In increasingly competitive manufacturing markets, why customer centricity is the key to a competitive advantage.
The manufacturing industry, across the globe, is going through one of the most profound changes in history. Call it the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) or Industry 4.0, it is the biggest disruption the sector has faced in the last half a century.
A lot has been written about how Industry 4.0 is impacting manufacturing processes. Many manufacturers are investing time, effort, and money on the digital transformation of how their products are made, with a well-meaning, yet inward-looking, approach to digitising the warehouse floor, production lines and processes.
However, soon it will not be enough to just manufacture and produce a great product in this new digitally driven era. Afterall your competitor has access to the same technology. Customer Experience will become the new battleground.
To differentiate themselves, organisations need to adopt a customer-centric mindset. But how is that different from providing excellent customer service?
Customer service is an interaction at the front line between someone receiving a product or service, and the business that is providing it, whereas Customer Centricity affects the behaviour of everyone in the organisation. In a Customer-centric organisation, all business decisions are made with the customer’s interests in mind. This implies that customer-centric businesses structure their operations (including culture and philosophy) to meet the needs and maximising value delivered to the customer.
