In Forbes’s article The Forces That Are Transforming How Products Are Made, Beth Ambruch presents several factors transforming product manufacturing in the contemporary setting. These include “digitalization, personalization, “smart” products, connectivity, servitization, globalization and regulation” (Ambruch, 2013, para. 5). The author suggests that the producer’s ability to adapt to these forces determines how successful the business can be in today’s world (Ambruch, 2013). Even though Beth Ambruch wrote the article more than five years ago, her ideas remain topical to this day.
Digitalization is the first manufacture-transforming element that the author names. It is particularly important in the context of rapidly developing digital technology. Digitalization implies the increasing use of technology in product making (Martín-Peña et al., 2019). It is closely connected to servitization, which means selling services or transforming products into services (Baines et al., 2017). Producers can design new services and build new connections with consumers utilizing digital technologies.
Smart products, connectivity, and personalization are closely linked to the factors mentioned above. Smart products and connectivity are a part of the digitalization trend. They create a demand for products that can communicate with one another, exercising connectivity and serving consumers on a more individual and technologically advanced level than before. At the same time, personalization as an organizational activity allows producers to listen to the customers’ demands to present them with selectable options.
Finally, the factors that have obtained a new role in manufacturing over the recent years are globalization and regulation. Globalization is a trend to expand the market, allowing businesses to reach new consumers worldwide. It is necessary to use this opportunity while accounting for the differences in local legislation, culture, and consumerism. Thus, regulation is the primary organizational activity that controls the globalized market and poses restrictions on it.
References
Ambruch B. (2013). The forces that are transforming how products are made. Forbes. Web.
Baines, T., Ziaee Bigdeli, A., Bustinza, O.F., Shi, V.G., Baldwin, J., & Ridgway, K. (2017). Servitization: Revisiting the state-of-the-art and research priorities. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 37 (2), 256-278. Web.
Martín-Peña, M.-u., Sánchez-López, J.-a., & Díaz-Garrido, E. (2019). Servitization and digitalization in manufacturing: The influence on firm performance. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 35 (3), 564-574. Web.