, distributors and other intermediaries into a single community in the cloud. Each stakeholder within this solar energy network can remotely tap into comprehensive and granular data in almost real-time, along with detailed insights into business processes and when required. 

Everybody wins in this connected ecosystem. With daily reports combining datasets from power producers, schedulers, meters and other variables, ZGlobal’s customers have a full picture of exactly how their assets are performing. When performance drops below the expected level, ZGlobal has the data to effectively troubleshoot the issue. The energy partner, for its part, enjoys a simplified and sophisticated process of settling and validating invoices every month. Meanwhile, the power producer and its peers in the data community can now easily share and access data, thanks to a new industrial intelligence infrastructure. This setup offers speed, transparency, and security, while its repeatability makes onboarding new projects and partners more cost-effective.

Elsewhere, established industrial leaders are using DX2.0 to harness fresh advantages. Focusing on deeper integration, automation and optimization enables them to stay ahead in the digital age.

International Group. Inc. (IGI), a leading developer and producer of wax-based products and wax alternative coatings, and its AI analytics partner, share crucial real-time data securely in the cloud to improve operational efficiency and sustainability. By structuring and analyzing thousands of data points across the value chain, IGI operators have increased plant performance, reduced waste and improved wax yields without a time lag.

Sustainability gains from this integrated data highway included crude waste reductions of 49 percent, while 40 hours of off-specification processing were eliminated each fortnight. Moreover, higher yields generated $10 million in profit over a single year, and the project delivered an initial 67x ROI, with cumulative returns expected over time.

Achieving sustainable success

Contextual data that is available across the entire ecosystem enables companies to stay ahead of market changes, improve operations and quickly adapt to challenges. However, despite having more data at our fingertips than ever before, siloes and legacy systems are hindering access and dulling companies’ competitive edge.

DX2.0 initiatives are key to breaking down these barriers and unlocking the full potential of data to become more agile, efficient, and effective.  Digital transformation is an evolutionary process, and companies will need to look to issues of privacy and promote data-driven decision-making to get the most from their investments. But a holistic approach that unites these factors with DX2.0 can accelerate the network effect, ultimately driving transformative outcomes and sustaining long-term success in a digital-first world. 

Image Credit: Andrei Dzemidzenka / Dreamstime.com

Kim Custeau is Executive Vice-President of Portfolio, AVEVA.