Products & Solutions
Why DriveWorks
How to Buy
Resources
About
Log InTry Demos

Manufacturing errors and unplanned downtime are potentially very costly. The 2022 The True Cost of Downtime report found that manufacturers lost $1 trillion in manufacturing failures accounting for 11% of their yearly turnover.

And human error is worse in the manufacturing industry compared to other sectors. 23% of all unplanned downtime in manufacturing is the result of human error, compared with rates as low as 9% in other sectors.

Manufacturing errors can lead to product defects, increased costs, and damage to brand reputation. Implementing effective strategies to reduce errors not only improves product quality but also improves efficiency and overall profitability.

In this blog post, we will explore some proven strategies that manufacturers can adopt to minimize errors.

Invest in Employee Training

One of the key strategies for reducing manufacturing errors is having a well-trained workforce.

Provide comprehensive training programs for all employees involved in the manufacturing process. Continuous training ensures that employees are up to date with the latest technologies, procedures, and quality standards.

Implement Robust Quality Control Systems

Having rigorous quality control measures is essential for identifying and correcting errors at different stages of production.

Implementing a comprehensive quality management system can help identify the root causes of errors and streamline processes for optimal efficiency.

Man doing quality control checks on machinery

Use Digital Manufacturing Technologies

Integrating digital technologies, such as automation, artificial intelligence, CPQ, and machine learning, can significantly reduce the likelihood of errors.

Automated systems perform repetitive tasks with accuracy, minimizing the risk of human error. CPQ for Manufacturing (CPQM) solutions enable manufacturers to streamline the manufacturing processes for products with multiple configuration options, reducing error rates and improving production efficiencies.

Regular Equipment Maintenance

Equipment failure can be a significant source of manufacturing errors.

Implement a proactive maintenance schedule to ensure that all machinery is operating at peak efficiency. Regular inspections and replacement of worn-out parts can prevent unexpected breakdowns and errors.

Man doing a maintenance check on a factory machine

Supplier Collaboration

Work closely with suppliers to ensure the quality of incoming materials. Establish clear specifications and standards for raw materials, and regularly audit suppliers to verify compliance.

Working with trusted suppliers reduces the likelihood of errors caused by poor-quality materials.

Data-Driven Decision Making

Use data analytics to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and identify areas for improvement.

Analyzing production data can provide insights into patterns and trends that may identify underlying issues leading to errors. Data-driven decision-making enables proactive problem-solving and continuous process improvement.

3D Product Visualization

Implement 3D product configurators to enable customers to configure and visualize their customized product selection within a pre-defined set of manufacturable parameters. This ensures that custom options are valid and reduces requote rates and manufacturing errors.

An effective strategy for reducing manufacturing errors encompasses both sales and production processes. Embracing a commitment to error reduction is a key step towards achieving excellence in smart manufacturing.

By implementing these proven strategies, manufacturers can improve product quality, reduce costs, and increase efficiency.

DriveWorks Technology Solutions for Reducing Manufacturing Errors

DriveWorks CPQ for Manufacturing software enables businesses to reduce sales and manufacturing errors with:

  • Guided selling helps customers and guarantees valid configurations that can be manufactured
  • 3D visualization that communicates complex design details effectively
  • Integration with CAD to automatically create technical documents and manufacturing data

There are challenges in all industries and consumer expectations are changing. Now is the time to leverage digital, automate and be more efficient. Businesses are using technology to work smarter.

In manufacturing, technology is improving traditional processes, driving the industry forward and addressing inefficiencies.

Manufacturers who dont embrace and plan for digital transformation will be left behind. As with any change, going digital can seem intimidating and scary. There are misconceptions and fears around digital transformation. Over the past year, our digital transformation series has taken a look at the key information manufacturers need to know and we’ve shared advice, tips and tricks.

The most important thing to embracing change is educating and understanding. Organizations that are well-informed about the possibilities of digital transformation are more likely to succeed.

Here’s a round up of our series in case you missed anything!

We’ve identified the barriers and misconceptions that manufacturers face when approaching digital transformation and offered useful tips and advice on how they can overcome these challenges.

Lack of budget for digital transformation

The prospect of digital transformation can seem expensive and out of reach. However, its important for companies to embrace digitalisation to reap the the benefits digital technologies bring, and keep up with consumer expectations. Whilst there are initial investments, companies are quickly seeing a good return on investment. Follow our tips to embrace digital transformation in a scalable and profitable way.

Read about you can manage the cost of your digital transformation implementations:

Making time for digital transformation

Sometimes, with what feels like a big problem, it can be easy to assume it needs a big solution, requiring a lot of time, money, and change. This doesnt need to be the case. The key is identifying an appropriate and achievable goal and then breaking it down into small steps. This reduces the time and cost required to plan and implement the strategy but also helps with employee engagement.

Read our tips to learn how to approach digital technologies without huge time commitments:

Workforce resistance to digital transformation

Manufacturing companies are going through a time of transformation, with opportunities created by technology. Traditional operations are being replaced by more efficient processes, and workforces are learning and evolving too. Learning new skills and keeping up with technology will lead to benefits for all. Investing in digital also means investing in your workforce, creating opportunities for employees.

Read about how digital technologies can create and accelerate jobs within your organization:

The fear of change within organizational processes

The most important thing to embracing change is educating and understanding. Organisations that are well informed about the possibilities of digital transformation are more likely to succeed.
Educating yourself and your workforce about what digitization could mean for your company helps alleviate fears, debunk misconceptions and increase acceptance and engagement.

Find out how you embrace the change that comes with digital transformation:

The unknown possibilities of digital technologies

There are many options for digital transformation and benefits to implementing digital strategies. Understanding what’s possible is key to mapping out your strategy. Understanding the benefits digital brings for business processes, workforces and customers, and knowing when and how to get started will give you the best start for your digital transformation journey.

Understand the possibilities of digital technologies for manufacturers:

Being unaware of the benefits of digital technologies

Digital transformation improves communication and promoting collaboration. These benefits are resulting in increased efficiency, more productive workforces, and improved customer experiences. The benefits of digital transformation are crucial to businesses levelling up if they are conscious of not wanting to fall behind as the world shifts to a technological-based future.

Discover the key benefits of digital transformation for organizations:

As technology changes the way consumers and businesses research and buy products, manufacturers can leverage the capabilities of digital technologies to meet expectations- building resilience in the current market.

Here are some key takeaways to remember when planning your digital transformation:

Adopt a scalable approach to digital transformation

No matter the goal for digital transformation, the key is to pick a suitable strategy. One that suits your organizations current and short-term aims, with the ability to scale when appropriate. Digital transformation is not one-size-fits-all. You can do as much, or as little as you like. Small changes could feel like minor adjustments but they often pay off quickly.
When analyzing digital technologies, one of the key considerations for businesses should be: are they scalable and future-proof?

Read about how to make digital transformation scalable and futureproof:

Measure the impact of digital technologies

The prospect of creating long-term goals to digitally transform can feel intimidating. Measuring the success of technologies is critical to ensuring that your organization is adopting the most appropriate tools. Monitoring and measuring are key to knowing what is working and why. Measuring the success of your implementations goes further than numbers. Understanding that different types of feedback from workforces and customers can help you to measure success and accelerate digital within your businesses.

Find out some of the ways you can measure the success of digital technologies:

Make the most of existing resources

Factors like rising costs, increasing customer demand, and more specific consumer needs mean that organizations need to find ways to meet expectations whilst accelerating productivity, being as efficient as possible, and maintaining quality and service. The power of technology is helping manufacturers to save on costs, increase productivity & efficiency, accelerate company agility, and increase stakeholder engagement. By achieving this, employees can dedicate more time to doing more innovative tasks.

Read how technology has the power to reduce the challenges that businesses face today:

Digital technologies help build resilience

Leveraging the available digital technologies enables businesses to enhance communication and collaboration, combat uncertainty, optimize processes, make data-driven decisions, engage customers effectively, increase agility, and strengthen stakeholder engagement. All of these benefits make an organization resilient in the current technological climate. By using digital tools to their full potential, businesses are able to respond to emerging trends and changes in the industry quickly. This type of proactiveness sets companies apart from their competitors.

Read about how you can use digital technologies to build resilience:

Make improvements to your existing processes

Adding more digital tools doesn’t mean an entire overhaul of your current efforts. When considering how to add to your current digital transformation efforts, you should review the technologies youre already using. Consider how these technologies are performing in relation to your goals. Identifying gaps and bottlenecks is a good way to gain clarity on what types of technology you should look to add next. Digital technologies have the power to improve processes for employees and customers, resulting in better performance and long-term success for businesses.

Read our tips on what you should consider when adding more digital tools to your processes:

Tailor digital strategies to work for you

There are many reasons why you may be planning a digital transformation strategy you may be struggling to keep up with demand, you might want to dedicate more time to research and development or you might be looking to set your company apart from competitors. Whatever your challenges are, and whatever your goal is, its important to make sure the digital technologies you implement work for your organization. Whilst you dont need to do everything all at once it is still important to think about your potential future needs when choosing your digital tools.

Read our tips for ensuring your approach to digital transformation is tailored and achievable:

Adopting digital and overcoming the barriers to digitalization gives manufacturers the power to stay competitive and create sustainable growth for the future. Manufacturers should beopen to new ideas, experiment with tools, embrace opportunities, and constantly seek feedback and insights from customers and stakeholders.

How are DriveWorks customers using digital technologies to overcome barriers?

A graphic summarizing the benefits Extronics have had thanks to DriveWorks. Text reads: Bringing wireless technology into hazardous areas isnt easy. Extronics made a conscious decision to invest in technology to streamline this process., Extronics have integrated DriveWorks with their existing ERP solution, so the Sales Team can generate quotes directly within the ERP system, At the point of placing an order, sales are able to give documents to the customer to confirm what they have ordered. The engineering of the solution is automated and rules-based, With DriveWorks, Extronics were able to do new things with their products, and allow customers to configure solutions in a way that they couldnt do before.

Extronicsare headquartered in the UK,and operate around the world. They specialize in developing and manufacturing equipment for use in hazardous areas.

Since implementing DriveWorks, Extronics has achieved a number of goals:

  • Providing products faster, without compromising quality.
  • Have more time to focus on product innovation.
  • Driving product and operational consistency.
  • Simplifying complicated assessment processes.

Read more about Extronics’ success with DriveWorks here.

Implementing digital technologies is essential to succeed in todays technological landscape

Digital transformation doesn’t mean completely changing the way you work. It doesn’t mean overhauling every process within your company.

Digital transformation is about finding what is right for you, your workforce, and your goals.

That might mean taking one process at a time, and identifying small, quick and low-cost improvements.
It might mean looking at ways your systems can work together better. Identifying ways to connect your existing technologies to make the most of them.

Digital transformation is always an iterative process. Even if you’re already using digital technologies, there will always be opportunities to review and improve. Technology is evolving fast, your current digital tools will likely have new capabilities. There might be other ways you can use them, or expand their use into other processes or teams.

Digital tools enable manufacturers to design quicker, improve accuracy, communicate better, and transform the customer experience.

An icon showing a page and a magnifying glass.

Review your existing processes & digital technologies

Map out your current processes to identify where there are gaps and where improvements can be made.

Are there any processes you haven’t optimised? Are your processes and technologies contributing to your organizations goals?

Are there areas of processes that your staff feel are wasting time? There are often issues within processes that team members get used to, and are happy to work around. Or they dont feel comfortable suggesting changes. Empowering teams to question processes and suggest improvements will help identify bottlenecks.

Ask for feedback from your customers. Find out what their experience is like to highlight ways to enhance processes. Responding to customer feedback also leads to higher chances of customer loyalty and retention.

