In this series of articles, we share our insight into the key components required for a holistic approach to strategic development. While most organizations are adept at establishing a business strategy (financial goals /operational KPIs etc), they often stop short of developing the underlying systems needed to reach those goals.

If digital capability is so important, why isn’t the market dominated by young entrepreneurs and digital natives? The truth is that well established companies able to recognize the importance of adopting a working digital strategy backing the existing business plan, have the best starting point.

We would like to further discuss the steps needed to embark on a digital journey. Without a clear direction it might be daunting how to even begin. At Limber, we have helped our clients relentlessly to improve the digital support platform for their businesses and/or projects. In this article series, we would like to propose a generic method to help avoid varying degrees of ”analysis paralysis” that management may be facing.

In this article, we outline one method of process analysis more in detail (for those interested). The scope and method for process mapping varies greatly, but typically involves eight steps that are further discussed in the article.

As the organization builds its process map across more and more functions/areas, so also will the understanding of the various users’ data needs increase. What do my employees need to know to perform their tasks at the various stages in engineering and production? How does the transparency in the system help them plan and prioritize?

In previous articles, we have discussed a route to take charge of value creating processes and supporting data streams (in contrast to a department/silo approach). As we gain knowledge about the data needs of the various users within the organization, we will also see the need to structure the company's proprietary data (master data) in order to provide it in a meaningful way.

The granularity of a system typically translates to the level of detail (as defined by the “smallest” objects) that is reflected in the system. For an engineering system - one 3d object or a drawing might constitute an object or item in the system. For a planner, a detail activity might constitute the lowest level of detail.