Page 20 - ITAtube Journal 2/2019

Technical Papers
The strategy has proved success- ful: “Klöckner & Co. currently generates about a quarter of sales via digital channels. This corre- sponds to annual digital sales of some EUR 1.5 billion”, as Chris- tian Pokropp, Managing Director of kloeckner.i, adds. Although this is already a large percentage compared with competitors and companies in other industries, Klöckner does not intend to rest on its laurels. Pokropp promises: “We aim to increase the gure to 60 per cent by 2022”.
Digitisation has become an area of operation of its own with digital consultancy services. New digi- tisation projects are also on the agenda. “We are currently expand- ing the Klöckner & Co. online shops, which are available in six countries in the meantime, into marketplaces”, says Pokropp. He adds that Klöckner has convinced distributors of complementary products about the bene ts of its platforms. These companies now distribute products that supple- ment the Klöckner & Co. product portfolio via Klöckner’s own online shops with marketplace functions. Pokropp explains: “In view of the good progress made in the digi- tisation of Klöckner & Co. and increasing numbers of inquiries, kloeckner.i will also be providing digital consultancy services to external companies in future. We are in addition enabling consul- tancy customers to start e-com- merce operations simply via integration in Klöckner & Co.’s proprietary B2B marketplace”.
Digitisation means dematerialisation
What traditional companies often get wrong or misunderstand: “Digitisation does not mean abandoning old strengths that
have made the company great”, as Philipp Depiereux, founder and director of the digital con- sulting company etventure points out. In his opinion, at German companies these strengths are, above all, engineering skills, pre- cision, perfection, many years of industry experience and an established customer base. The digital expert says: “The ‘Made in Germany’ quality slogan still applies in the digital age too”. He emphasises that companies need, however, to continue developing and to adopt the successful for- mulas implemented by digital players too: speed, data expertise and an uncompromising focus on the customer and user. The con- clusion drawn by the expert for digital transformation, who is very familiar with heavy industry due to the consulting services he has provided to Klöckner and SMS: “Whoever manages to combine old strengths with new ones will be successful in the digital age too”.
With the systematic implementa- tion of their digital strategy, com- panies like Klöckner and SMS can be considered to be something like the digital avant-garde in the metal industry. The example of the foundry industry demonstrates how reluctantly many industrial companies are still tackling the issue of digital transformation. “Most foundries are focussing too much on production”, says Franz-Josef Wöstmann, foundry technologyandlightweightstruc- ture departmental manager at the Fraunhofer Institute IFAM in Bremen. He adds that it is of course right to strengthen one’s own processes with the help of new technologies. The potential and opportunities offered by dig- itisation are, however, neglected when there is too narrow a focus
on improving process operations. The focus needs to change if the aim is to use “Industry 4.0” as the basis for further new activi- ties. The foundry expert stresses: “Industry 4.0 means digitisation”. And he adds that digitisation means dematerialisation. “Digiti- sation creates the opportunity to earn money and extend the value chain with the data about com- ponents”.
Most foundries make the mistake, however, that they still think too much in terms of the material, the casting. The foundry expert Wöstmann considers this a worry- ing way of looking at things: “In the next few years, success will be achieved via function rather than via kilos”.
(Author: Gerd Krause, Media- konzept/Düsseldorf)
Messe Düsseldorf GmbH
GIFA, METEC, THERMPROCESS, NEWCAST 2019
Monika Kissing/Michelle Pietsch
Tel.: +49 211-4560 543/465
E-mail: KissingM@ messe-duesseldorf.de
PietschM@messe-duesseldorf.de
ITAtube Journal No2/May 2019
20