A icon showing a person slotting a jigsaw piece with another piece.

Identify opportunities to improve

Once you have reviewed your existing processes and identified gaps, you can then start to find solutions.

Solving these on a small scale is the best approach. Building solutions incrementally with small gains enables you to learn from what works, and build on and enhance your digital transformation efforts.

Breaking down digital transformation makes goals more attainable and provides a quicker sense of satisfaction. Small changes over time are much easier to accept and adapt to. Seeing results sooner boosts attitudes toward digital transformation and increases employee adoption and acceptance too.

This also provides an opportunity to review what more you can do with technology. What emerging technologies are there that could elevate your current processes? Are you using technologies to their full potential?

Be open to new ideas, experiment with tools, embrace opportunities, and seek feedback and insights from customers and stakeholders.
Digital technologies improve processes for employees and customers, resulting inbetter performance and long-term success for businesses.

An icon showing a computer, cog and a magnifying glass.

Test & implement new digital tools

Testing new digital tools is crucial to identifying what will work for your company. It’s also a great way to involve employees. To help them get familiar with the types of tools and technologies available. To get their feedback, and understand their preferences. Trial periods can also help you get a head start on implementation.

The goal is to identify digital tools that suit your business. Aim for solutions that fit in with, and enhance, your existing processes.

An icon showing a lightbulb and cogs.

Plan your future digital transformation strategy

A scalable approach to digital transformation is often best.

You dont need to do everything all at once. However, it is still important to think about your potential future needs when choosing your digital tools.

Its much easier to add to and adapt existing tools, rather than replace them.

Having clear goals for the future will help you to make the right decisions now and create solid foundations.

The future of manufacturing is in technology.

Using technology empowers manufacturers to optimize production, deliver high-quality products efficiently, and unlock new opportunities.

Wesley Knapper
IT Administrator at DriveWorks

“By relying on outdated systems, companies risk inefficiencies, increased operational costs and inability to meet customer expectations.
The absence of modern tools introduces security concerns, and may hinder innovation and creativity.

In contrast, companies that embrace technological advancements gain a competitive edge, deliver better customer experiences, and ensure long-term sustainability in an ever-changing market.”

How are DriveWorks customers embracing digital tools?

PMF-System, headquartered in Switzerland, is an award-winning start-up company specializing in custom-made furniture for industry.

Since implementing DriveWorks, PMF-System has achieved a number of goals:

  • Built an integrated online sales configurator.
  • Enabled customers to create custom products with ease.
  • Attracted new clients, using their configurator as a marketing tool.
  • Saved time and dedicated time to developing more product lines.

Read more about PMF-Systems success with DriveWorkshere.

Every business has a different approach to digital transformation, depending on specific circumstances and needs.

There are many reasons why you may be planning a digital transformation strategy – there may be bottlenecks in your processes, you may be struggling to keep up with demand, you might want to dedicate more time to research and development or you might be looking to set your company apart from competitors.

Whatever your challenges are, and whatever your goal is, its important to make sure the digital technologies you implement work for your organization.

Below are our top tips for ensuring your approach to digital transformation is tailored and achievable.

As with any project, it’s important to plan first. A good place to start is by identifying current gaps and challenges that need attention.
To get an in-depth understanding it’s important to get input from all of your workforce. There are often issues within processes that team members get used to, and are happy to work around. Or, perhaps because its always been that way, they dont want to raise it as an issue. However, empowering teams to question processes and suggest improvements encourages them to highlight where inefficiencies could be reduced. Identifying bottlenecks, and areas where processes are often delayed is key to making improvements.
Use this knowledge and research to define your digital transformation goals and make a plan for how you will achieve them.

The prospect of creating long-term goals for digital transformation can seem daunting. It’s important to remember you don’t have to make big changes at once. Digital transformation is scalable. The key is identifying an appropriate and achievable goal and then breaking it down into small steps. This reduces the time and cost required to plan and implement the strategy but also helps with employee engagement. Small changes over a period of time are much easier to accept and adapt to. Breaking down the task makes it more attainable and theres also a quicker sense of satisfaction. Seeing results sooner boosts attitudes toward digital transformation and increases adoption and acceptance.
The ideal strategy for digital transformation is to start small and build on your successes.

Analysing and tracking is critical to ensuring your digital transformation strategy, and the digital tools you implement, are the most appropriate for you organization.
Identify and measure Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), calculate return on investment (ROI), gather employee and customer feedback, track time and cost savings, and measure organization agility, innovation and performance.
Continuously monitoring enables you to learn as you go, make adjustments and build on your successes.
Whilst numbers and KPIs are important, the people within an organization are integral to the success of digital transformation so it’s vital to consider and gather feedback on how they feel, and how technologies are making a difference to the workforce.

Taking a Scalable Approach

The key takeaway from our tips above is: digital transformation is not one-size-fits-all.
You can do as much, or as little as you like. Seeing small, incremental results boosts attitudes toward digital transformation and increases adoption and acceptance. Its then easier to build on your digital approach.

As you implement, track, adjust and build on your digital transformation strategy, you may also uncover new ideas or opportunities. Things that you hadn’t previously considered, or things that weren’t possible but can now be implemented using the capabilities of digital technologies.

Whilst you dont need to do everything all at once it is still important tothink about your potential future needs when choosing your digital tools. Its much easier to add to and adapt existing tools, rather than replace them. In your research and planning, consider how you can build on the digital tools youre investing in at the beginning, and how flexible and scalable they are.

Making Digital Transformation Work for Your Workforce

People are a common theme in our top tips, because people are at the heart of digital transformation.

Whilst there are many benefits to digital transformation, resistance from employees is a common barrier to success. 70% of digital transformations fail, most often due to resistance from employees.

Employees can be resistant to change and adapt to new ways of doing things. The fear of the unknown is sometimes too much, especially for those having to learn new skills. Employee education is vital, to alleviate concerns about changing processes that already work, and they are comfortable with.

There is also a misconception that digitizing areas of a company means a loss of jobs. Digital technologies mean employees aren’t wasting their valuable time. Automating mundane tasks enables them to work more efficiently and dedicate time to creative, more valuable tasks.

Recognizing these concerns amongst employees is the first step to helping them overcome them. Companies need to work with employees, to help them understand how technology can make their day-to-day tasks easier and more rewarding. Human and digital workforces should work hand in hand, to make entire business systems work better.

Adopting new tools and technologies is the ideal opportunity for individuals to learn new skills, the valuable skills necessary for a future-ready workforce.

A circle with text that reads: 70% of digital transformations fail, most often due to resistance from employees.

Testing Before Investing

When planning out your approach to digital, its often difficult to know where to start and what will work. Look for free versions of a tool so you can try it out first and see how useful it is for you and your teams. Free versions offer entry-level functionality to help you identify what you need from a tool to reach your goals. You can also use free trial periods to test out features, and give you a head start on implementing a tool. Free versions and free trials are a great way of figuring out what works for you, before committing to a tool and investing time and money.

You might even be able to do more with the existing technologies you already have. What technologies do you already have in your business? Are you using them to their full potential? Are there features and functionality youre not using? Does one team use a digital tool that would also be useful for another team? Do you have access to additional tools that youre not using?

Digital transformation isn’t about changing everything, it’s about improving your processes and making the most of your existing resources, empowering your people and boosting business success, now and for the future.

How are DriveWorks Customers Using Digital Technologies?

DriveWorks is used by manufacturing companies from a range of industries.

DriveWorks is modular, scalable, and incredibly versatile. Our customers use DriveWorks in many different ways, building a Design Automation and CPQ solution to suit their needs.

Since implementing DriveWorks, manufacturers have:

  • Reduced design time
  • Created great customer experiences
  • Improved efficiency
  • Reduced costly errors
  • Dedicated more time to research and development

Find out more about how manufacturers are using DriveWorks here.

See what you can achieve with design automation and get started for free with the DriveWorks Solo 30-day trial

Design Automation

Markets arechanging, and customers are expecting more from the products and services they are buying. Consumers want products faster, cheaper and easier than ever before,without compromising on quality. This is presenting a challenge for many businesses. To meet demand, manufacturers are turning to automation.

Design automation is enabling businesses to turn aroundproposalsquickly,design and manufacture efficientlyanddeliver on promisesconsistently, all whilst maintaininga healthy profit.

By automating time-sensitive and often repetitive activities, businesses canfocus on innovationand adding value to their products, improving throughput and quality to meet customers requirements.

Save time, reduce errors, improve quality, and streamline processes with DriveWorks.

A graphic advertising the 30-Day DriveWorks Free Trial Offer.

Why DriveWorks Solo?

UseDriveWorks Solo to quickly and easily create and configure custom productsinside SOLIDWORKS速.

The rules-based design automationeliminates errorsand expensive, time-consuming design changes.

Automate repetitive SOLIDWORKS tasksand free up engineers to focus on product innovation and development.

DriveWorks Solo iseasy to set up, maintain and use. Deliver custom products faster and with greater accuracy, without using complex macros, design tables or code.

Get a head start bytrying DriveWorks Solo free for 30 days.

Get the Most Out of Your 30 Day Free Trial of DriveWorks Solo

We’ve created help and training resources so you can get the most from DriveWorks Solo and your 30 day free trial.

DriveWorks training manual page.

Training Tutorial

Follow the free Online Training to learn how to use DriveWorks Solo step by step. The training is on-demand in the DriveWorks Learning Portal so you can learn at your own pace and at a time that suits you.

MyDriveWorks account page on a computer screen

DriveWorks Community

Explore resources and content in the MyDriveWorks Community, with learning resources and opportunities to connect with other customers, resellers and partners from around the world.

A screenshot of some How-To videos page on DriveWorks.co.uk

How-To Videos

Our How-To Video Clips include tips on setting up different aspects of DriveWorks, including design automation (CAD), form design, automating the creation of drawings, documents, running projects and more.

A screenshot of some sample projects page on DriveWorks.co.uk

Sample Projects

Download DriveWorks Sample Projects, explore them and get ideas for your own projects. Take a look at how they are set up and see a variety of DriveWorks functionality set up and ready to use.

A screenshot of the DriveWorks Pro Help File page

Online Help File

A complete online help file is available online 24/7. The DriveWorks Solo Help File gives information, best practices, and solutions. Learn about a variety of topics.

The DriveWorks Webinars & Events page.

Webinars and Learning Events

Join the DriveWorks Solo Getting Started and DriveWorks Solo Online Training webinars to learn more, ask questions and get up and running quickly.

A screenshot of the Articles page on DriveWorks.co.uk

Articles Library

Our articles take an in-depth look at DriveWorks functionality and industry trends, alongside detailed how-to guides written by our technical experts.

DriveWorks Solo ROI Calculator page.

ROI Calculator

Calculate your ROI for DriveWorks Solo, based on automating one of your own products.
See the savings you can make and how soon you will benefit.

A picture of a page in The Little Book of Rules and a DriveWorks mug.

Little Book of Rules

Filled with examples of the rules used to automate designs with DriveWorks and a guide to the syntax you can use. Get in contact with us to request a Little Book of Rules.

A screenshot of the DriveWorks Technology page on DriveWorks.co.uk

Technology Examples

Explore the core technologies that make up DriveWorks software. Our Technology Examples go behind the scenes of our powerful technology, explore them to see what you can do with DriveWorks.

A screenhot of a configurator example on driveworkslive.com

Configurator Examples

Be inspired by ourDriveWorks Configurator examples. Our productconfigurator examplesshow whats possible withDriveWorks Pro. Explore and interact with the examples atDriveWorksLive.com

Screenshot of the Tech Tips help resources on MyDriveWorks

Tech Tips

Examples to demonstratespecific functionality and answer common questions. Download and explore the Tech Tips to learn how you can re-implement the same functionalityinto your own DriveWorks projects.

