Guiding firms in the automotive industry with digital transformations

Abstract

The automotive industry is characterized by high competitiveness and rapid development. One of the most recent drivers for technological innovation is electrification, which is currently reshaping the industry. Car manufacturers are rapidly adapting to the new dynamics of both increased competitiveness and changing customer requirements. To satisfy customer demands and remain competitive, car manufacturers need to be flexible in their production and adapt to the increased complexity as a consequence of higher levels of customization and shorter lead times. In addition, the growing availability of more advanced technologies to create better products also increases the complexity of the production processes. One way to meet these demands is to increase the level of digitalization by implementing digital technologies. However, a common challenge for manufacturing companies is to understand how to adapt digital transformation to enhance value creation and increase the utilization of digital implementations. To address this gap, this thesis explores the organizational capabilities needed to enable the development of a digital twin and how operational strategy and digital technology can be interpreted to support digital transformation. Through a literature review, interviews and a case study, this thesis concludes that there are five essential capabilities that organizations must have to advance in digital transformations. Also, by integrating the development of these capabilities into strategies, they can be better utilized. Secondly, operation strategies can be used to support car manufacturers to successfully undergo a digital transformation and enable the implementation of digital technologies by aligning the way of working with the vision to reach the organization’s goals. This thesis proposes a framework for automotive companies to support them in creating new ways of working to advance in digitalization by proposing seven dimensions to consider. By doing so, the results of this thesis can support automotive companies to overcome the most common obstacles faced when advancing in digitalization and increase the utilization of their capabilities, hence, easing the digital transformation process.