High-tech place in the new megatrends

Emerging technologies are fostering innovation and flexibility across various sectors within the high-tech industry, including electronics, software development, hardware manufacturing, original equipment manufacturing (OEM), and the semiconductor field.

Industry overview

High tech companies are transitioning towards a more sustainable and circular approach, stepping away from the outdated "take, make, waste" model to embrace eco-friendly practices. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, STEM occupations are set to grow by 8% by 2029, significantly outpacing the average. However, a forecasted shortage indicates that millions of these jobs may remain unfilled, highlighting a critical need for talent in over 3.5 million positions by 2025. In the high-tech sector, building trust in products means ensuring they can adapt to evolving privacy and security regulations, safeguarding user data and rights. For high tech companies, maintaining trust in complex, multi-tiered, and multi-vendor supply chains is essential. This involves ensuring product compliance, ethical labor practices, and the authenticity of components and firmware to prevent counterfeit and security breaches.

Companies adept at addressing these global trends and challenges are poised for success over the next decade, leveraging business model innovation, process enhancement, and a strong focus on customer and employee experiences.

Challenges

01
Consumption-based business model

Shift towards a business model that provides subscription and usage-based services, giving high tech customers the option to pay based on their consumption for increased flexibility.

02
Developing a dynamic supply network

Recognizing that customer preferences vary widely, high tech companies must manage a global supply chain facing unpredictable demand, geopolitical uncertainties, rapid product evolution, and intense competition. This approach aims to align supply chain capabilities with diverse and evolving customer needs.

03
Digital smart products

As customer expectations rise, there's a growing demand for customized products and solutions. This trend necessitates that product innovations are flexible and responsive to market trends, individual consumer preferences, usage patterns, and environmental considerations.

04
Fostering deep customer connections

Ensuring exceptional customer experiences requires an in-depth understanding of how your products are utilized by your clients to create value for their own customers, extending to the end consumer. High tech companies must be proactive, predicting and anticipating shifts in business demand before customers themselves are aware of the need.

4 major industry trends

Consumption Preference:
Let’s take medical literature as an example. PubMed remains the main access point for most researchers, and it functions as an old-style repository. There are no data aggregation functionalities; the search is based on basic criteria that mostly only rely on the article’s title, abstract, and keyword.
Time-to-Volume Rules:
With the deceleration of Moore's Law, companies are focusing on swift market penetration, scaling production from zero to a million units profitably and quickly.
Software is King:
Hardware manufacturers are boosting margins and sidestepping commoditization by integrating software into their products, enhancing value and functionality.
Regulations and Geopolitical Activity:
The high tech industry is navigating disruptions from new accounting standards (IFRS 15/16), privacy regulations (GDPR in Europe), and shifting trade policies, impacting operational efficiency.

The Vision

1.
Consumption-based business model

In 2025, high tech companies are set to revolutionize customer engagement by offering subscription-based outcomes, enabling customers to pay solely for the high-quality results they receive. For instance, hospitals will transition from the traditional model of purchasing MRI machines, data storage, software applications, consulting services, etc., from various vendors and managing them in-house. Instead, they will opt for a more streamlined approach, paying an outcome provider on a per-image basis for each scan taken and analyzed. This model not only simplifies operations for the customer but also aligns the cost directly with the value received, marking a significant shift in how technology services are delivered and consumed.

2.
Developing a dynamic supply network

By 2025, advanced supply networks will be crucial for high tech companies to maintain profitability amidst shrinking margins and escalating business volatility and complexity. These companies will evolve from traditional linear supply chains to smart, agile, and reliable networks. This transformation will feature integrated planning, execution, and decision-making support, enabling them to respond dynamically to market demands and challenges.

3.
Digital smart products

In 2025, high tech products will be more secure, connected, and intelligent, supported by the rapid growth of subscription-based products and services. The advent of smart products, optimized for edge computing, will enable immediate processing and seamless integration within the platform ecosystem. Continuous monitoring of usage and condition will furnish ongoing insights into the relevance of features, adoption rates, and overall product efficacy for innovation strategies, portfolio management, and operational efficiencies. Leveraging machine learning, these insights will empower high tech firms to refine innovations and enhance the performance of deployed products via remote updates, thereby boosting productivity, asset utilization, and customer satisfaction. Within the Industry 4.0 framework, customer involvement in product research and design will promote a unified experience that supports personalization.

4.
Fostering deep customer connections

By 2025, high tech companies will aim to build lifelong customer relationships by sharing risks and focusing on long-term value. To achieve this, companies will need a complete understanding of their customers. They will communicate smoothly with customers through various channels, from the web to direct contact and IoT connections. This approach will provide deep insights into how customers behave, allowing high tech companies to immediately adjust their services and work closely with their partners based on what they learn.

The Journey

Consumption-based business model

High tech companies are shifting towards becoming outcome providers, starting by transforming into solution providers. This transformation involves offering customers a combination of hardware, software, and services as a bundled solution. By leveraging extensive data gathered from sensors for rapid analysis, these companies can monitor the solution's performance effectively.

Expanding their analytics capabilities will further enable them to utilize this data to comprehend the value delivered to customers, paving the way for subscription-based models. In this scenario, it's the high tech companies, not their customers, who bear the financial risk if the expected outcome isn't delivered. To facilitate this transformation, high tech companies will evolve their business models to support a consortium of solution providers. This consortium will supply the necessary hardware, software, and services to achieve the desired outcomes. Achieving this requires a collaborative partner ecosystem capable of operating within a unified marketplace.