Take Your Design Automation Knowledge Further

TheDriveWorks Solo Certificationis available to anyone with a DriveWorks Solo license, including the 30-day free trial.

The certification isa great way to get off to the best start with your DriveWorks Solodesign automationprojects.

Strengthen your DriveWorks Solo skills and push your DriveWorks projects further.

Complete the exam in less than 3 hours to learn more about design automation and add an extra certification to your resume.

Example DriveWorks Solo certificate given to all who complete the certification.

Download and Use DriveWorks Solo Free for 30 Days

Follow the 3 easy steps below to download the DriveWorks Solo 30 day free trial and see the functionality for yourself.

A picture of a computer screen with a ''activate your DriveWorks community account'' on the screen.

Join the DriveWorks Community

A computer screen showing a drawing using DriveWorks.

Download and Licence DriveWorks Solo

Two computer screens showing a drawings using DriveWorks.

Automate SOLIDWORKS

Digital technologies provide the tools and capabilities necessary to navigate businesses through disruptions, adapt to changing circumstances, and ensure the continuity of operations.

If the pandemic has taught businesses anything, its that digital solutions can help build resilience against such events. It was reported that 57% of businesses said technology was critical to overcoming market changes due to the pandemic.

Leveraging the available digital technologies enables businesses to enhance communication and collaboration, combat uncertainty, optimize processes, make data-driven decisions, engage customers effectively, increase agility, strengthen stakeholder engagement, and more.

Embracing change to make room for digital transformation also equips businesses with the agility and flexibility needed to withstand and recover from challenges, making them more resilient.

We’ve put together some key takeaways that discuss the importance of being a resilient, technology-driven company.

A graphic showing key benefits of CPQ. Source for the data shown is SalesForce

Building a resilient workforce

Investing in digital also means investing in your workforce. All teams can feel the benefits of digital transformation. Automating mundane, repetitive tasks and reducing errors improves job satisfaction. Using digital technologies frees up employees to be more productive, and focus on what humans do best adding value. In 2022, it was reported that businesses with the highest digital IQs saw boosts in employee productivity of 77% since 2020.

Strong links and good communication between teams across an organization are essential. It helps reduce errors that may occur as a result of teams sharing data and information. When data is shared manually, there is too much room for error. Errors are often costly and have an impact on team morale. Digital tools aid communication between teams, regardless of where they are – essential with the rise in flexible working policies in many workplaces.

There is a misconception that digitizing areas of a company means a loss of jobs. Digital technologies actually make monotonous jobs easier by freeing up employee time, enabling them to work more efficiently and dedicate time to more creative, valuable tasks. Recognizing this fear amongst employees is the first step to helping them overcome it. Employers should explain how technology can make the day-to-day tasks of their employees easier. Human and digital workforces should work hand in hand, to make entire business systems work better.

Staying ahead of competitors

Embracing digital technologies brings many benefits to manufacturers. It helps businesses to stay ahead of their competition and improve traditional processes.

Technology is changing the way consumers and businesses research and buy products. With this comes the need for manufacturers to use technology to keep up with growing demand.

Technology enables manufacturers to design quicker, communicate better, and transform the customer experience.

Digital technologies enable more immersive buying experiences. Customers can make changes, personalize options and visualize their selections. Meanwhile, businesses can reduce design and production times by increasing efficiency and streamlining internal processes.

By using digital tools to their full potential, businesses can create a distinct competitive advantage. Businesses are able to respond to emerging trends and changes in the industry quickly. This type of proactiveness sets companies apart from their competitors.

How are DriveWorks Customers Embracing Technology?

A graphic showing an ESLA ladder, along with someone of the benfits that DriveWorks custome, ESLA, is experiencing thanks to DriveWorks software: Using DriveWorks rules technology, ESLA have ensured every ladder specified is not only manufacturable but also complies with strict regulations. Important manufacturing documents such as drawings, Bill of Materials, and a Bill of Profiles are automatically generated. Building an online configurator with DriveWorks has enabled ESLA to improve customer experience & control the entire process, from inquiry to manufacturing the end product.

European Special Ladders S.A. (ESLA), headquartered in Barcelona, design and manufacture tailor-made ladders, work platforms, and scaffolding.

ESLA is transforming its customer experience by achieving several goals:

  • Minimizing the chance of errors
  • Drastically reducing the time it takes from initial inquiry to deliver the end product
  • Dedicate more time to research and development

Find out more about how ESLA is automating with DriveWorks here.

DriveWorks Enables Manufacturers to Configure, Design & Sell Custom Products in Record Time

The ability to configure, price, and quote easily isessential for manufacturing companies of all sizes and across all industries to cost-effectively offerconfigurable products.

A configure, price, quote (CPQ) solution helps manufacturers meet the increasing demand for custom products, faster and with greater accuracy, to gain a competitive edge.

DriveWorks software enables you to build and manage your own custom configure, price, and quote solution.

CPQ solutions are built on rules, workflow, and user interface, and typically need to integrate with other company systems.

These core technologies and capabilities have underpinned DriveWorks since it was first introduced to design-to-order and engineer-to-order companies using SOLIDWORKS速 3D design software in 2001.

CPQ Powered by Industry Leading Rules-Based Automation

A picture of the DriveWorks logo with in the centre of a process circle, with the text ''Configure, Price, Quote, Manufacture, Deliver''.

DriveWorks goes further than traditional CPQ solutions.

DriveWorks software is proven and extends the power of a CPQ solution, with industry-leading automation features. Save time and boost product quality by automatically creating accurate SOLIDWORKS速 manufacturing parts, assemblies, and drawings as well as order-specific sales and account information for your CRM system.

This rules-based approach ensures greater accuracy. Custom orders can go straight from customer inquiry right through to the shop floor, without time-consuming design changes and rework.

DriveWorks configurator software enables businesses to set up a configurable 3D CPQ solution that engineering and sales teams can use. DriveWorks software makes it easy for manufacturing companies to reap the benefits of guided selling and CPQ, quickly.

Seamless Links Between Customers, Sales and Engineering

CPQ solutions enhance customer understanding and shorten sales cycles by communicating design details with interactive 3D visualizations.

Dealers, distributors, and internal sales teams configure the ideal solution every time with DriveWorks’ intelligent rules-based guided selling and validation, eliminating errors and expensive, time-consuming design changes. Real-time pricing updates ensure accurate quotes are generated.

DriveWorks integrates seamlessly with other company systems to reduce bottlenecks, cut costs, optimize processes, and ensure accuracy. Improving communication between departments and keeping everyone up to date and in the loop is key.

DriveWorks CPQ enables manufacturers to respond quickly, improve processes and exceed customer expectations, giving them a competitive advantage to sell more and increase profitability with less rework and time-consuming changes.

A graphic with 3 benefits of CPQ for manufacturing: Save Time, Reduce Errors and Sell More.

Control Permissions, Users and Processes

A graphic that shows a workflow chart with ticks.

Customizable workflows in DriveWorks give complete control over what tasks are completed, by who, and when.

Dynamically adding, editing, or even restricting user access is easy. Administrators can apply security settings to decide which users or teams have permission to perform specific actions in the workflow, such as configuring products, approving designs, and sending data to manufacturing.

Documents and data are automatically created at the right time, with control over when tasks are processed.

Relevant users are notified at each stage of the workflow and given the files and data they need to execute their tasks.

Because DriveWorks is a rules-based solution, even the UI can be customized to suit the user. For example, you can set up different views for sales, different views for engineering, and different views for CPQ administration.

How are Manufacturers Using DriveWorks CPQ for Manufacturing?

Our customers use DriveWorks in many different ways, building a Design Automation and CPQ solution to suit their needs.

Since implementing DriveWorks, manufacturers have used DriveWorks CPQ technology to deliver great customer experiences, achieving a number of goals:

  • Reduce design resources
  • Create great customer experiences
  • Improve efficiency
  • Reduce costly errors
  • Dedicating more time to research and development

Find out more about how manufacturers are delivering better customer experience with DriveWorks here.

Technology has made huge changes to the way we work. As technological capabilities continue to advance, it can be overwhelming to decide which solutions will work for your organization, your processes, your workforce and most importantly, your customers.

When analysing digital technologies, one of the key considerations for businesses should be: are they scalable and future-proof?

Can functionality be changed as your needs change? Who will use the technology now and in the future? Can knowledge of the technology be shared with others?

Staying Agile and Planning for the Future

Organizations using digital technologies are able to adapt quickly to changes in the market and demands from customers. Agility has always been a key driver of successful business operations but now more than ever, we are seeing the importance of businesses being able to pivot and respond quickly to changing factors. Markets and trends are constantly moving and evolving, bringing new challenges, and new opportunities. It is important that businesses can adapt to these changes quickly and effectively, or risk falling behind. Digital technologies enable businesses to make changes to products and processes easier and faster than ever. The digital technologies you implement will impact how you respond to change now and in the future.

Ensuring your workforce are knowledgeable about any digital tools being introduced, and ensuring they are on board with your digital transformation strategy will ensure successful implementation, maintenance and improvement of your tools and processes. When digital tools become a part of every day operations, employees rely on them and favour them. Digital tools mean information is more easily shared between teams, without relying on the knowledge of one or two people. Its important the knowledge of digital tools is shared in a similar way too. They shouldnt be reliant on one person within an organisation. Make sure your digital tools are future proofing by ensuring more than one person within a team knows how to set up, use and maintain the system.

Scalable Digital Strategies

The prospect of creating long-term goals to digitally transform can seem daunting. Its important to remember you dont have to make big changes all at once. A scalable approach to digital transformation is often best. Pick a strategy that suits your organizations current aims, with the ability to scale when appropriate. Its important to research and experiment, learning from, and building on, your successes.

Digital transformation is not one-size-fits-all. You can do as much, or as little as you like. Starting small is both cost-effective and low-risk. These things could feel like minor adjustments but they often pay off straight away they are quick wins. Focusing on initial goals reduces the time and cost required to plan and implement the strategy and also helps with employee engagement. Small changes over a period of time are much easier to accept and adapt to. Breaking down the task makes it more attainable and theres also a quicker sense of satisfaction. Seeing results sooner boosts attitudes towards digital transformation and increases adoption and acceptance. Its then easier to build on your digital approach.

Whilst you dont need to do everything all at once it is still important to think about your potential future needs when choosing your digital tools. Its much easier to add to and adapt existing tools, rather than replace them. In your research and planning, consider how you can build on the digital tools youre investing in at the beginning, how flexible and scalable they are. How can you mould the tools to suit your needs as they change?

Embracing Opportunities

Businesses should be focused on developing and implementing strategies that are flexible, agile, and able to evolve. This means being open to new ideas, experimenting with tools, embracing opportunities and constantly seeking feedback and insights from customers and stakeholders.

Digital transformation has the power to improve processes for employees and customers, resulting in better performance and long-term success for businesses.

Paul Gimbel, DriveWorks Sherpa

Paul Gimbel

DriveWorks Sherpa

“The old saying goes, “change is inevitable” and as a design engineer, I certainly hope it is.

Change is how we create improved products, optimized processes, and enhanced experiences. And since the products and services that we offer are guaranteed to change, we need to ensure that the digital technologies that we use now and in the future to design, sell and support those can change and grow along with our business.”

How are DriveWorks Customers Embracing Technology?

