Digital transformation is a long-term and arduous task, and Chinese industrial enterprises need to plan digital transformation from a strategic height to achieve effective collaboration at the global level
Siemens Xcelerator, an open digital business platform launched by Siemens for the Chinese market, can help Chinese enterprises make digital transformation easier, faster and more conducive to scale landing
Recently, supported by Siemens and produced by Caixin Think Tank, the “New Ecology of Digital Platforms: Insight and Practice of Enterprise Virtual and Real Integration” (hereinafter referred to as the “Report”) was officially released. This report deeply investigated the current situation and implementation path of digital transformation in different industries in China, especially industrial enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises, advocated the establishment of an open and cooperative platform economy new ecology, and started from strategic planning, basic data, technology supply, small and medium-sized enterprise support, supporting support and talent development, so as to help China’s digital economy to develop in depth.

China is actively accelerating the development of the digital economy and promoting the deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy. Relying on China’s complete industrial system, large scale market, diversified talent reserve and rich cutting-edge technology application scenarios, it provides good opportunities for domestic enterprises and multinational enterprises to compete together and develop together. In this context, this “report” brings together relevant experts from the Institute of Industrial Internet and Internet of Things of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, as well as industrial practitioners such as Siemens, to investigate and summarize the connotation, challenges, implementation paths and key factors of the current digital transformation of China’s industry, and conduct a systematic case analysis of the “four scenarios”. It aims to provide experience and inspiration for the industry.

At present, digital transformation has become a “compulsory course” related to the survival and sustainable development of enterprises, its essence is the use of digital technology to change the production mode, business model and organizational mode of the system transformation process, reflected in business transformation, operational transformation, organizational change, open cooperation ecology and a series of combinations. According to the observation of the “report”, in the process of digital transformation, many enterprises generally lack a clear strategic goal, there is an isolated deployment and the urgent need for basic data collection and application capabilities, the superimposed investment is large, the output benefit is not obvious, and the transformation motivation is insufficient. Some enterprises believe that digital transformation is more the responsibility of the IT department, digital transformation and business development present “two lines, two layers of skin”.

In this regard, the report proposes to advocate the establishment of a “one center + four dimensional system” mechanism with the “digital transformation leader” as the center, integrating the information technology system, the business system, the daily

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management system, and the external ecosystem, in order to promote the formation of a digital corporate culture, enhance cross-departmental and cross-team cognition and collaboration, and jointly promote the quality and effectiveness of digital transformation. Li Haihua, deputy director of the Industrial Internet and Internet of Things Institute of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, also suggested in the “Report” that it should give full play to the driving effect, encourage the head enterprises to play a leading role in the industry, establish an industrial database, and promote the upgrading of upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain through demonstration from three aspects of product upgrading, model transformation, and platform transformation, forming large-scale digital transformation needs. Increase investment in technology research and development for supply-side enterprises to achieve a virtuous cycle of mutual promotion.

The report also in-depth analyzes the “four major scenarios” of enterprise digitalization – industrial manufacturing (such as OEM, etc.), low-code, specialized and new smes, and the pain points, challenges and implementation paths of transformation in the “dual-carbon” transformation, aiming to sum up experience and contribute insight to the industry. Taking low-code scenarios as an example, the report found that there is a lack of supply of digital platforms with industry influence, strong interoperability, flexibility and openness in the market, and the complexity of existing digital technologies and systems is high, and enterprise IT personnel without rich experience cannot quickly respond to the requirements of changing and optimizing digital systems when business changes. Therefore, many enterprises are willing to integrate low-code platforms with rich industry experience to meet the needs of business customization and help enterprises achieve rapid and high-quality development of sensitive business needs.

Dr. Xiao Song, Executive Vice President of Siemens Worldwide and Chairman, President and CEO of Siemens China, announced the official landing of Siemens Xcelerator in China

It is worth mentioning that during the Expo this year, Siemens released an open digital business platform Siemens Xcelerator for the Chinese market, creating a seamless integration of data and a variety of innovative technology development ecosystem, which can help Chinese enterprises digital transformation easier, faster, more conducive to scale landing. For example, as part of the Siemens Xcelerator solution, Siemens Low Code offers a new level of convenience, flexibility and scalability for enterprise application development.

At the same time, the report also detailed analysis of the vitality of digital technology and solutions in different scenarios and different industries, represented by typical enterprises such as Ian Automobile and Bowei Alloy. For example, in June 2022, as the world’s first native digital factory of Siemens, the new factory of Siemens Numerical Control (Nanjing) Co., LTD. (SNC) was officially put into operation. It is reported that before the construction of the new SNC factory, it has applied Siemens’ own digital technology in a full range, and has created a digital twin of the factory in the virtual world in advance, realizing the digitalization of the whole process from demand analysis, planning and design, commencement and implementation to production and operation, setting a new benchmark in the industry in terms of efficiency, quality and low-carbon sustainable development.

For example, around the “dual carbon” demand, under the combined force of policy guidance, market drive and technology empowerment, China’s “dual carbon” blueprint is also accelerating into reality, prompting Chinese industrial enterprises to use digital technology to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions. On the one hand, technological innovation represented by digital technology has become a structural opportunity for different industries and different enterprises, and has become a “new engine” for enterprise growth. On the other hand, digitalization is a low-carbon accelerator that can unlock the unlimited potential of green development. Low carbonization is the catalyst for the development of digital technology, which provides a broader application scenario. In the “report” survey, whether it is a large enterprise that wants to go further, or a small and medium-sized enterprise that wants to try, they say they will be more proactive in responding to the “dual carbon” opportunity, such as by applying open digital platforms, especially third-party platforms that can be very flexible, operable, and can participate in the “as-a-service” model. To step on the wave of digital transformation in ways such as first try, small step fast run, and rapid iteration, brave to be a zero-carbon pioneer and create a green ecology.

Combined with relevant international industry experience, the report also makes prospects and recommendations on how the industry, especially industrial enterprises, can continue to further promote digital transformation in the post-pandemic era. The report believes that digital transformation is a long-term and arduous task, and Chinese industrial enterprises need to plan digital transformation from a strategic height to achieve effective collaboration at the global level. It is necessary to accelerate the development and supply of digital technologies, establish digital platforms with strong interoperability, flexibility, openness, and ecological cooperation with other countries, support the development of digital technologies and products for marketing, research and development, design, manufacturing, operation and management and other key links, and accelerate the formation of industrial chains, value chains, and ecosystems of the digital economy.

In view of the pain points of small and medium-sized enterprises in the transformation, the report proposes to carry out the digital transformation pilot of small and medium-sized enterprises, create a number of miniaturized, fast, lightweight, and precise digital system solutions and products, and form a number of replicable and scalable digital transformation typical models. At the same time, digital technology service providers are encouraged to explore subscription-based business payment models such as service payment with transformation income, payment according to usage level/degree, software and hardware time-sharing leasing, and smes do not need to pay once, but can pay monthly, half-year or annual subscription, thereby reducing the financial pressure on smes. It is necessary to focus on strengthening the financial support and related supporting policies for smes in digital transformation, especially in the implementation process of policies, to encourage and help smes accelerate digital transformation from many aspects such as capacity support, financial inclusion, and ecological construction.