More than half of Polish industrial companies do not use the data sufficiently
Data is the backbone of the digital economy. However, the results of the Digi Index report from 2021 show that Polish producers use them insufficiently. According to a Siemens study assessing the degree of digitization of production, Polish enterprises achieved an average score of 1.8 points on a four-point scale - this is alarmingly low. The most commonly used digital process in production is an artificial intelligence system that uses machine learning mechanisms.
Companies are increasingly recognizing that artificial intelligence is a key element of digital transformation, facilitating data analysis and processing. A digital company deals with data from, among others from its suppliers, indirect customers such as retailers, and from end consumers. Siemens, whose mission is to support the digitization of the Polish economy, has conducted a study of the degree of digitization of Polish small and medium-sized manufacturing companies for the second time. The Digi Index report shows that companies have a lot of catching up to do in this area.
Collection of data and evaluation of their usefulness
The area of "data management" has the greatest impact on the obtained score of 1.8 points on a four-point scale, which indicates the unchanging need to accelerate digitization in the Polish manufacturing industry. It reflects how effectively an organization collects and uses data relating to production and operational activities.
The Digi Index 2021 report shows that 50% of the surveyed companies collect complete data on the entire production process. 12% of companies collect data on only critical processes, and the remaining 38% on few or only fragmented processes. For nearly 40% of companies, the collected data allows for their full use and improvement of production processes. Over 43% of companies declare that the collected data is mainly used to catch errors and streamline activities on an ongoing basis. Still as many as 18% of companies do not use data or declare their little use.
Systems integration
This area concerns the method of implementation and integration of IT systems and automation systems for production and operational management. There is no IT system integration in over 7% of companies. In more than 27%, it is below 20%, and nearly 30% of companies declare it in the range of 20-49%. The upper limits (50-79%) were recorded in nearly 25% of companies, and values above 80% only in 7% of the respondents.
Application of digital processes
How are digital technologies, i.e. virtual simulation, digital computing and cloud computing, applied in the management of production and operations of an organization? Approx. 52% of companies do not use virtual production simulation processes, and if they do, they most often limit them to one production activity. Only 6.5% of continuous production companies (13.5% for discrete production) use virtual simulation for their entire production. It is similar in the area of using cloud applications: 53.5% do not use them at all, and only 9.3% use them on a daily basis. 18% of the surveyed companies use cloud applications only in certain situations.
There are also few companies with largely automated production processes. Only 6% of enterprises assess the automation of their own production processes in at least 80%. More than every fourth - 28% - assess the degree of production automation at less than 19%.
Source: Siemens.com