A picture of a Dolphin Solutions bathroom, with text that reads: ''The days and weeks are cut down to minutes and hours because our customers are finding their final design much quicker'' and listed benefits they are experiencing: Dolphin Solutions have automated the creation of drawings. This process used to be manual. They have automated processes that involved a lot of back and forth. This has transformed the sales and design processes. Dolphin Solutions have successfully reduced design time and improved customer experience.

Dolphin Solutions, headquartered in Robertsbridge UK, design and supply a range of products and accessories for commercial washrooms.

Robert Allen, Product Design Manager and main DriveWorks Administrator at Dolphin Solutions, tells us how they have implemented the software.

Dolphin Solutionspurchased DriveWorks in 2017to createan online sales configurator toolthat would help them to achieve two key targets:

  • Reduce Design Resources
  • Create a Great Customer Experience

Find out more about how Dolphin Solutions are automating with DriveWorks here.

How are Digital Technologies Creating & Accelerating Jobs?

Digital transformation refers to using digital technologies to create new or modify existing processes within an organization. Adopting digital technologies is enabling companies to increase efficiency, improve accuracy, streamline business-to-consumer relations, boost speed, and innovate.

Embracing digital technologies bringsmany benefits to manufacturers. It helps businesses to stay ahead of their competition and improve traditional processes for workforces. Technology is driving the manufacturing industry forwardandhelping organizations to succeed, as well as their employees.

Technology aids communication and innovation within a business. The development of product lines and a growing workforce in the current acceleration of technological advancement calls for the adoption of digital technologies.

Technology can make jobs more efficient and accessible, driving economic growth. With that, job opportunities are accelerating.

What do digital technologies mean for those working within manufacturing?

Digital processes make iteasier for organizations to anticipate and adapt to changes, including employees. This provides better opportunities for growth. Investing in digital also means investing in your workforce. All teams can feel the benefits of digital transformation. Automating mundane, repetitive tasks and reducing errors improves job satisfaction. Using digital technologies frees up employees to be more productive, and focus on what humans do best adding value.

Manufacturing companies are going through a time of transformation, with opportunities created by technology. Traditional operations are being replaced by more efficient processes, and workforces are learning and evolving too.

Challenges for Employers

Fear of Change

Whilst there are many benefits to digital transformation, resistance from employees is a common barrier to success.

The fear of the unknown is sometimes too much, especially for those having to learn new skills. There are often fears about changing things that already work. Those who are comfortable with their current processes can be resistant to making changes and improvements.

Misconceptions

One of the biggest misconceptions about digital transformation is the idea that absolutely everything will change all at once, and workforces will need to adapt quickly to an entirely new way of working. It is important to support the learning and development of employees gradually and with small, incremental changes. Starting small is a great way to see benefits and build on them, whilst allowing employees time to grasp technologies at a steady pace.

There is also a misconception that digitizing areas of a company means a loss of jobs. It is estimated that technology will create 12 million more jobs than it removes.

Digital technologies make monotonous jobs easier by freeing up employee time, enabling them to work more efficiently and dedicate time to more creative, valuable tasks.

Overcoming Resistance

Employers need to communicate with employees and explain how technology can improve day-to-day tasks. Human and digital workforces should work hand in hand, to make entire business systems work better. Acknowledging fears can make employees feel valued and listened to. Adopting new tools and technologies is the ideal opportunity for individuals to learn new skills, thevaluable skills necessary for a future-ready workforce.

Opportunities for Employees

Creating Opportunities

Automation isfreeing up engineers, enabling them to get through more orders in less time, and giving them time to focus on improving product quality and developing new products if needed. Sales teams are becoming more proficient meaning customer inquiries are being dealt with faster and with better detail. Because of this, employees are more likely to feel happier in their role, increasing retention, and giving them time to learn more skills and bring additional value and ideas to the team.

Driving Innovation

Embracing new ideas and developing new capabilities drives innovation within companies. Being innovative is important for organizations to execute if they want to remain competitive in a global market. Business leaders being positive about innovative change can inspire employees to be more creative with how they can use technology to complete tasks, and finding ways to digitize tasks so they can be done quicker. For design engineers, this could mean more can be dedicated to designing new product lines.

Championing Automation

Automation has been shown to havea positive effect on jobs, as those working with digital machines are more productive than those without.

Automation isnt limited to machinery and equipment. Business Process Automation and Design Automation enable businesses to work smarter. Automation uses information and data to manage routine processes, reduce errors and costs, increase productivity and improve efficiency.

By using technology to automatekey business processes,organizations are driving positive change and are already being rewarded.Automating tasks across an organization increases operational and economic efficiency. Customer experiences are also improved as lead times are shorter and errors are reduced. Team members are more productive and have better job satisfaction.

Upskilling

There has never been a better time to build skills with technology. Technology is becoming integrated into everything we do, accelerating opportunities in the job market, and within companies for existing employees.

Upskilling helps employees stay relevant to companies that are adopting digital transformation methods. Businesses are taking the opportunity to invest in the future of their enterprise- including in their workforces.

By keeping up with technology, employees are creating an easier transition to a more digital future, making themselves more agile. Upskilling and reskilling should be seen as an investment in the future of an organization.

Learning new skills leads to increased job satisfaction and makes employees feel more confident in their abilities.

Employees can choose to embrace digitalization, learn it and use it, and become experts in it or their skills will become outdated. Employees who embrace, learn, use and champion digital transformation are the ones who will carry the skills needed.

Those embracing the change by learning and developing skills in digital will accelerate their careers.

bridiemills

Bridie Mills

Community & Onboarding Manager, DriveWorks

“Digital technologies are constantly evolving and transforming, and this evolution is rapidly changing the job market. Exploring jobs in digital will enable you to be at the forefront of technology during an incredibly exciting time in the industry.

Working with the latest technology also gives you the opportunity to upskill and develop in your role ensuring continuous professional development.”

How are DriveWorks Customers Embracing Technology?

A graphic showing the benefits that DriveWorks customer, F H Brundle benefits from DriveWorks software. Text contains: "Our sales staff are saving valuable time and our customer service is better than ever.'', Customers and distributors can impress their own customers using Liveconfigurator, Customers can get a quote anytime, 24/7/365. Product information is also readily available for a wide choice of options, With every order, customers receive everything they need, including technical information, instructions, a detailed list of parts and technical drawings.

F.H. Brundleis a family-owned business, founded in 1889, they are wholesalers of steel products which includes a market-leading range of handrail and balustrade systems. F.H. Brundle stocks over 8,500 products, and new lines are continuously being added.

Since implementing DriveWorks, F.H. Brundle has benefitted by:

  • Employees save time estimating, quoting, and drawing
  • Staff and customers automatically receive technical documentation
  • They have developed Liveconfigurator, an online 3D configurator for their internal teams, distributors, and customers.
  • Customers can configure and get a quote anytime, 24/365

Find out more about how F. H. Brundle is automating with DriveWorkshere.

How Can Manufacturers Do More With Less?

Digital transformation is the integration of digital technologies to create new, or modify existing, processes within an organization. Adopting digital technologies is enabling companies to increase efficiency, improve accuracy, streamline business-to-consumer relations, boost speed, and innovate.

Digital technologies are helping businesses to stay ahead of their competition and improve traditional processes. Technology is driving the manufacturing industry forwardandhelping organizations to succeed.

Knowing and understanding the possibilities of what digital technologies can do to simplify processes is key to understanding how you can do more with less. Less time time spent on monotonous tasks, means a more productive workforce. Simplifying processes means more opportunities for business growth. Digital technologies open doors and enable businesses to do more with lower costs and fewer resources.

Technology has the power and capability to reduce the challenges that businesses face today, enabling businesses to optimize processes and save money without having to invest in expensive initiatives or resources.

Why are Digital Technologies Beneficial for Manufacturing Businesses?

Thebenefits of digital technologies can reach all corners of a business. Digital is improving communication and promoting collaboration. Digital-focused companies are more agile, enabling growth. These benefits are resulting in increased efficiency, more productive workforces, and improved customer experiences.

Automating and digitizing internal business processes increases productivity and improves customer experiences. Teams who collaborate effectively are more productive. They have more time for creativity and adding value.

Digital processes make iteasier for organizations to anticipate and adapt to changes. It also provides better planning opportunities, implementing and nurturing new strategies.

In the current climate, companies are looking for ways to do more with less, and technology is helping to do just that. Digital transformation results in fewer errors, a more productive workforce, reduced overhead costs, and more opportunities to make improvements. It allows mundane tasks to be automated, speeding up processes and increasing throughput.

What Doing More with Less Means for Manufacturers

Factors like rising costs, increasing customer demand, and more specific consumer needs mean that organizations need to find ways to meet expectations whilst accelerating productivity, being as efficient as possible and maintaining quality and service. Doing more with less using the power of technology is helping manufacturers to;

  • Save on costs
  • Increase productivity & efficiency
  • Accelerate company agility
  • Increase stakeholder engagement

The adoption of technology is becoming crucial to overcoming bottlenecks within business processes, staying ahead of competitors, and securing long-term growth.

Reducing Costs & Starting Small

There is a growing global commitment to embracing digital technologies. Businesses around the world are expected to spend$2.8 trillion on digital transformation, twice as much spent in 2020. While the prospect of implementing technologies can seem daunting, especially to those who haven’t yet, its important to remember you dont have to make big changes all at once.Digital transformation is scalable.Sometimes, with what feels like a big problem, it can be easy to assume it needs a big solution, requiring a lot of time, money, and change. This doesnt need to be the case.

Taking advantage of opportunities to try free trials, ROI calculators can not only kick-start initiatives within a business but allow companies to begin reaping the benefits of technologies before committing to a cost. Whilst there is an initial cost to investing in digital technologies, they can help reduce costs in the long run and companies are quickly seeing a good return on investment. 56% of CEOs say digital improvements have led to increased revenue.

Businesses can also reduce initial set up cost by utilising tools and software they already have. What technologies do you already have in your business? Are you using them to their full potential? Are there features and functionality youre not using? Does one team use a digital tool that would also be useful for another team?

More Efficiency & Fewer Errors

Automating business processes creates a more effective and efficient workforce. Valuable time saved can be used to innovate more and add value. Automation can help you:

  • Make data-driven decisions
  • Reduce errors
  • Standardise
  • Promote communication between teams
  • Save time

Through automation, complex business processes arebeing made smarter. Business Process Automation is enabling businesses tobecome more streamlined. Automation uses information and data to manage routine processes, reduce errors and costs, increase productivity, and improve efficiency.

By automating time-sensitive and often repetitive activities, businesses cando more with less, improving throughput and quality to meet customers requirements. Automation isfreeing up engineers, enabling them to get through more orders in less time, and reducing costs and errors. Sales teams are becoming more proficientmeaning customer inquiries are being dealt with faster and with better detail. Automation is leading to more orders, reduced operational overheads, and better customer serviceone step at a time.

Be More Agile & Stay Ahead

Businesses without a strong digital strategy are likely to struggle to be as agile as their competitors.Digitally-savvy companies are able tomove faster toadapt to rapid changesin the market. They are able toembrace new opportunities quicker and see benefits sooner.

Implementing digital technologies into the manufacturing process can improve an organization’s agility, as they can be more responsive to meeting customer needs and have flexibility on product lines.

Digital processes make it easier for organizations to anticipate and adapt to changes. It also provides better planning opportunities, implementing and nurturing new strategies.

Organizations couldnt have predicted or prepared for the covid-19 pandemic. However, those who had already embraced digital technologies were quicker to adapt. They were able to operate during difficult times and were able to survive. The pandemic encouraged more companies to use digital technologies. The benefits achieved inspired them to continue with their digital journey afterward too. 86% of companies that implemented digital technologies as a result of the pandemic will continue to accelerate their adoption of digital.

