Exploring Phygital

Over the past few years, most companies which initiated the digitization processes have been able to reap its benefits. As this wave now reaches its peak with an ever-increasing number of companies going digital, your organization has also shown interest in going digital. You’ve been tasked with helping your organization chart a plan for how it digitizes itself in the short, medium, and long term. In your search, you come across various case studies highlighting different approaches that organizations have used to digitize and decide that phygitization will be the best bet based on its success rate. But before you finalize, let’s briefly revisit the concept of phygital and everything else you need to know about phygitization before you commit to the approach.

What does it mean to go phygital

In simple words, going phygital involves building virtual replicas of physical objects, spaces, or systems. It involves moving a company's desired processes from manual/analog to digital, to be able to reflect the current representation of its physical partner, offering significantly more beneficial information to users.

For any organization, going phygital is a monumental task, that includes everything from aligning the company vision to the new digital outlook, to proper implementation of all the chosen digital tools. But since you’ve already carried out your research, you’re probably aware of some of these basics of phygitalization. Let’s dive into why phygitalization will work for your organization!

Benefits of going phygital

Applications of Phygital technology have been growing exponentially. It provides companies with a smarter way to operate and transform their business. It facilitates improved monitoring and control of physical assets as well as enables prediction of future behaviours and problems before they occur - therefore minimizing failures and downtimes.

• Improved efficiency - Phygital technology allows companies to observe processes under multiple conditions and efficiently elimitae problems before they happen. In other words, companies can become predictive instead of being reactive.

• Product design: Having a virtual replica of assets that collect data and provides the ability to build, test and validate different designs before investing in solid prototypes, can save time and reduce costs. Further, engineers and designers can use the data collected over time to improve quality and usability.

• Easier project management - Having access to all information about a project in a single location at a glance makes its management both easier and more convenient than having to gather and go through its records manually.

• Access to real-time information - Going phygital enables bi-directional information flow and gives you access to a goldmine of real-time information. Instead of reacting to changes in a project, real-time information gives you the ability to make changes to your operations proactively, letting you build an advantage over the competition.

• Enhanced remote collaboration - An organization that has truly integrated phygitization into all of its departments can enjoy true remote collaboration, allowing everyone in the company to get work done without the need to have someone anyone at the office, unless some hardware repairs are required.

• Opening up new pathways of innovation - From testing the feasibility of a structure in digital before it's built out in real life, or measuring the true performance of an engine design on a simulator without having to run it at the red-line on a dyno, phygitization gives you brand new ways to innovate.

Things to keep in mind before you go phygital

• Aligning company vision - Before you decide to go phygital, it is crucial that you are able to work out how your organization’s visions can be supported by and aligned with the idea of adopting phygital technology. This ensures that your organization’s transition into being phygital goes smoothly and that you’re able to benefit from this transition for many years to come.

• Establishing a change story - Humans resist change. Whether it's senior management or floor-level employees, people always resist change if they’re not included in the discussion. That is why it is crucial for you to establish a deep and thought-out reasoning and story for transitioning into phygital. This gives all stakeholders some time to accept the incoming change and embrace it, while also not affecting their productivity.

• Getting comprehensive executive buy-in - Going phygital is a tedious, time-taking, and extensive process. This means that before giving the go-ahead, it is crucial that complete executive buy-in is secured so that the transition to phygital for your organization is as seamless as possible.

Choosing the right partner for phygitization

With the process of phygitization being as complex as it is, choosing the right partner to catapult you into the digital future can be as complex as adopting phygital technology. That’s why, it is important to trust an organization that not only offers a variety of services designed to help you through a successful digital transformation but also has experience in the digitization industry and in helping clients transition successfully.

At Digile, we have been helping our clients achieve measurable business goals through the implementation of end-to-end solutions around infrastructure lifecycle management for over 8 years. If you too are looking for an experienced partner to power ‘Phygital’ innovation in your organization, visit our website.

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