Every year, the Agoria technology federation and Sirris research centre reward various Belgian manufacturing companies with the title of Factory of the Future. These are factories that invest in digitisation, smart processes and products, and world-class production. Our country now has 42 ‘Factories of the Future’, which together have invested more than 1.9 billion euros in infrastructure, digitisation and automation over the past 5 years.
"Sometimes you just need to take a leap of faith"
Jan Casteels, Plant Manager
“A good roadmap and keeping up the pace”
Jan Robrechts, Lab Director
"Digitisation is a continuous process"
Bart Van der Schueren, Executive VP en CTO
“Never satisfied with the status quo”
Jef Monballyu, Plant Manager
"First lean, only then digital"
Guy De Winne,
VP Global Performance
“People and technology go hand in hand”
Pepijn Verhaeghe,
Operational Excellence Manager
We brought together prominent employees of six Belgian Factories of the Future, each with their own production, path, challenges and opportunities. They all have just one thing in common: they can rightly call themselves a digital factory. The field of participants is therefore as diverse as it is inspiring.
The digitisation process of each Factory of the Future starts with the same four steps. These phases are reflected in the testimonies of these 6 organisations and form a good guide for manufacturing companies that aspire to a digital transformation.
More information about Factories of the Future?
Francis Duvivier
IoT Business Developer and Solution Manager at Proximus
francis.duvivier@proximus.com
Geert Jacobs
Expert Innovation and Factory of the Future Project Manager at Agoria
geert.jacobs@agoria.be
Draw up a roadmap
Geert Jacobs: “Define your loss-making factors and identify concrete objectives. Make sure that you can tackle specific inefficiencies with your digitisation. In a roadmap, the partners, resources and time needed to achieve these objectives are indispensable. One of the most common mistakes is companies starting this kind of adventure without a clear goal in mind. That is doomed to failure.”
One of the most common mistakes is companies starting this kind of adventure without a clear goal in mind. That is doomed to failure.”
Draw up a roadmap
1
Work out a business case
2
Invest carefully
3
Connect
4
Every year, the Agoria technology federation and Sirris research centre reward various Belgian manufacturing companies with the title of Factory of the Future. These are factories that invest in digitisation, smart processes and products, and world-class production. Our country now has 42 ‘Factories of the Future’, which together have invested more than 1.9 billion euros in infrastructure, digitisation and automation over the past 5 years.
“A good roadmap and keeping up the pace”
Jan Robrechts, Lab Director
"Sometimes you just need to take a leap of faith"
Jan Casteels, Plant Manager
"Digitisation is a continuous process"
Bart Van der Schueren, Executive VP en CTO
“Never satisfied with the status quo”
Jef Monballyu, Plant Manager
"First lean, only then digital"
Guy De Winne,
VP Global Performance
“People and technology go hand in hand”
Pepijn Verhaeghe,
Operational Excellence Manager
We brought together prominent employees of six Belgian Factories of the Future, each with their own production, path, challenges and opportunities. They all have just one thing in common: they can rightly call themselves a digital factory. The field of participants is therefore as diverse as it is inspiring.
The digitisation process of each Factory of the Future starts with the same four steps. These phases are reflected in the testimonies of these 6 organisations and form a good guide for manufacturing companies that aspire to a digital transformation.
Work out a business case
Geert Jacobs: “The business case is where you present your vision. Ask yourself why you want to digitise. As the testimonies show, the successful factories of the future can formulate a clear answer to this question. A good business case strives to achieve both innovation and competitiveness. Innovation is about change, competitiveness is about better production: more efficient, higher quality, faster, cheaper etc. Every successful digitisation connects these two pillars.”
Ask yourself why you want to digitise. A good business case strives to achieve both innovation and competitiveness.”
Draw up a roadmap
Geert Jacobs: “Define your loss-making factors and identify concrete objectives. Make sure that you can tackle specific inefficiencies with your digitisation. In a roadmap, the partners, resources and time needed to achieve these objectives are indispensable. One of the most common mistakes is companies starting this kind of adventure without a clear goal in mind. That is doomed to failure.”
One of the most common mistakes is companies starting this kind of adventure without a clear goal in mind. That is doomed to failure.”
Invest carefully
Geert Jacobs: “It's not hard to spend a lot of money on digitisation. However, the art lies in making the right investments and recouping them. The key to a successful digital transformation is making the right choices with limited resources. Here, we come back to the first step: if you know exactly which problems you want to solve, you can make precise investments.”
The key to a successful digital transformation is making the right choices with limited resources.”
Connect
Francis Duvivier: “Digitisation is a process of connection. A common mistake is for companies to collect data without knowing exactly what they want to do with it. The various information flows (data from machines, ERP system, CRM etc.) will only become valuable if you can combine them. The next step is also to combine and connect the external data (from the entire supply chain).”
Digitisation is a process of connection. The various information flows will only become valuable if you can combine them.”
More information about Factories of the Future?
Geert Jacobs
Expert Innovation and Factory of the Future Project Manager at Agoria
geert.jacobs@agoria.be
Francis Duvivier
IoT Business Developer and Solution Manager at Proximus
francis.duvivier@proximus.com