Those organisations that prioritised the shift to digital have been better prepared for hiccups.
Remote connection and monitoring has provided a means for sites to be operated without people being there.
As we look ahead, I want to share best practices from companies around the globe that have adapted well to the effects of Covid-19 by reducing costs, while becoming more resilient.
The one common strand that I have observed from these businesses is digitisation. Those organisations that prioritised the shift to digital have been better prepared for hiccups. Everyone else is playing catch-up.
There are major trends that companies need to learn about and adapt.
The ability to do things remotely is one outcome of a well-executed digital transformation. Remote connection and monitoring has provided a means for sites to be operated without people being there.
One example of this is the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. ADNOC’s employees accessed the company’s Panorama digital command centre remotely. They are able to access real-time information on all operations and have a full view on how they could optimise production without the need to be in the same room.
The second is technology-based resilience. The pandemic isn’t the first crisis many of us have faced, and it won’t be the last either. We’ve got to think about the digital tools that we’re using to make us more robust, and able to counter any scenario.
Remote connections allow us to monitor operations, but that’s only the first step. Automation and analytics follow: automation should be used to solve problems at a local level, without the need for human involvement, while analytics can be deployed to understand what is happening across the infrastructure.
In the utility sector, we can take the example of Enel, an Italian utility that has benefited from automation and analytics. During the lockdown periods, the demand for energy from industry decreased dramatically and increased markedly from homes across the country.
Enel managed, in real-time and remotely, energy distribution from their main control centre.
The third element of digital addresses is efficiency. Efficiency has always mattered and every single avenue to reduce expenditure must be considered.
Take the success story from one of the largest food and beverage company, Almarai. The company has the world’s largest vertically-integrated dairy manufacturing facility, with 100 filling and packaging lines.
It digitised its operations, simplified production and put in place smart manufacturing. The result was a 15 percent efficiency gain across its packaging lines and reduction in water consumption.
Digitisation will create more resilient industries, but we must not drop ball about becoming greener. We are the generation that must deal with the consequences of climate change for years, even decades to come.
Digitisation can help industry become greener and cleaner. You can change what you measure, and digitisation is key to measuring energy and resource consumption.
The most sustainable companies are using data to improve efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint.
Sustainability is a virtuous circle, and the more companies optimise their operations, the better they’re prepared for the next unforeseen scenario.
Embrace the change now.
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