Today

Siloed data and processes. Single plant view

Future

Integrated operations management

Developing a dynamic supply network

High tech companies are set to overhaul their internal supply chains by fostering connections among stakeholders and ensuring seamless integration from strategic planning to practical execution. This overhaul includes adopting either a product lifecycle costing approach within the entire design-to-manufacture process or initiating ongoing component price renegotiations, leveraging machine learning insights to benefit from the price depreciation prevalent in high-tech markets.

In parallel with internal changes, these companies will also transform their interactions with an expanding network of external partners. The shift will move away from traditional linear and bilateral collaboration models towards dynamic, real-time, and secure supply networks. Blockchain technology will play a pivotal role in these networks, offering reliable data on the origin and current location of goods. The transformation will be deemed complete once internal and external networks are fully aligned. This includes the broader adoption of technologies aimed at automating tasks that do not add value and utilizing software to analyze data and generate actionable options. Such advancements will enable planners to concentrate on making decisions critical to the business.

Today

Siloed data and processes. Single plant view

Future

Integrated operations management

Digital smart products

High tech companies will begin by enhancing their innovation workflows using a unified, intelligent platform for product innovation, alongside standardized processes that span across different departments. This approach will allow them to efficiently harness and analyze a burgeoning array of insights related to market trends, product usage, and decision-making processes.

Following this, they will be able to automatically initiate and evaluate engineering modifications, assessing their impact and seamlessly integrating these changes across manufacturing, supply chain, and service operations. The final step in this evolution involves shifting their portfolio management and design processes to proactively forecast future customer needs and the incorporation of upcoming technological developments. This strategic shift means that not only will the operational efficiency of existing products be maximized, but the design and development of new products will also be predominantly informed by in-depth analysis of usage patterns of both their own and competitors’ products, coupled with early recognition of technological innovations.

Today

Siloed data and processes. Single plant view

Future

Integrated operations management

Fostering deep customer connections

High tech companies will initiate their transformation by adopting a comprehensive omnichannel approach, ensuring that they can seamlessly cater to their customers regardless of how they choose to interact. This strategy will be enhanced through the integration of insights gathered from previously utilized and purchased solutions. They will delve deeper into analyzing the usage, customer feedback, productivity, and overall health of their solutions.

The next step involves fostering genuine collaboration with both their direct customers and the end users of their products, including smart devices, to offer a differentiated experience by providing everything as a service within a fully integrated relationship. The principles of Industry 4.0 will be pivotal in realizing these objectives, enhancing the reliability of products through close collaboration with customers and end users. This includes leveraging real-time operational feedback to refine and improve product development processes.

75
BILLION

Internet of Things devices by the year 2025

60%

Of the top manufacturers will rely on digital platforms that enhance their investments in ecosystems and experiences

$3.7
trillion

Value creation potential of manufacturers and suppliers implementing Industry 4.0 in 2025

How we can help

Discovery and analysis

Thorough discovery and analysis phase to understand your specific business needs and challenges. Utilize technology as the base for application integration, extension, and access to a robust ecosystem, including AI solutions.

01
Application Integration

Leverage industry-leading business applications across both front-end and back-end systems.

02
Comprehensive Support

Combine all elements to support customer-specific, end-to-end industry processes essential for digital transformation and operating as an intelligent and sustainable enterprise.

03

Our
use-cases

Manufacturing

Curated product selection through a subscription model

Extend and enrich our offering by collaborating across company and external partners to deliver services that continuously deliver value over time to our customers.
High-Tech

Digital Asset Delivery encompassing both Saas and Daas

Embrace digital disruption to transform global organizational processes.
Manufacturing

Accurate data insights for efficient daily farm operations

Extend and enrich our offering by collaborating across company and external partners to deliver services that continuously deliver value over time to our customers.

Products used

Insights

How to avoid rework and time waste in e-commerce development

Let’s take medical literature as an example. PubMed remains the main access point for most researchers, and it functions as an old-style repository. There are no data aggregation functionalities; the search is based on basic criteria that mostly only rely on the article’s title, abstract, and keyword.
Written by
Jons Janssens
Blogpost

In the Digital Age, a Digital Executive is needed on the Board

Let’s take medical literature as an example. PubMed remains the main access point for most researchers, and it functions as an old-style repository. There are no data aggregation functionalities; the search is based on basic criteria that mostly only rely on the article’s title, abstract, and keyword.
Written by
Jons Janssens
Blogpost

Bring hierarchy to your metrics

Let’s take medical literature as an example. PubMed remains the main access point for most researchers, and it functions as an old-style repository. There are no data aggregation functionalities; the search is based on basic criteria that mostly only rely on the article’s title, abstract, and keyword.
Written by
Jons Janssens
Blogpost

How to avoid rework and time waste in e-commerce development

Let’s take medical literature as an example. PubMed remains the main access point for most researchers, and it functions as an old-style repository. There are no data aggregation functionalities; the search is based on basic criteria that mostly only rely on the article’s title, abstract, and keyword.
Written by Jons Janssens
Blogpost

How to avoid rework and time waste in e-commerce development

Let’s take medical literature as an example. PubMed remains the main access point for most researchers, and it functions as an old-style repository. There are no data aggregation functionalities; the search is based on basic criteria that mostly only rely on the article’s title, abstract, and keyword.
Written by Jons Janssens
Blogpost

How to avoid rework and time waste in e-commerce development

Let’s take medical literature as an example. PubMed remains the main access point for most researchers, and it functions as an old-style repository. There are no data aggregation functionalities; the search is based on basic criteria that mostly only rely on the article’s title, abstract, and keyword.
Written by Jons Janssens
Blogpost

How to avoid rework and time waste in e-commerce development

Let’s take medical literature as an example. PubMed remains the main access point for most researchers, and it functions as an old-style repository. There are no data aggregation functionalities; the search is based on basic criteria that mostly only rely on the article’s title, abstract, and keyword.
Written by Jons Janssens
Blogpost