To achieve digital transformation and to drive their innovation of products and business models, enterprises need to do two things. First, build an industrial innovation platform that supports new technologies, such as cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI), and second, collaborate with the right system, device, communications, and service providers to form a complete solution.
New technology is the catalyst for creation and opportunity. Nowadays, the digital economy is sweeping the world, driving the transformation of traditional industries to one that is cloud-based. Enterprises are facing challenges brought by continuous development and transformation. Especially for those working on a budget, many enterprises must find ways to utilize existing resources and improve R&D, production, and operation efficiencies with only the minimum investment. Driven by the third wave of IT, new technologies such as cloud computing, IoT, Big Data, and augmented reality (AR) continue to explode. By building an industrial innovation platform that supports data interconnection and virtual-to-physical mapping, Huawei helps enterprises promote product innovation and operation optimization, shifting the concept from Product First to Service First. The following describes the development trend and technical system of the industrial innovation platform and explains the enterprise transformation roadmap in detail.
1 Development Trend
1.The Industrial Innovation Platform Is the Driving Force of Enterprise Transformation
Nowadays, enterprise transformation is no longer a supplement to traditional business processes, systems, and applications. Instead, it redefines the current and future development models of the enterprises. Enterprises need to build an industrial innovation platform that supports new technologies and applications based on the product lifecycle management system and tools. Additionally, the enterprises need to collaborate with the right system, device, communications, and service providers to form a complete solution and drive their own innovation and transformation.
2.Industrial Data Is the Foundational Element of the Industrial Innovation Platform
Industrial data is crucial for enterprises seeking business development and model innovation. The interconnection among the product, data, data analysis, machine learning, and AR combines to create a simple and configurable data model to intuitively display the customers, products, markets, and solutions. The major industrial innovation platforms in the world are actively competing for data resources and data cooperation. For example, General Electric (GE) has acquired Bit Stew Systems and Wise.io, and PTC has acquired ColdLight.
3.The Open and Shared Platform Network Is the Foundation of the Industrial Innovation Platform
No single enterprise can independently provide end-to-end solutions that cover the cloud infrastructure, terminal connection, data analysis, and application services for the industrial innovation platform. Therefore, building partnerships and ecosystems is necessary for platform development. Enterprises, such as GE, PTC, Schneider, Huawei, and CASICloud cooperate with platform vendors, component vendors, and integrators to provide more powerful services for customers.
4.The Concept Shifts from Product First to Service First
The industrial innovation platform drives enterprises to transform from product sales to service sales. This will change the service pricing mode, financial means, and risk prevention and control mechanism of each enterprise in the industry, redefining the competition landscape and industry structure.
2 Technical System
PTC ThingWorx is the industry-leading industrial innovation platform designed to rapidly deliver IoT applications, Big Data, and AR experiences that unlock the value of the converged digital and physical worlds. The technical system of the platform consists of the following layers:
• Source: collects multi-source data based on IoT and clouds (including HUAWEI CLOUD, AWS, GE Predix, and SAP Cloud).For example, factory device data, operation data of delivered products, cloud-based device data, and CAD, PLM, AEC, and BIM data are all collected and analyzed, achieving holographic data aggregation.
• Contextualize: implements data modeling and associates the data with the business context.
• Synthesize: uses machine learning and data analysis capabilities to support data analysis and application, such as device fault monitoring and fault prediction. Additionally, the industrial innovation platform integrates with the simulation platform, enabling interconnection simulation and design optimization based on multi-source data.
• Orchestrate: provides the interfaces for integrating with various service systems, such as the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
• Engage: provides various applications as well as virtual reality (VR) and digital mapping technologies to improve user experience.
3 Enterprise Digital Transformation Roadmap
1.Building an Industrial Innovation Platform Architecture
PTC provides an industrial innovation platform based on CPS HUB, which uses ThingWorx and the application platform as the core. This platform integrates capabilities, such as device interconnection, machine learning, Big Data analysis, data modeling, and application creation and provides multi-layer functions (mentioned above) to support enterprises' transformation in design, manufacturing, service, and management.
2. Defining the Objectives of Enterprise Digital Transformation
PTC cooperates with partners to assist enterprises in defining transformation objectives based on their own development strategies: • Integrates new technologies with traditional services to promote the transformation and upgrade of the industrial system at the product, business, and industry levels. • Promotes product intelligence, optimizes the R&D and customer service systems by transforming the R&D, manufacturing, and supplementary services, and creates new business models, such as cloud R&D, cloud manufacturing, and remote services.
3.Establishing Standard Systems for Enterprise Transformation
PTC introduces industry experiences to help enterprises develop standard systems that support transformation, including the data, process, and management standard systems. • The data standard system standardizes and defines the MBE model and product and device data to support business objects and related attributes in the new business model. • The process standard system defines cross-system processes to ensure that business activities are executed in a timely and orderly manner. • The management standard system defines various management dimensions during the entire lifecycle of a product. The possible standard systems include the system engineering management, quality management, production line management, and preventive maintenance management.
4. Defining Major Transformation Scenarios
PTC introduces best practices to help enterprises develop transformation roadmaps that meet their own development strategies, define transformation scenarios based on R&D, manufacturing, and services, and support enterprise transformation and upgrades.
• Innovative R&D transformation: Leveraging the industrial innovation platform, PTC helps enterprises introduce advanced methods, such as system engineering, parallel engineering, DFX, and modular design to build an innovative R&D environment for intelligent interconnection products and support R&D collaboration. Specific transformation scenarios include but are not limited to 3D MBE, model-based system engineering, multi-professional collaborative design oriented to intelligent products, virtual-simulation integration verification, R&D innovation based on Big Data analysis, and collaborative AR or VR design and review.
• Excellent manufacturing transformation: With the industrial innovation platform at the heart of operations, PTC assists enterprises in streamlining the horizontal integration of R&D, process, and production and the vertical integration of enterprises, workshops, and devices. Further, PTC introduces advanced methods, such as modular technology and product engineering, to build an integrated management and control environment for process planning, factory planning, and production and operation. Specific transformation scenarios include but are not limited to digital and modular process design, heterogeneous device interconnection, device operation monitoring, AR-based intelligent production guidance, production line health monitoring, and production and operation monitoring.
• Agile service transformation: Leaning on the flexibility brought by the industrial innovation platform, PTC helps enterprises implement customer-centric and intelligent product-oriented operations. By introducing advanced methods, such as maintenance engineering, PBL, and CBM/CBM+, PTC can help any enterprise build an agile service planning and operation environment and create a closed service system for planning, operation, and optimization. Specific transformation scenarios include but are not limited to development and service collaboration, maintenance engineering, interactive technical document management and training management, response center operation monitoring, preventive maintenance, remote maintenance, spare parts prediction, knowledge base, and diagnosis assistance.
In a word, the PTC ThingWorx industrial innovation platform provides powerful technologies to help enterprises achieve digital transformation. During specific planning and implementation, PTC works jointly with partners to assist enterprises in developing transformation objectives, establishing transformation standards, and defining transformation scenarios. Leveraging this platform is a no-brainer for those wanting to redefine their business operations, helping to achieve platform-driven service transformation and upgrades and improve their core competitiveness.
