Partners from science and industry develop new maturity model
From product manufacturer to service provider: Smart services enable manufacturing companies today to offer their services and products in an even more customer-oriented way. This is made possible by the evaluation of large volumes of data provided by networked, intelligent machines and systems. But how do companies have to change in order to be able to offer smart services successfully? To support companies in this transformation process, partners from science and industry have developed a new tool in a project. The result is, among other things, a freely accessible web-based tool for uncomplicated self-assessment of the maturity level (status quo). Partners in the successfully completed project "SMART - Tire Degree-Based Transformation to Smart Service Provider" are, in addition to acatech (consortium leadership), the Heinz Nixdorf Institut at Paderborn University, the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechatronics Design Technology IEM, the FIR at RWTH Aachen University, and the Industrie 4.0 Maturity Center. The project was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection with a total of 250,000 euros.
The path to becoming a smart service company
The project partners presented the new maturity model, the acatech Maturity Index Smart Services, for the first time at the Smart Service Summit in Munich. The model analyzes companies on the basis of 78 capabilities, subdivided into six design fields. These are assessed in a comprehensive and practical "SMART Assessment" consisting of workshops and interviews. Strengths and weaknesses are identified and recommendations for action to achieve the selected target maturity level are provided.
The challenge of the transformation process lies in particular in the fact that not only must completely new market services be created in the company, but organizational aspects and processes must also be fundamentally adapted. "The new tool provides companies with a sound assessment of their current maturity level with regard to smart services, enabling them to define realistic measures and targets for the smart service transformation. The necessary implementation measures are also illustrated in a roadmap," summarizes Dr.-Ing. Christian Koldewey, senior engineer in the Advanced Systems Engineering group at the Heinz Nixdorf Institute at Paderborn University.
Practical support
Among other things, G. Kraft Maschinenbau GmbH took part in a SMART assessment. Stefan Fischer, Product Manager Digital Services, appreciates the support the company received from the maturity assessment: "The assessment helped us to obtain a comprehensive evaluation of the smart service maturity level and to identify in detail and in a well-founded manner further measures required to further expand the maturity level. The assessment follows a very structured and well thought-out procedure for determining the maturity level, so relevant points could already be discussed extensively and findings derived during the development. We will take the results into account in our transformation to a smart service provider and incorporate them into further strategic planning."
Rapid assessment through online tool
A "Quick Assessment" is also available to companies. The online tool asks about 20 of the 78 central skills and is easy to understand and intuitive for companies. The project team offers interested companies both the online tool and assessment workshops to help them develop the necessary steps for a successful transformation into a smart service provider.
Further information is available on the website of the "acatech Maturity Index Smart Services".
The Quick Assessment is available online for interested parties.
