Industrial Transformation Blog

In a recent LNS Research report on global Environmental Health, Safety and Sustainability (EHSS) software, analyst Peter Bussey discusses the dynamic competitive landscape that has seen significant changes over the past five years. LNS first wrote about this “EHS Software Arms Race” in 2016, describing how market players are using proactive business strategies to pull ahead of the competition in the race to market leadership.

The world is reeling from the COVID-19 crisis that is on course to cause thousands more deaths and precipitate global economic disruption of unknown proportions. What can environment, health and safety (EHS) business leaders do to help their organizations successfully navigate the COVID-19 pandemic?

It’s been said many times that “age is but a number”, but when it comes to the industrial workforce, age indeed matters. Although an aging workforce affects all sectors, manufacturing is being particularly hard hit. The median age of a manufacturing worker rose from 40.5 to 44.1 from 2000 to 2018, while the median age for the U.S. labor force overall was 39.3 in 2018. (Source: Manufacturing Institute, 2018).  This is having a profound impact on industrial organizations.

On Tuesday, July 23, LNS Research hosted the webcast, “Use IX to Futureproof EHS Systems and Technology.” The presentation explained why the Industrial Transformation (IX) trend forces environment, health, and safety (EHS) business leaders to make major decisions on how they will leverage digital technologies to manage risk and exploit opportunities. The discussion included an examination of which steps companies must take now to deliver value into the future, about the risks that are unavoidable with transformation, and how to manage them to resist obsolescence.

Digital Transformation of industrial operations is in full swing. Our most recent survey data shows that 45% of industrial enterprises globally are executing an Industrial Transformation (IX) program, up significantly over the past three years. Don’t be fooled into thinking there’s a “magic formula” for IX; the “right” path for every company is the one that will reshape how the organization does business, the offerings it can deliver, how it goes about competing in the marketplace, or some combination of these. To that end, companies are incorporating many flavors of digital tech in their IX programs. Two-thirds have implemented or plan to implement Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies. Other common ones are cloud-based application platforms, mobile apps, Big Data analytics, augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR), process simulation, digital twins, and 3D printing, among many others.

ProcessMap held its customer conference in late May in Hollywood, FL.  The event — ProcessMAP Konnect 2019 — reminded us of the famous Forest Gump line, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.”  This was the first time LNS Research participated in the environment, health, and safety (EHS) software vendor’s annual conference, so we had no preconceptions. ProcessMAP’s ecosystem of customers, partners, and experts gathered to discuss and collaborate on strategy, progress, best practices, solutions, and plans.

2019 marks the third consecutive year LNS Research has attended and covered Gensuite’s annual customer conference. This year’s edition, BREAKTHROUGH: Gensuite Conference 2019, was held in Cincinnati May 5-7. The event spanned the environment, health, and safety (EHS) software vendor’s ecosystem of customers, partners, and Gensuite experts were on hand to convey how the company’s solutions enable breakthrough operational performance improvement across EHS, risk, security, sustainability, and quality among others.

Environment, health and safety (EHS) 4.0 digital transformation initiative isn’t an all or nothing proposition.Organizations need to assess their current foundation of people, processes and technology capabilities to determine the Digital Transformation readiness of their EHS business function. Each organization will have a unique starting point. For some organizations, it may be appropriate to shore up foundational EHS, safety, risk management system(s) before or in parallel with undertaking digitalization initiatives.  There is no one-size-fits-all approach.

Connected operations, connected assets, and connected products are all recognized as essential aspects of an Industry 4.0 “Factory of the Future” approach. What about the connected worker? Based on our most recent research on Industrial Transformation, Connected Worker strategies and solutions are a vital part of the Digital Transformation of industrial operations.

Is your organization ready for the journey to digitally transform its environment, health and safety (EHS) business function? LNS Research recently published research on the digital readiness of organizations to undertake Industrial Transformation (IX) programs. We define IX as a proactive and coordinated approach to leverage digital technologies to create step-change improvement in industrial operations, i.e., the Digital Transformation of industrial operations. Most industrial organizations are already well underway with IX: 45% of industrial organizations are already engaged, and another 23% of companies expect to launch programs within one year.