The full implications of "digital transformation" remain unclear to many manufacturers, but two influential firms are aligning to accelerate that process. HP Inc. — manufacturer of networkable devices like printers, PCs, and handhelds — and Deloitte Consulting LLP will collaborate to implement HP’s 3D printing systems in large-scale manufacturing environments, and applying "digital operations experience" to help enterprises speed up product design and production. They also promise to help create more flexible manufacturing systems and supply chains.
The terms of their "first-of-its-kind alliance" were not announced. But, HP and Deloitte made clear they seek to address many of the expectations raised by descriptions and forecasts of the Industrial Internet of Things and Industry 4.0, and are offering a menu of technologies and services that manufacturers can adopt according to their scale and requirements.
“The Fourth Industrial Revolution is upon us,” stated Dion Weisler, HP Inc. president/CEO. “No sector of the global economy is undergoing more radical transformation than the US$12-trillion manufacturing market."
Among the benefits of their collaboration, HP and Deloitte say it will increase innovation, accelerate time-to-market, reduce costs and waste, and help large enterprises compete more effectively in the global economy.
Specifically, the alliance will combine HP’s Jet Fusion 3D Printing technology and other digital and information technology assets with Deloitte’s corporate and manufacturing relationships and digital operations experience. Among the adopters of HP’s 3D-printing technologies are Arkema, BASF, Evonik, Henkel, Lehman & Voss, and Sinopec Yanshan Petrochemical Co. HP’s "end-to-end manufacturing ecosystem" (engineering, software, enterprise, and manufacturing) includes contributions from SAP, Siemens, Autodesk, and Materialise.
“Companies investing in digital reinvention are poised to outpace their peers,” Weisler continued. “Building on our disruptive 3D-printing technology, together with Deloitte, we are focused on helping customers transform and win in this new era.”
Deloitte’s Supply Chain and Manufacturing Operations will contribute digital business strategies to manufacturing initiatives, with input from collaborators including Amazon Web Services, Cloudera, Dassault Systèmes, Google Cloud, SAP, and Siemens, to help clients accelerate their digital transformations.
“This new alliance reinforces the longstanding relationships Siemens has built with HP and Deloitte, and creates greater opportunities to digitally transform the global manufacturing industry,” according to Tony Hemmelgarn, president and CEO, Siemens PLM Software. “We see enormous potential in the next generation of integrated product design, engineering, manufacturing and business innovations that elevate the voxel control and production-ready capabilities of HP’s Multi Jet Fusion 3D printing technology.”