In the current climate, companies are looking for ways to do more with less. An increasing skills gap makes it harder for companies to hire. Increasing business costs also means companies cannot always increase their recruitment budget. These challenges shouldnt restrict growth digital technologies are key to increasing agility to get the most from existing resources and people.

Improve Employee Engagement & Retention

Investment in technology shows a commitment to investment in the future of a company. This has positive effects on stakeholders like employees. All teams can feel the benefits of digital transformation. Automating mundane, repetitive tasks and reducing errors improves job satisfaction. Using digital technologies frees up employees to be more productive, and focus on what humans do best adding value. From sales and engineering, all the way to HR, there will be opportunities to streamline processes. This will change the way your business operates and improve customer experiences too.

This promoted reliability can not only create more opportunities for your market, but it can also create opportunities for internal areas of businesses to thrive. This could be in the form of employees highlighting ways other processes could benefit, or finding technologies themselves after being inspired.

The benefits are also passed on to customers with faster order and delivery processes and more accurate end products. Better customer satisfaction results in more orders and more customer loyalty, retention, and recommendations. Improving sales processes improves customer experiences, builds customer loyalty, and increases sales. Resulting in more motivated sales teams and driving revenue for the organization. Technology helps to meet the growing need for the fast-on-demand creation of products from customers.

heatherhasz

Heather Hasz

Brand & Community Ambassador, DriveWorks

“I’ve seen for myself how companies that have adopted digital technologies to do things like automate their designs have seen a drastic reduction in design times and can get to market quicker.
At DriveWorks, we’ve seen customers do more with less by creating a full 3D configurator and now offer ‘guided selling’.
They can devote more time to other areas of their business.”

KARACA GEMI, based in Turkey, design and develop specialised glass for a range of ships around the world.

Since implementing DriveWorks Solo in June 2021,KARACA GEMIhave achieved a number of goals:

  • Reducing the time taken to create 3D drawings of specified parts
  • Automatically generating accurate and relevant documents
  • Reducing the number of errors during the manufacturing process
  • Their customer inquiryresponse time is faster and there are fewer errorsin the design to manufacturing process.
  • DriveWorks document generation capabilities means all the desired files areautomatically generatedandnamed and ordered correctly.
  • They canguide the customer through the product optionson the configurator, andsubmit an accurate order straight to the design team.

Find out more about how KARACA GEMI are automating with DriveWorkshere.

The Success of Digital Technologies within Manufacturing- How Can Organizations Measure?

Digital transformation is the adoption of digital technologies to create new, or modify existing, processes within an organization. Adopting digital technologies is enabling companies to increase efficiency, improve accuracy, streamline business-to-consumer relations, boost speed, and innovate.

Digital Transformation can have an enormous impact on an organization and its processes. Monitoring and measuring is key to knowing what is working and why.

Here are some of the ways you can measure success:

  • Identifying and measuring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
  • Calculating return on investment (ROI)
  • Gathering employee feedback
  • Gathering customer feedback
  • Measuring organization agility and innovation
A graphic showing icons with cogs on them and a finger pressing an icon with a magnifying glass.

Technology enables manufacturers to design quicker, communicate better, and transform the customer experience. What works for some, may not work for others. Measuring the success of technologies is critical to ensuring that your organization is digitally transforming in the most appropriate way.

Why are Digital Technologies Important for ManufacturingBusinesses?

Digital technologies are important for organizations in the manufacturing industry for many reasons. Digital technologies like automation help to improve the efficiency and productivity of manufacturing processes. Eliminating errors improves the quality of products and services and reduces time-consuming, costly delays.

Implementing digital technologies into the manufacturing process improves an organization’s agility, making them more responsive to meeting customer needs and giving them flexibility on product lines.

Digital technologies have so many possibilitiesand can provide manufacturing companies with helpful insights and data that become integral to decision-making. Organizations can gather data on production processes, customer feedback, and product quality to make more data-driven decisions.

Map Out Before Measuring

When planning out your approach to digital, its often difficult to know where to start and what will work. It’s important to create a roadmap that highlights the areas you want to improve and document where in these areas are the processes struggling. By doing this, not only are you able to apply the appropriate technologies easier, but you can revisit this to see the progress made. After implementation, do these bottlenecks still exist? Have the technologies you implemented removed or reduced the problems within those progresses? It can be easy to get carried away and use technology that helps but doesn’t solve the problems you were initially wanting to resolve. Regular reviews of your roadmap can help you stay on track.

Its also important to find an appropriate and achievable strategy. No matter what the end goal for digital transformation is, the key is to start small. Pick a strategy that suits your organizations current aims, with the ability to scale when appropriate. Its important to research and experiment, learning from, and building on, your successes.

Icon showing a cog and a list of 3 steps with arrows.

Setting Targets

The prospect of creating long-term goals to digitally transform can seem daunting. Its important to rememberyou dont have to make big changes all at once.Digital transformation is scalable. Sometimes, with what feels like a big problem, it can be easy to assume it needs a big solution, requiring a lot of time, money, and change. This doesnt need to be the case, there are ways to effectively consider the cost and make time for a digital transformation strategy.

Help yourself by setting targets.

First, define your objectives- what is it you want to achieve by implementing digital technologies? Are they specific and measurable? Without measurable targets, you will be unable to easily see the difference it has made to the business. Undocumented data can cause problems further down the line too, particularly when you may be proposing the help of new technology for other projects or processes.

Identify key performance indicators (KPIs)- Use your defined objectives to identify areas and know the kind of results you’d like to see from the implementation of digital technologies. This will help you to measure progress towards the objectives.

Setting specific targets- Use both your objectives and your KPIs to set specific targets that you’d like to hit. An example of this might be to make the design to manufacturing time 30% faster per project.

Create an action plan- Look at your objectives and the targets you’d like to achieve and then review what digital technologies would be appropriate to apply to your processes. Focus on what your goals are and act accordingly. It can be easy to become overwhelmed by the number of technology offerings and you run the risk of implementing initiatives that don’t solve current problems. Simplify current processes and then build on this.

Monitor progression- You can track the progress of a project using data and analytics from digital technologies too. Regularly doing this helps you to see if you are working towards success, or if you need to alter your action plan.

Setting targets when digitally transforming is important for staying on track to achieving your objectives and focusing efforts exactly where the original problems were highlighted.

Focusing on initial goals reduces the time and cost required to plan and implement the strategy and also helps with employee engagement. Small changes over a period of time are much easier to accept and adapt to. Breaking down the task makes it more attainable and theres also a quicker sense of satisfaction. Seeing results sooner boosts attitudes toward digital transformation and increases adoption and acceptance.

Icon showing a graph with upwards results over time.

Key Metrics to Track

According to McKinsey, there are 5 key metrics for business leaders to track when measuring the success of digital within a company.

  1. Return on digital investments- Measuring ROI is a standard and necessary process for anything that a business invests in. Digital technologies are no different. Leaders should look at the value provided by the implemented digital initiatives and consider that not acting on investing when competitors are can mean falling behind.
  2. Percentage of annual technology budget spent on bold digital initiatives – With investment comes risk. But risks can pay off. Those who are only using a small amount of their technology budget to implement the most obvious strategic digital initiatives are unlikely to see much of an ROI. How business leaders allocate budgets to things like digital can be telling of how a company will react to a technological future.
  3. Time to market of digital apps- In the fast-paced world that is constantly evolving to technology, the speed at which companies adopt technologies is integral to success.
  4. Percentage of leaders’ incentives linked to digital- All leaders within a business must be aligned and held accountable on the theme of digital transformation. Within companies, there can be different views due to traditional and more modern-style of technical leadership roles. It’s important to review this and make sure that there is an ability to align incentives to support digital company-wide.
  5. Top technical talent attracted, promoted, retained-As digital technologies scale, having appropriate talent is a crucial driver in the success of a company. Companies that have individuals with expertise in data engineering, analytics, design and user experience, and core technology are in good stead for the technological future.

Measuring More Than Numbers

Often numbers, targets, and KPIs are what come to mind when thinking about measuring the success of a project. However, beyond this, the people behind the implementation of this technology within an organization are integral to its success. It is important to consider how they feel, and how technology will make a difference to your workforce.

Gaining employee feedback is critical for successful digital transformation projects. By involving employees, and acting on their feedback, you can improve the user experience, increase or decrease adoption, and identify areas for improvement. All of this goes towards measuring the success of the implementation of digital initiatives.

As employees will be the ones using the technology, they are in the best position to feedback and help leaders stay well-informed on the effect it is having beyond the numbers. As implementing technologies is an ongoing process, there will be areas that workforces will comment on to suggest areas of improvement. When workforces feel valued they are more likely to be better engaged in the transformation.

All teams can feel the benefits of digital transformation. Automating mundane, repetitive tasks and reducing errors improves job satisfaction. Using digital technologies frees up employees to be more productive, and focus on what humans do best adding value.

Customer feedback is also useful to gain insight into how your business processes can be, or have been, improved. Perhaps a returning customer comments on how an order was quicker this time, with no detriment to the quality. Or you gain more orders after implementing an online configurator, and the sales team reports back on customer satisfaction with the online tool.

Digital transformation reaches beyond hardware, data and analytics. Understanding that success can be measured not only in numbers but in feedback from human workforces and your customers can help to accelerate the promise of digital within businesses.

Picture of DriveWorks Product Manager- Implementation, Adam Baker

Adam Baker

Product Manager – Integration, DriveWorks

“Success should be considered at all levels of the business, the most successful projects give time back to the employees so they can focus on the innovating aspects of their role whilst automating mundane day-to-day activities. This then feeds back to the management team, who can focus on supporting their team instead of firefighting.”

How are DriveWorks Customers Embracing Technology?

A graphic explaning some of the benefits DriveWors customer, WEATHER GUARD is experiencing: "What I knew of DriveWorks was that it was a CAD automation system. But, once we started exploring the product, it became very obvious that it could do much more'', WEATHER GUARDSs DriveWorks configurator allows them to directly interact with end-users, Configurators create referrals for distributors and help them visually sell WEATHER GUARDSs van products more effectively, The company is relying on DriveWorks to increase completed configurations, boost distributor referrals and drive sales.

WEATHER GUARD, a WernerCo brand, is an industry leader in truck and van storage equipment, including truck boxes, drawer units, shelving, cabinets, and racks for trucks, vans and utility vehicles.

Since implementing DriveWorks, WEATHER GUARD has achieved a number of goals:

  • Generating more revenue than ever before.
  • Allow stakeholders to know exactly how much revenue is coming through the configurator to measure ROI.
  • Dramatically reduced their engineering time, saving at least one full day of labor per configurator request received.
  • Achieve longevity, and ease of use while bringing an intuitive and engaging experience to end users.

Read more about WEATHER GUARDs success with DriveWorkshere.

Understanding the Possibilities of Digital Technologies for the Future of Manufacturing

Technology is changing the way consumers and businesses research and buy products. With this comes the need for manufacturers to use technology to keep up with growing demand.

Technology enables manufacturers to design quicker, communicate better, and transform the customer experience.

Digital technologies enable more immersive buying experiences. Customers can make changes, personalize options and visualize their selections. Meanwhile, businesses can reduce design and production times by increasing efficiency and streamlining internal processes.

Digital technologies open up so many doors and the possibilities for what they can do for organizations are endless. As technology evolves, so should your business.

A graphic showing digital cog icons with a computer, spanner, people, a factory machine and a lightbulb

What is Digital Transformation?

