Introduction

The turmoil of the last few years appears to have reached new heights, as inflation, the energy crisis and the remnants of the global pandemic torments businesses worldwide. Unfortunately, these currents are inevitable, and companies have no choice but to embrace them – the question is, are you prepared to face challenges or are you simply going with the flow? The good news is that there are always means to weather out hard times, or even achieve growth, for every business sector. Naturally, strategies and methods differ regarding different segments, but certain factors tend to be defined in each sector – digitalization and automation.

Industrial Automation

In their article on automation in industrials, McKinsey suggests that ‘automation will drastically alter the way companies work, and this potential makes it a top priority for many business leaders.’ However, the same article also reports that ‘companies in the heavy industry sector (such as in energy, mining, utilities, and manufacturing) tend to struggle to set bold aspirations, develop robust business cases, and devise effective deployment approaches to take advantage of automation.’

Nonetheless, switching to automated processes – especially those that concern repetitive tasks, such as data collection and data entry – does make a notable difference.

A certain degree of automation allows for more time-efficient operations, and instead of completing lengthy and mundane tasks, employees can focus on parts that do need human outreach. What is more, the automation of processes has a highly positive effect on the overall atmosphere of the workplace – being liberated from demanding tasks that can now be easily automated, employees can create more balanced schedules with a great amount of pressure taken off of their shoulders.

Therefore, automation is not only benefiting companies on an economic level, but it also enhances employee experience, or EX, which is a key ingredient of long-term success.

The solution of introducing automation to the industrial companies seems to be a rather obvious choice in today’s economic case as a means of survival – a sector, previously lagging on automation, finally integrating digitalized solutions and achieving great success with that.

The greatest issue for company leaders in this sector is that there appears to be a significant delay in benefit realization.

The facts and statistics based on McKinsey’s survey show that ‘88 percent of respondents from the heavy industry sector’ have already invested in some form of automation transformation, but unfortunately, the bottom-line results of the project did not deliver as soon as expected.

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As we can see in Image 1, ‘only 4 percent report capturing significant bottom line improvements’, and ‘more than half of respondents believe it will take anywhere from a year to more than three years to realize bottom-line benefits—or simply don’t know.’ The process of industrial automation is a rather long-term investment, taking more than one year in many cases.

One Possible Solution

Even if companies can allow themselves to think long-term, some of them are stuck in the pilot project and are unable to advance due to difficulties in their industrial processes, business strategies, and end-to-end processes. These challenges can pose serious issues for leaders, however, there are a few methods to help us through these obstacles.

‘Setting the tone for a successful automation transformation requires’, as proposed by McKinsey, a ‘team to weave an ambitious vision into the overall enterprise strategy.’ This team may be internal, e.g. a leadership team, however, in case the company is quite unfamiliar with automation processes, it might be favorable for them to seek out guidance from external experts.

A framework that can mobilize and align departments during a transition is priceless, however, it takes a lot of time to develop such a methodology from scratch. To resolve the problems concerning business strategies and demand generation, Infinityn’s Agile Account-based Growth, or Agile ABG, framework puts forward great solutions.

Framework that works

The Agile Account-Based Growth (ABG) services offer professional guidance for those who embark on the journey of transformation, creating alignment between sales and marketing teams for the sake of smooth collaboration towards their shared goal, even during a transformation – revenue generation.

What is more, our highly experienced team of experts is responsible for finding opportunities and increasing pipeline generation, using the combination of automated digital platforms and human outreach to ensure success.

To those who are interested in learning more about our methodology and services, we would like to bring attention to our ABG Guidebook we created to provide a detailed introduction to what Account-based Growth truly means and how it is set to improve any organization’s practices.

Chapters include

• What is Agile ABG
• Agile ABG Framework: From Start to Finish
• How to Implement Agile ABG into Your Organization
• What can the Agile Account-Based Growth Framework do for You

In case you prefer a personal consultation, our experts are happy to jump on a call, leading you through the ABG framework and answering all questions that may come up.