DigiMove analysis for manufacturing SMEs to identify their current status and next digitalisation steps

The digitalisation level of Finnish manufacturing companies must be improved in order to remain in Finland and keep the manufacturing industry competitive. Digitalisation was found to have a positive correlation with the business result. This was discovered by analysing the digitalisation level of 43 manufacturing companies in Finland. The analysis was performed with the DigiMove matrix, which contains the following six digitalisation subjects: i) Manufacturing, ii) Products and services, iii) Digital skills of production staff, iv) Foresight, v) Customer interface, and vi) Administrative functions. It also contains five maturity levels: i) General, ii) Improved, iii) Advanced, iv) Forerunner, and v) Future opportunity. Each cell in the matrix contains the description of the expected digital solutions to be used and implemented. These descriptions were discussed in detail with each company in the workshop, and their actual level of digitalisation was jointly defined. In addition to the instant analysis map created in the workshop, each company also received recommendations for their next digitalisation steps within a week. Subsequently, 43 DigiMove statistical analyses were conducted with the companies’ public financial data, and a positive correlation was found between digitalisation and the financial result.