Digital transformation is the adoption of digital technologies to create new or modify existing processes within an organization. Adopting digital technologies is enabling companies to:

  • increase efficiency
  • improve accuracy
  • streamline business to consumer relations
  • boost speed
  • innovate

Digitalization doesnt always look the same. For some, the answer may be as simple as replacing a paper document with an online spreadsheet. While for others, the goal may be to digitize every part of the organization. No matter the goal for digital transformation, the key is to pick a suitable strategy. One that suits your organizations current aims, with the ability to scale when appropriate.

56% of CEOssay digital improvements have led to increased revenue. But its not just revenue thats important, there are many more benefits of going digital.

Understanding the possibilities that digital technologies bring to manufacturers is key to mapping out how you can succeed with digital implementations. It helps businesses to stay ahead of their competition and improve traditional processes. Technology is driving the manufacturing industry forward.

The Benefits of Digital Transformation

Thebenefits of digital transformation can reach all corners of a business. Digital transformation is improving communication and promoting collaboration. Digital-focused companies are more agile, enabling growth. These benefits are resulting in increased efficiency, more productive workforces, and improved customer experiences.

Automating and digitizing internal business processes increases productivity and improves customer experiences. Teams who collaborate effectively are more productive. They have more time for creativity and adding value.

Digital processes make it easier for organizations to anticipate and adapt to changes. It also provides better planning opportunities, implementing and nurturing new strategies.

In the current climate, companies are looking for ways to do more with less, and technology is helping to do just that. Digital transformation results in fewer errors, a more productive workforce, reduced overhead costs, and more opportunities to make improvements. It allows mundane tasks to be automated, speeding up processes and increasing throughput.

Icon showing hands with an emblem showing a tick

Finding a Suitable Solution

The prospect of creating long-term goals to digitally transform can seem daunting. Its important to rememberyou dont have to make big changes all at once.Digital transformation is scalable. Sometimes, with what feels like a big problem, it can be easy to assume it needs a big solution, requiring a lot of time, money, and change. This doesnt need to be the case.

Its important to find an appropriate and achievable strategy. No matter the end goal, the key is to start small. Pick a strategy that suits your organizations current aims, with the ability to scale when appropriate. Its important to research and experiment, learning from, and building on, your successes.

Digital transformation is not one-size-fits-all. You can do as much, or as little as you like. Starting small is both cost-effective and low-risk. These things could feel like minor adjustments but they often pay off straight away they arequick wins. Once youve identified these quick wins and started to see the changes paying off, you can build on this to do more. We take a closer look at the benefits of quick wins in another blog, Making Time for Digital Transformation.

Focus on what your goals are and act accordingly. It can be easy to become overwhelmed by the number of technology offerings and you run the risk of implementing initiatives that don’t solve current problems. Simplify current processes and then build on this.

Focusing on initial goals reduces the time and cost required to plan and implement the strategy and also helps with employee engagement. Small changes over a period of time are much easier to accept and adapt to. Breaking down the task makes it more attainable and theres also a quicker sense of satisfaction. Seeing results sooner boosts attitudes towards digital transformation and increases adoption and acceptance.

Icon showing a spanner inside a cog

What Does Digital Transformation Mean for Manufacturers?

Technology is versatile, meaning it can reach all areas of organizations in all sectors. Technology can be harnessed within manufacturing in countless ways, revolutionizing the way manufacturers do business. Digital advancements enable manufacturers to streamline innovation and production processes, right through to customer experience.

Sales and marketing teams could implement digital automated replies to sales inquiries. HR could improve onboarding with digital learning platforms like training videos. Engineering could implement design automation to save time and reduce errors. IT could speed up processes and access to resources with cloud-based tools. By turning to digital not only are you increasing the efficiency of production, but creating a workforce that is agile and adept at responding to new digital changes as we look to the future.

The benefits are also passed on to customers – with a faster order and delivery processes and more accurate end product. Better customer satisfaction results in more orders and more customer loyalty, retention and recommendations.

Automation is Changing Businesses

Technology is accelerating and markets are changing. Consumers want products faster, cheaper, and easier than ever before, without compromising on quality. This is putting pressure on manufacturers to deliver, so what does automation have to do with it all?

Design automation is enabling businesses to turn aroundproposalsquickly, design and manufacture efficiently, and deliver on promisesconsistently, all whilst maintaininga healthy profit.

Automating business processes creates a more effective and efficient workforce. Valuable time saved can be used to innovate more and add value. Automation can help you:

  • Make data-driven decisions
  • Reduce errors
  • Standardise
  • Promote communication between teams

Through automation, complex business processes arebeing made smarter.

Business Process Automation is enabling businesses tobecome more streamlined. Automation uses information and data to manage routine processes, reduce errors and costs, increase productivity and improve efficiency. By using technology to automatekey business processes,organizations are driving positive change and are already being rewarded.

Improving internal processes has a positive impact on customer experience too. A fast process with fewer errors saves time for you and the customer, whilst also building customer loyalty and retention.

By automating time-sensitive and often repetitive activities, businesses can do more with less, improving throughput and quality to meet customers requirements. Automation isfreeing up engineers, enabling them to get through more orders in less time, and giving time to focus on improving product quality and developing new products if needed. Sales teams are becoming more proficient meaning customer inquiries are being dealt with faster and with better detail. Automation is leading to more orders, reduced operational overheads, and better customer service one step at a time.

Learning Digital Skills & Empowering Workforces is Key to Ensuring Digital Transformation Success

Investing in digital also means investing in your workforce. All teams can feel the benefits of digital transformation. Automating mundane, repetitive tasks and reducing errors improves job satisfaction. Using digital technologies frees up employees to be more productive, and focus on what humans do best – adding value. From sales and engineering, all the way to HR, there will be opportunities to streamline processes. This will change the way your business operates and improve customer experiences too.

Digital transformation is different for every company so it can be hard to pinpoint where to start and what to do. Adopting a team-by-team approach helps to break the task down, and find what’s appropriate for each team. Small steps add up. Each team could digitize one aspect of their workload, see the results and then build on this to do more.

Those embracing the change by learning and developing skills in digital are often better off in the long run.

Icon with people inside a cog

Digital Transformation Isn’t All About Technology

The manufacturing industry has changed a lot over time, with most of its evolution taking place in recent years. Advances in technology have revolutionized the way manufacturers design their products. Businesses have been evaluating where digital can fit into their business. These changes can bring worry and concerns for the human workforce.

The fear of the unknown is sometimes too much, especially for those having to learn new skills. It can be easy to slip into an ‘if it isn’t broken don’t fix it’ mindset. Those who are comfortable with their current processes can be resistant to making changes and improvements.

Recognizing this fear amongst employees is the first step to helping them overcome it. Employers should explain how technology can make the day-to-day tasks of their employees easier. Human and digital workforces should work hand in hand, to make entire business systems work better. Acknowledging fears can make employees feel valued and listened to.

One of the biggest misconceptions about digital transformation is the idea that absolutely everything will change all at once, and that workforces will have to adapt quickly to an entirely new way of working. It is important to support the learning and development of employees through times of change and think about what is best for the company overall. You can read more about helping to eliminate the fears of digital transformation here.

Icon showing a calendar with a cog on it

Planning for Digital Transformation

By starting small, businesses can grow with their technology, develop learning, and see a return on investment. Solving some of the identified problems little by little contributes to an overall payoff. Building solutions incrementally with small gains is highly beneficial to the entire process.

Setting achievable targets will help your business to implement digital transformation at your own pace, and review productivity at each step. This benefits a longer-term strategy and enables you to embrace new opportunities quicker and see benefits sooner.

91% of companies have adopted a “digital first” business strategy. Businesses are taking the opportunity to invest in the future of their enterprise. By keeping up with technology, they are creating an easier transition to a more digital future, making themselves more agile. This technological agility allows for the ability to keep pace with growing customer needs and demand.

Learning Through Networking

Embracing technology can bring so many benefits to manufacturers but sometimes it can be hard to know what is the best fit for you.

Where do I start? How much will this cost? How will this affect my workforce? Am I taking too much of a risk?

Connecting with other businesses can be a useful way of learning from others, sharing knowledge and exchanging ideas. Building a strong network can provide you with an extra resource library. It can be a useful tool for you to learn from different perspectives and experiences.

There are many benefits to forming a strong business network. By building trust with people from different companies, industries, and backgrounds, you are creating a pool of resources. Speaking with your network can help problem solve, innovate and give you a boost in confidence.

If you chat to someone who has successfully implemented a digital transformation in their business, it is more likely to give you the confidence and knowledge to move forward with yours.

Its never too late to improve any process. Its important to rememberyou dont have to make big changes all at once. There are many ways to see how digital could benefit your organization.

There may be new technologies you had not heard of, or a better solution to your problem you had not considered. Networking can also be useful to learn what not to do.

Looking at what other businesses are doing and learning from them is a good place to start. You can do this at industry trade shows or networking events. Events likeDriveWorks World are a great way of making connections and learning from other businesses and their journeys.

You can also begin with free trials, like the DriveWorks Solo 30 Day Free Trial to see and use the capabilities, get a head start with set up and learn how the software will work for you.

Understanding the possibilities that technology can have to help you be more efficient, identifying opportunities for improvement, and adopting better processes builds a solid foundation for your organization’s future.

DriveWorks Systems team manager, Jake Lawley

Jake Lawley

Systems Team Manager, DriveWorks

“Technology gives manufacturing organisations the capability to sell their products digitally. Selling digitally is a keystone of digital transformation for our customers at DriveWorks. But automation and digitalisation are not initiatives exclusively for the manufacturing and sales department.
Within our organisation, we have put the ethos of automation and digitalisation into every single department and team. We are using our own product, DriveWorks Pro, to automate and create workflows for managing HR records, sales data, analysing CRM data and much more!
Digital data and automation should be a boundless exercise across an entire organisation.”

A picture with text on showing the benefits that Microstep has had since using DriveWorks. The text details: generating a layout for a customer used to take us up to 2 weeks. This time has now been reduced to just 30 minutes, Interactive 3D preview instantly shows the customer what their machine will look like, Based on previous inputs, the configurator will automatically offer the recommended technology source for each bespoke machine, After completing a specification, a layout drawing and summary documents are automatically generated and sent for review.

MicroStep, headquartered in Slovakia, is a renowned manufacturer of CNC cutting machines, tailor-made for industries around the world. With a large portfolio of products and a high volume of orders, it is not easy to deliver customized layout drawings for all the different kinds of machine quotes.

Since implementing DriveWorks, MicroStep has benefitted by:

  • Reducing their design time dramatically, from 2 weeks to just 30 minutes
  • Adding a configurator to be used by their sales team, improving customer experience
  • Automated document generation for all teams and customer

Find out more about how MicroStep is automating with DriveWorks here.

Embracing Technology for the Future of Manufacturing

Embracing digital technologies brings many benefits to manufacturers. It helps businesses to stay ahead of their competition and improve traditional processes. Technology is driving the manufacturing industry forward and helping organizations to succeed.

Manufacturers who don’t embrace and plan for digital transformation will be left behind. As with any change, going digital can seem intimidating and scary. There are misconceptions that digital transformation is costly and time-consuming. There is often resistance from business leaders and employees, who fear making changes, despite the benefits it would bring.

The most important thing to embracing change is educating and understanding. Organizations that are well-informed about the possibilities of digital transformation are more likely to succeed. Educating yourself and your workforce about what digitization could mean for your company helps alleviate fears and debunk misconceptions.

A picture of a hand holding a globe with technology themed lines.

The Fast-Paced World of Manufacturing

The manufacturing industry has changed a lot over time, with most of its evolution taking place in recent years. Advances in technology have revolutionized the way manufacturers design their products.

