As part of our own event coverage, Mascha Tamarinof, host of Let’s talk B2B and responsible for thought leadership in our Industrials vertical, interviewed speakers and attendees about the state of digital in manufacturing. Check out the video or read some of the takeaways here.
Digital is a game-changer
Affan Bin Mahmood, Director of Ecommerce and Distribution at Schneider Electric, was one of the event’s speakers, and he told Mascha about how digital channels were an important element of his company’s growth.
“Smaller customers do not have as easy access to companies like us,” Affan said. “But now, with the help of ecommerce, they are easily able to access the products and services.”
The ecommerce channel in particular drives so much relevant business, especially for younger professionals who default to self-service.
“For a lot of the people here today, their main contributor to their online channel is actually spare parts,” said Lisa Hellqvist, Managing Director of Copperberg, which organized the event. “And, let’s be honest. No one is going hobby shopping for spare parts.”
But investments in digital channels remain modest
On stage, Herbert Pesch, Valtech Industrials Vertical Lead, and Vincent van Hellemondt, Client Director at Valtech, shared key findings from this year’s report.
Vincent noted that there was a steady — almost stagnant — level of ambition within the industry regarding digital channels.
“If you look at the top performers, you see they are really able to change a huge amount of their business, especially in the aftermarket and spare parts domain, through online,” Vincent said.
Transformation, change and becoming a connected manufacturer is hard work
Herbert drove home the big point that explains why digital is so powerful and yet so underfunded: Because change usually meets resistance.
“Convincing management to really become a connected manufacturer does mean change — sometimes hard decisions to seize the opportunities of digital,” Herbert said.
How to learn more
We have robust survey data available in our report, The Voice of Digital Leaders in Manufacturing 2025. For this edition, we spoke to more than 100 digital leaders across the industry and across the globe. Their responses represent companies that collectively do more than €500 billion in business each year.
And if you’d like to learn more about our connected manufacturer model, sign up for our How to Become a Connected Manufacturer email series.
