Adrian Rüedy
Smart Factory Use Cases with Matching IT/OT Solutions
Are you looking to navigate the path to a Smart Factory but unsure about which use cases, IT/OT solutions, and providers suit your needs? The Smart Factory Navigator platform (SFN platform) is your self-service consulting tool designed to empower you to drive your digital transformation independently. With our web-based platform, you gain access to comprehensive knowledge about use cases, solutions, and providers tailored to your specific requirements and goals. Join our community and kickstart your digital transformation journey with the SFN platform today!
Here's how it works
Option 1: Identifying Use Cases through a Questionnaire
Using a questionnaire, we identify your digital use cases. Evaluate your factory's current maturity level across various dimensions such as process, maturity level, challenges, and strategic priorities.
The questionnaire results, combined with our experiences from numerous use cases, provide you with clear use cases for achieving your Smart Factory. With our assistance, define your specific goals and priorities for transforming your factory and compare them with best practices from your industry.
Option 2: Choosing Use Cases Yourself
Already familiar with your use cases? Then you don't need a questionnaire. Select from a list of use cases those that best align with your goals, thus creating your individual roadmap for implementation.
In our SFN platform, find a selection of suitable IT/OT solutions for your use cases and access detailed information about the providers, implemented case studies, benefits, and success factors. Then, contact the providers directly through our platform to request a quote or a demonstration.
You can continuously track the progress of your use cases. We support you in implementing and scaling your solutions.
On the SFN platform, you can choose from a wide range of solution providers offering products or services that meet your specific requirements.
The SFN platform is more than just a tool; it's a collaborative platform that gives you access to a network of experts, partners, and peers who will accompany you on your digital transformation journey. You can exchange ideas with other users, share experiences, and generate new ideas. The SFN platform is your guide to the Smart Factory.
The Smart Factory Navigator is the result of five years of scientific research at the University of St. Gallen (HSG) and the University of Applied Sciences Eastern Switzerland (OST), covering various industries and use cases. Over 900 use cases from practical examples and industry have been collected, examined, and evaluated. By building a holistic view of the Smart Factory, we have identified and structured the most important use cases, as well as analyzed the dependencies between them.
The Smart Factory Navigator framework consists of 44 generic use cases addressing the key challenges and opportunities of digital transformation. The framework is customizable to your company's needs and is based on tried-and-tested methods. With the Smart Factory Navigator, you get efficient support for implementing your digitalization strategies by finding suitable technologies and solution providers and connecting with them. The Smart Factory Navigator is your reliable partner on the journey to the Smart Factory.
Our research results are not only available in our SFN platform but are also detailed and comprehensively presented in the book "Smart Factory Navigator."
To understand our idea behind the SFN platform, it's important to first consider the challenges posed by the digitalization of production processes.
Many companies are faced with a jungle of use cases addressing various aspects of the Smart Factory, but often with unclear dependencies and interfaces. Additionally, there is a lack of a simple, holistic representation of the "smart" factory, summarizing the relationships and structure of different use cases. This complicates the selection and prioritization of suitable solutions for the individual needs of each company.
Additionally, there are many innovative solution providers in the market, but they are often unknown or not among the established providers such as Siemens or SAP. This leads to a gap between industrial companies and solution providers, which we aim to bridge with our extensive experience and the transfer of research results into practice.
The SFN framework also enables the interconnection and visualization of use cases to recognize dependencies and synergies between them. We have created a mapping of technologies and problem areas, showing which technologies are suitable for which use cases and what problems they can solve.
What sets our approach apart is its holistic view of digitalization, considering both technical and organizational as well as human aspects. Our framework is customizable to the specific needs and goals of each company, enabling selection and evaluation of relevant use cases. Built on proven practices, our framework has been applied and validated in over 27 industry and research projects spanning various sectors including manufacturing of machining parts, rail industry, plastics processing industry, construction suppliers, logistics companies, machinery and plant engineering, and automotive suppliers.
By leveraging the SFN platform, companies receive efficient support in implementing their digitalization strategies, leading to increased productivity, quality, and flexibility. Furthermore, the platform fosters a common language within the organization, enhancing understanding and collaboration across different departments and levels.
In essence, the Smart Factory Navigator bridges the gap between research and practice by offering a comprehensive and adaptable framework for the smart factory, based on real-world use cases from various industries, facilitating systematic selection and implementation of digital solutions.
There are no costs for industrial companies. You can access all content by registering for free on the SFN platform.
There are no requirements for industrial companies. You can simply register for free.
Solution providers can also initially register for free. Subsequently, they undergo a qualification process conducted by us, which, upon successful completion, leads to a subscription agreement.
Book a demo via the website or register on the platform
Getting started on the platform
Qualified solution providers incur monthly listing fees and revenue shares. Only upon contract completion, the solution provider's profile becomes visible, and they can engage in matching.
Once activated, you can edit and adjust your profile yourself. However, for changes in your solution provider area, please contact us, as these cannot be made independently.