As technology moves faster, customer expectations rise as a result. Once mass production alone seemed impressive, but now customers demand custom output on the same grand scale.

Even in the last 3 years, the industry has changed massively. The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated technology in all aspects of life. Manufacturers turned to digital technologies to survive, and in some cases thrive, during and after the pandemic.

Manufacturing never stands still. Technology is, and will continue to be, a driving force behind the success of businesses.

An icon of a cog with a clock inside it.
A icon showing two hands shaking.

All Industries Are Turning to Technology

The need to adopt digital into your business is essential. Businesses are moving beyond just reaping the benefits of digitization, and are now seeing and embracing extra opportunities to excel at what they do.

There are historical examples of the success of embracing digital across many industries. Whilst Blockbuster stores closed their doors, Netflix dominated a new digital space. Uber have revolutionized the way we book and pay for taxis. Both have gone from strength to strength, finding a gap in the market and moving quickly to close it.

Digital is the future. It’s how companies can be agile to meet customer needs and expectations. It’s how business can do more with less whilst costs continue to rise.

According to Gartner, 91% of businesses are engaged in some form of digital initiative. Digitally transforming areas of your company are at the forefront of organizational growth.

Overcoming Resistance to Change

Whilst there are many benefits to digital transformation, resistance from employees is a common barrier to success.

Employee resistance to changes happens when individuals are unwilling to adapt to new ways of doing things. The fear of the unknown is sometimes too much, especially for those having to learn new skills. There are often fears around changing things that already work. Those who are comfortable with their current processes can be resistant to make changes and improvements.

There is also a misconception that digitizing areas of a company mean a loss of jobs. Digital technologies actually make monotonous jobs easier by freeing up employee time, enabling them to work more efficiently and dedicate time to more creative, valuable tasks.

Recognising this fear amongst employees is the first step to helping them overcome it. Employers should explain how technology can make the day-to-day tasks of their employees easier. Human and digital workforces should work hand in hand, to make entire business systems work better.

Acknowledging fears can make employees feel valued and listened to. Adopting new tools and technologies is the ideal opportunity for individuals to learn new skills, the valuable skills necessary for a future ready workforce.

Employees will be the individuals working with your digital tools, and it is important to value their opinion and show willing to work with them to make decisions. Even those who seem as though they are the most sceptical may give the best feedback.

Supporting employee shift to new ways of working is important to ensuring the success of digital transformation.

One of the biggest misconceptions about digital transformation is the idea that absolutely everything will change all at once, and that workforces will have to adapt quickly to an entirely new way of working. It is important to support the learning and development of employees through times of change and think about what is best for the company overall.

Starting small is a great way to see how incremental gains can benefit your organisation while allowing employees to try and grasp technologies at a good pace.

Champion Automation Rather Than Fear It

People should take relief in the thought that industries will always need humans. Particularly within manufacturing, people are needed to do what they do best- innovate. The more that technology encompasses our world and the way we do things, the more people are needed to make technological-based demands happen.

Automation has been shown to have a positive effect on jobs, as those working with digital machines are more productive than those without.

Automation isn’t limited to machinery and equipment. Business Process Automation and Design Automation enable businesses to reduce mundane tasks and the possibility of errors, work smarter, and increase efficiencies.

Understanding the capabilities of automation in a workplace can help employers and workforces reap the benefits it has to offer. Automating tasks across an organization increases operational and economic efficiency. Customer experiences are also improved as lead times are shorter and errors are reduced. Team members are more productive and have better job satisfaction.

Employees can choose to embrace digitalization, learn it and use it, and become experts in it – or their skills will become outdated. Employees who embrace, learn, use and champion digital transformation are the ones who will carry skills that could accelerate their careers.

Those embracing the change by learning and developing skills in digital are often better off in the long run.

Testing Before Investing

Digital transformation doesn’t have to be expensive. A scalable approach is both cost-effective and low-risk. These things could feel like minor adjustments but they often pay off straight away. Once youve identified these quick wins, and youve started to see the changes paying off, you can build on this to do more.

When planning out your approach to digital, it’s often difficult to know where to start and what will work. Look for free versions of a tool so you can try it out first and see how useful it is for you and your teams. Free versions offer entry-level functionality to help you identify what you need from a tool to reach your goals. You can also use free trial periods to test out features, and give you a head start on implementing a tool. Free versions and free trials are a great way of figuring out what works for you, before committing to a tool and investing time and money.

Some digital technologies also provide ROI calculators so you can calculate how quickly you will see a benefit. See how quickly you could benefit and save from DriveWorks with our ROI calculator.

You might even be able to do more with the existing technologies you already have. Ask yourself, what technologies do you already have in your business? Are you using them to their full potential? Are there features and functionality youre not using? Does one team use a digital tool that would also be useful for another team? Do you have access to additional tools that youre not using? For example, if you have SOLIDWORKS, are there any Xpress products you could use? Xpress tools are available free with all SOLIDWORKS desktop licenses.

An icon showing two hands with a shield inside it.

Improving Customer Experiences

This introduction of digital, like with previous revolutions we’ve seen in the manufacturing industry, isn’t just creating benefits for businesses. It’s improving customer experiences too.

Technology is changing the way consumers and businesses research and buy products. Digital technologies enable more immersive buying experiences. Customers can make changes, personalize options and visualize their selections. This detailed information eliminates costly and time-consuming changes later on in the process.

Automation means buying journeys are also faster and less prone to errors. Connecting data between company systems results in accurate pricing and delivery information. Order details can be sent directly to manufacturing, speeding up lead times and improving accuracy.

Customer expectations are higher than ever. Digital transformation enables organizations to meet rising customer demands profitably, without needing huge teams and budgets.

By meeting customer expectations with the help of technology, businesses will see how being more digital benefits all areas of the business. Satisfied customers increase retention, which keeps businesses thriving. Workforces can then see the value of digital and understand its longevity.

DriveWorks Technical Manager, Dave Meecham.

Dave Meecham

Technical Manager, DriveWorks

“During my time in industry I often encountered the phrase “but we’ve always done it this way”.
Overcoming this attitude is always a challenge, but without exception always worth the effort. Engineers want to create and innovate, embracing digital tools for the mundane same but different tasks provides the time for innovation.
Use this time to tackle those new concepts and ideas you’ve always had in mind “if only I had the time for this it could be fantastic!”.”

How are DriveWorks Customers Embracing Technology?

A graphic showing the benefits that DriveWorks customer, F H Brundle benefits from DriveWorks software. Text contains: "Our sales staff are saving valuable time and our customer service is better than ever.'', Customers and distributors can impress their own customers using Liveconfigurator, Customers can get a quote anytime, 24/7/365. Product information is also readily available for a wide choice of options, With every order, customers receive everything they need, including technical information, instructions, a detailed list of parts and technical drawings.

F.H. Brundle is a family-owned business, founded in 1889, they are wholesalers of steel products which includes a market-leading range of handrail and balustrade systems. F.H. Brundle stocks over 8,500 products, and new lines are continuously being added.

Since implementing DriveWorks, F.H. Brundle has benefitted by:

  • Trade customers save time estimating, quoting and drawing
  • Staff and customers automatically receive technical documentation
  • They have developed Liveconfigurator, an online 3D configurator for their internal teams, distributors and customers.
  • Customers can configure and get a quote anytime, 24/365

Find out more about how F. H. Brundle is automating with DriveWorkshere.

Digital Transformation and embracing digital technologies brings many benefits to manufacturers. Improving traditional processes is driving the manufacturing industry forward.

Manufacturers need to embrace digitalisation now, to keep up with competitors and open up new opportunities.

Companies that embrace digital transformation are more agile and are able to use their time more efficiently.

There are challenges in all industries and consumer expectations are changing. Now is the time to leverage digital, automate and be more efficient.

However, with businesses stretched more than ever, how can companies find the time to go digital?

A cog with clock arms with computer chip board pattern.

Digital Transformation in Manufacturing

We know the manufacturing industry well. We work closely with our resellers and customers, and conduct our own research and learning. We’ve listened to manufacturers about the challenges they face, and how digital technologies are helping to overcome them. We’ve seen many great examples of manufacturers embracing digital transformation and reaping the benefits.

Read our tips below to learn how to approach digital technologies without additional resources and huge time commitments.

Scalability is the Best Strategy

The prospect of creating long-term goals to digitally transform can seem daunting. Of companies that havent started with digital transformation, 59% fear it might be too late.

It’s never too late to improve any process. It’s important to remember you dont have to make big changes all at once. Digital transformation is scalable.

Sometimes, with what feels like a ‘big problem’, it can be easy to assume it needs a big solution, requiring a lot of time, money, and change. This doesnt need to be the case.

The key is identifying an appropriate and achievable goal and then breaking it down into small steps. This reduces the time and cost required to plan and implement the strategy but also helps with employee engagement. Small changes over a period of time are much easier to accept and adapt to. Breaking down the task makes it more attainable and theres also a quicker sense of satisfaction. Seeing results sooner boosts attitudes toward digital transformation and increases adoption and acceptance.

The ideal strategy for digital transformation is to start small and build on your successes.

You can identify where to focus by mapping out your current strategy and highlighting where there are gaps.

Reviewing how to fill these gaps leads to thinking about solutions. Do you have the most appropriate applications for your processes? Are you using the right mix of technologies? Are there areas of processes that your staff feel are wasting time?

Solving some of the identified problems on a small scale little by little contributes to an overall payoff. Building solutions incrementally with small gains is highly beneficial to the entire process.

Small blocks building upwards.
A cog with arrows around it in a circle.

Agility is Key to Staying Ahead

Agility has always been a key driver of successful business operations but now more than ever we are seeing the importance of businesses being able to pivot and respond quickly to changing factors. Markets and trends are constantly moving and evolving, bringing new challenges, and new opportunities. It is important that businesses can adapt to these changes quickly and effectively, or risk falling behind.

Digitalisation is key to enabling industries to meet changing customers needs.

Businesses without a strong digital strategy are likely to struggle to be as agile as their competitors. Digitally-savvy companies are able to move faster to adapt to rapid changes in the market. They are able to embrace new opportunities quicker and see benefits sooner.

Customer needs and expectations never stand still. The companies that move quickly to meet, and exceed these expectations are the ones that will thrive.

Saving Time, Benefitting from Quick Wins

Quick wins are low risk, easy to identify, have a high probability of creating a positive impact, and dont have to take a lot of time to implement. They can help you adopt an incremental way of working and can be built upon for a longer-term gain.

Small steps help you implement digital transformation at your own pace, and review productivity at each step.

Quick wins provide an opportunity to save time and costs, allowing more time and resources to be directed towards plans for a longer-term strategy and further implementation.

Here are some tips to identify quick wins in your organisation:

A thumnail icon showing a computer with cogs on the screen.

Making the most of existing technologies

What existing technologies do you have in your business? Are you using them to their full potential? Are there features and functionality you’re not using? Does one team use a digital tool that would also be useful for another team? Do you have access to additional tools that you’re not using? For example, if you have SOLIDWORKS, are there any Xpress products you could use? Xpress tools are available for free and quick to activate with all SOLIDWORKS licenses.

An icon showing a mouse clicking on a 'free trial' button

Testing technologies with free versions & trials

Free versions are a great way of identifying how useful a tool is for you and your teams. Free versions offer entry-level functionality to help you identify what you need from a tool to reach your goals. Free trials give the opportunity to test out features, and give you a head start on implementing a tool. Both options are a great way of figuring out what works for you, before committing to a tool and investing time and money.

