Economy 4.0: Digital business models are disrupting the market

In the international ranking, brands in the food industry or the automotive industry have been replaced in recent years by data-based companies such as Google, Amazon, Apple or Facebook. Here is an animated presentation of the ranking of the top 15 international brands over the last almost 20 years.

The original is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQovQUga0VE

In this way, it is impressively illustrated how the data giants worked their way to the top: Apple through the introduction of the iPhone, Google with its omnipotent search engine, Amazon in addition to online delivery by setting up the cloud infrastructure AWS ('Amazon Web Services”) and Facebook is also on the way to the top with its pool of detailed customer data, personal networks and communication behavior - not least through WhatsApp.

For traditional industries such as the automotive industry, this means that data on car use is increasingly displacing the production value of a car as a corporate asset.

It is therefore no coincidence that Google and Apple are currently at the forefront of the development of self-driving cars.

But how can you monetize data?

With the help of modern business intelligence tools such as Tableau Software, company data is used to manage the company in order to be able to make better, data-based decisions in real time. The achievement of production goals, the identification of bottlenecks and bottlenecks in the supply chain, the exceeding of (partial) budgets and much more can thus be mapped in real time and thus proactively manage the company. This alone can quickly save larger 6-digit amounts in larger companies.

Furthermore, sensor or machine data can be used to precisely define maintenance intervals, for example: It is no longer the often insignificant period of time of a machine or a wear-resistant mechanical joint that is used as a yardstick, nor is it necessary to wait for a part to break down at some point and an expensive downtime of the system, but actual use is measured using sensors. Dashboards show which parts will soon need to be replaced based on actual workload. Here, too, there is enormous potential to avoid unnecessary spending and significantly save costs.

Finally, there is the question of whether a company can offer customers data-based services. In any case, it is important that new business models fit into the company's overall strategy and corporate goals; this is the only way to achieve success and added value.

Data is considered to be the raw material of the 21st century. Anyone who now manages to introduce a data-based corporate culture and possibly even establish additional data-based services is positioning themselves at the forefront of their industry and thus securing the future of the company.

According to a Europe-wide study by BARC Research with a 50% share of companies from the DACH region (including just under 20% companies from industrial production), only 25% are not planning to monetize data either now or in the future.
Almost 20% are already monetizing data as part of business processes, and a further 30% are in the pilot phase or have concrete plans for the next 12 months.

It is therefore a good time to recognize data as a competitive factor and to make use of this value.