ONE of the imperatives that came out of the global pandemic was digital transformation. While many organizations had already begun their digital transformation journeys long before the pandemic, that unprecedented disruption accelerated most everyone’s programs and underscored the importance of building resilience through digitalization. The journey is a long and costly one, though, regardless of an organization’s size or industry. It takes time and resources to successfully adopt automation, data collection, data visualization and data analytics processes, and to translate those into cost savings and increased profits.
To better understand this journey toward digital maturity, Deloitte analyzed the digital transformation of global manufacturers, first in 2019 and then again in 2023, using a Digital Maturity Index (DMI). The DMI assesses organizations across 90 operational and strategic parameters to determine their digital archetype, which ranges from Digital Laggards to Digital Champions. In 2023, Deloitte surveyed over 800 C-level and business unit leaders from manufacturing companies, asking them about how they are shaping their organization’s digital futures. Here are some of the trends our researchers noted from that study.