Digitalisation is proving to be a decisive factor for the resilience of companies in times of crisis. A global survey shows that 80% of companies in the USA, Japan and Europe are affected by current crises. The industry is responding by increasingly focusing on digitalisation and IT modernisation. This approach is bearing fruit: according to the latest global industry study Spotlight Future 2024, which was conducted on behalf of Aras, a provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions, three out of four companies say they are better able to deal with upheaval today than they were twelve months ago.
In the DACH countries in particular, improvements have been made in the areas of customer focus and quality. However, there is still room for improvement in the areas of speed and transparency. The study is based on surveys of 835 managers in the USA, Europe and Japan.
There is no longer a normal agenda
"The hope of returning to business as usual after the coronavirus pandemic has been dashed. Instead, it has become clear that the global health crisis is the new normal. In this unpredictable and unpredictable environment, companies run the risk of being surprised by external disruptions and market movements," says Jens Rollenmüller, Regional Vice President at Aras.
Eight out of ten companies surveyed worldwide are suffering from the current political, economic and environmental pressures. It is striking that the DACH countries (86%) and Japan (92%) see themselves particularly challenged, while the USA (73%), France (64%) and Italy (66%) see themselves as more resilient.
However, the study also shows that many companies are prepared to face the challenges and strengthen their own resilience. More than every second company has pushed ahead with digitalisation (56%) or modernised its IT (55%) in the past two years. In addition, the expansion of their own R&D activities (36%), a stronger focus on sustainability (36%) or the optimisation of the supply chain (36%) are among the measures frequently implemented to secure the future.
Companies are more flexible and innovative
"Proactive companies don't lean back, they look ahead. This attitude significantly strengthens their market position. Three quarters of companies believe they are better able to cope with the many challenges they face today than they were a year ago. In the DACH region, this assessment is even more pronounced at 79%," says Aras manager Rollenmüller.
Above all, companies were able to improve in the areas of quality (40%) and flexibility (38%). However, increased innovative strength (37%), improved customer focus (36%) and speed (36%) are also strong indicators of greater competitiveness, according to industry expert Rollenmüller. Companies in the DACH region prioritised their improvement initiatives slightly differently: while customer focus (48%), quality (45%) and flexibility (44%) have increased significantly, transparency (29%) and speed (29%) are not at the forefront.
Software tools and digital applications can help
"The latest digitalisation measures have been successful. For example, 92% of respondents agree with the statement that their company is better able to deal with increasing uncertainties thanks to the digital transformation," says Rollenmüller. New software applications and digital tools could leverage previously untapped potential and uncover hidden dependencies in order to work more efficiently, quickly and flexibly: "This becomes particularly clear when analysing which companies are particularly good at using their wealth of data. For example, 82% of companies that already use product lifecycle management (PLM) software are better at crisis management today than they were twelve months ago. The figure for companies without PLM is significantly lower at 69%. The clear conclusion: PLM helps to strengthen resilience."
The study is available to download free of charge.