An icon showing a magnifying glass with an exclamation mark

Identifying constraints within your teams

There are often issues within processes that team members get used to, and are happy to work around. Or, perhaps because it’s always been that way, they don’t want to raise it as an issue. However, empowering teams to question processes and suggest improvements encourages them to highlight where inefficiencies could be reduced. Identifying bottlenecks, and areas where processes are often delayed is key to making improvements.

Automate Processes to Save Time

Automating business processes creates a more effective and efficient workforce. Valuable time saved can be used to innovate more and add value. Automation can help you:

  • Make data-driven decisions
  • Reduce errors
  • Standardise
  • Promote communication between teams

Through automation, complex business processes are being made smarter.

Business Process Automation is enabling businesses to become more streamlined. Automation uses information and data to manage routine processes, reduce errors and costs, increase productivity and improve efficiency.

By using technology to automatekey business processes,organisations are driving a positive change and are already being rewarded.

Improving internal processes has a positive impact on customer experience too. A fast process with fewer errors saves time for you and the customer, whilst also building customer loyalty and retention.

Two arrows linking up in a circle repeating.
DriveWorks Co-founder and VP, Maria Sarkar.

Maria Sarkar

Co-Founder & VP, DriveWorks

“Digital Transformation sounds daunting! It sounds like yet another initiative promoted in a report, or industry white paper that most of us think we don’t have time for. Me included, I feel busy, I am busy.

But then I take a step back and think about what it actually means for me and what it means for our business. Here’s my very simplistic take on why we should make time for Digital Transformation…”

“I used to mail Christmas cards to my friends and family. When the time came to write the addresses on the envelopes, I’d dig out my diary and look through my handwritten list, which had grown and grown over the years. It wasn’t well sorted, it had started as a list, and been added to as I’d met people. It wasn’t sorted by A to Z or by country, sometimes it grouped people together as a family, and sometimes it was an individual name. Some people had lines through them and an arrow to a new line – they’d got married, changed their names or moved at some point and I’d hastily scrawled a new address – hmm was that a 5 or an 8 there? In other cases I’d added birthdays. As the list grew, it began getting out of hand.

So several years ago I took a step back and decided to invest an hour sorting out my list. I “digitized” all the information in it. But I didn’t just copy the list, I gave it structure. I thought about how to organize the information, and what I wanted to be able to do with it, now and in the future.

Once I had done that the rest was easy. I picked up the task for 30 minutes each day over a coffee, and within 2 weeks, I’d moved everything over.

Now that it was digitized, I didn’t need to handwrite the addresses, I could automatically print labels to stick on the envelopes. Or I could use the data at other times of the year to show me all the people with birthdays coming up in the next month.

With the data now in digital format it’s now so easy to upload all my contacts, keep them up to date in one place and send personalized messages throughout the year. Thanks to companies like Moonpig and Funky Pigeon I can even send customized cards and don’t need to go to the post office to buy stamps. A massive time saver for me and a guaranteed personal message for my friend!

That time spent transforming a mundane task has resulted in massive time savings for me and guaranteed thoughtful personal messages for my friends, ensuring we keep in touch despite our busy lives!

And although this is a personal example, the same principle applies in so much of what we do in the workplace too, especially when Digital Transformation is linked to automation.”

“So Digital Transformation doesn’t have to be daunting and doesn’t mean you need to stop everything else you’re doing. It’s a means to an end. And whilst I’m a fan of the bigger vision, it’s good to break things down, start small and little by little use saved time to Automate More.”

How are DriveWorks customers saving time with digital?

Dolphin Solutions, headquartered in Robertsbridge, UK, design and supply a range of products and accessories for commercial washrooms.

Since implementing DriveWorks, Dolphin has achieved a number of goals:

  • Reduce time-consuming, repetitive design tasks
  • Create a great customer experience
  • Change processes that used to be manual to being automated
  • Create an aesthetically pleasing online configurator that is easy to use

Find out more about how Dolphin Solutions is automating with DriveWorks here.

Businesses are using technology to work smarter. In manufacturing, technology is improving traditional processes, driving the industry forward and addressing inefficiencies.

The benefits of digital transformation can reach all corners of a business. Digital transformation is improving communication and promoting collaboration. Digital-focused companies are more agile, enabling growth. These benefits are resulting in increased efficiency, more productive workforces and improved customer experiences.

There is a growing global commitment to embracing digital technologies. Businesses around the world are expected to spend $2.8 trillion on digital transformation, twice as much spent in 2020.

Businesses are levelling up, conscious of not wanting to fall behind as the world shifts to a technological-based future.

A picture of icons containing cost symbols and computer tech symbols connecting by lines.

This estimated global spending can make the prospect of digital transformation daunting. It can seem out of reach for many companies.

However, with the benefits digital technologies bring, and the rate at which consumer expectations are changing, it’s important for companies to embrace digitalisation.

Whilst there are initial investments, companies are quickly seeing a good return on investment. 56% of CEOs say digital improvements have led to increased revenue.

It’s also important to find an appropriate and achievable strategy. No matter what the end goal for digital transformation is, the key is to start small. Pick a strategy that suits your organizations current aims, with the ability to scale when appropriate. It’s important to research and experiment, learning from, and building on, your successes.

Digital Transformation in Manufacturing

We’ve spent a lot of time researching and learning about how manufacturers can embrace digital transformation. We’ve worked with customers and learnt about how they are using digital technologies.

We’re seeing traditional manufacturing processes being enhanced with new advancing technologies. Technology has a huge scale of capability. While using technology to optimize these processes can imply great costs, there are ways to make it more economical.

Read our tips below to find a strategy that works for you and learn how you can implement digital technologies, without huge budgets.

Digital Transformation is Scalable

Digital Transformation is not one-size-fits-all.

It is important to remember that digital transformation is scalable. The costs are relative to your organization.

You can invest as much, or as little as you like. It’s important to decide which processes are worth investing further into and start with these.

Starting small is both cost-effective and low-risk. These things could feel like minor adjustments but they often pay off straight away – they are ‘quick wins’.

Once you’ve identified these quick wins, and you’ve started to see the changes paying off, you can build on this to do more.

Identifying Quick Wins for Your Organisation

Quick wins are low risk, easy to identify, have a high probability of creating a positive impact, and dont have to take a lot of time to implement. They also do not require large budgets.

With this, enterprises can scale digital transformation at their own pace. Doing this means that implementation is relative to capability and financial means.

Quick wins provide an opportunity to save time and costs, allowing more time and resources to be directed toward plans for a longer-term strategy and further implementation.

Here are some tips to identify quick wins in your organization:

A thumnail icon showing a computer with cogs on the screen.

Making the most of existing technologies

What existing technologies do you have in your business? Are you using them to their full potential? Are there features and functionality you’re not using? Does one team use a digital tool that would also be useful for another team? Do you have access to additional tools that you’re not using? For example, if you have SOLIDWORKS, are there any xpress products you could use? Xpress tools are available for free with all SOLIDWORKS licenses.

An icon showing a mouse clicking on a 'free trial' button

Testing technologies with free versions & trials

Free versions are a great way of identifying how useful a tool is for you and your teams. Free versions offer entry-level functionality to help you identify what you need from a tool to reach your goals. Free trials give the opportunity to test out features, and give you a head start on implementing a tool. Both options are a great way of figuring out what works for you, before committing to a tool and investing time and money.

An icon showing a magnifying glass with an exclamation mark

Identifying constraints within your teams

There are often issues within processes that team members get used to, and are happy to work around. Or, perhaps because it’s always been that way, they don’t want to raise it as an issue. However, empowering teams to question processes and suggest improvements encourages them to highlight where inefficiencies could be reduced. Identifying bottlenecks, and areas where processes are often delayed is key to making improvements.

Investing in Your Workforce

Investing in digital also means investing in your workforce.

All teams can feel the benefits of digital transformation. Automating mundane, repetitive tasks and reducing errors improves job satisfaction. Using digital technologies frees up employees to be more productive, and focus on what humans do best – adding value.

From sales and engineering, all the way to HR, there will be opportunities to streamline processes. This will change the way your business operates and improve customer experiences too.

Digital transformation is different for every company so it can be hard to pinpoint where to start and what to do. Adopting a team-by-team approach helps to break the task down, and find what’s appropriate for each team.

Small steps add up. Each team could digitize one aspect of their workload, see the results and then build on this to do more.

How to Digitally Invest in Your Workforce

The implementation of technology empowers employees, giving them the means to complete tasks quickly and efficiently. Fewer errors and reduced constraints boost confidence and drives employee satisfaction.

Your sales and marketing team could implement digital automated replies to sales inquiries. HR could improve onboarding with digital learning platforms. Engineering could implement design automation to save time and reduce errors. IT could speed up processes and access to resources with cloud-based tools.

Learning new tools contributes to employee development, creating a workforce that is agile and adept at responding to new digital changes as we look to the future.

Boosting Sales with Digital Transformation

Aside from making improvements for employees and customers, digitally transforming can increase revenue. Improving sales processes improves customer experiences, builds customer loyalty, and increases sales. Resulting in more motivated sales teams and driving revenue for the organization.

Automating sales follow-ups results in a faster response to sales inquiries. Sales teams can focus on improving customer experience and building relationships. Implementing a digitally driven, streamlined sales process enhances customer experience from initial inquiry, all the way to the customer receiving the end product.

Streamlining processes improves communication between teams. Adding automation speeds up processes and reduces the potential for errors. Technology helps to meet the growing need for the fast-on-demand creation of products from customers.

Creating Solid Foundations for the Future

By starting small, businesses can grow with their technology, develop learning, and see a return on investment.

Identifying opportunities for improvement and adopting new processes builds a solid foundation for the future of your organization.

91% of companies have adopted a ”digital first” business strategy. Businesses are taking the opportunity to invest in the future of their enterprise. By keeping up with technology, they are creating an easier transition to a more digital future, making themselves more agile. This technological agility allows for the ability to keep pace with growing customer needs and demand.

A picture of Mike Yarwood, DriveWorks Head of Finance.

Mike Yarwood

Head of Finance, DriveWorks

“Boards more than ever need to be considering scalable technical solutions to their businesses. With resource shortages becoming a more common theme in 2022, scaling at speed and accuracy is difficult to do. The focus of the board should be on ensuring that the quality and efficiency output of their processes is removing the need to hire or fix human mistakes. Business Process Automation is such a powerful tool for doing this, and one we should embrace particularly in the current climate.”

”The investment can sometimes be daunting, but actually if you consider the long-term investment & ROI, against traditional investments, they normally guarantee returns and typically payback quickly.”

How are DriveWorks customers benefitting from investing in digital?

A graphic showing the benefits that DriveWorks customer, HW Ventilation has experienced. The graphic displays the following text: Customers now receive a drawing of the product they require almost instantly, and personalised quotes are sent out much quicker. Their next step will be to scale up their current DriveWorks Solo projects to DriveWorks Pro and implement an online configurator that will enable their customers to configure products online. Implementing DriveWorks Solo has enabled HW Ventilation to respond to customer demand faster and with more efficiency. There is also a quote "Our design process using DriveWorks Solo is 10 times faster than our previous manual process''.

HW Ventilation, based in Rescaldina Italy, is a leading company in the ventilation and air movement systems industry. Theydesign, produce and sellaxial impellers and ventilators for industrial use.

Since implementing DriveWorks, HW Ventilation has achieved a number of goals:

  • Automating their design process
  • Saving engineering time spent on repetitive and low value add activities.
  • Their design process is now 10 times faster than their previous manual process.
  • Freed time for engineers is now spent on innovating and more reward projects

Find out more about how HW Ventilation is automating with DriveWorks here.