Manufacturing is one industry that sees growth and change in perpetuity. Industry 4.0 is pushing it to the next level with opportunities to optimize operations, decrease costs, produce faster, and connect directly with customers. It is about intelligent manufacturing; it is data-driven, agile, and automated.

Beyond run and costs, manufacturers also must manage regulatory compliance and traceability, focus on innovation to keep their products relevant, and balance maintenance with throughput. They will need to be able to respond swiftly to the challenges of a new era of tariffs and trade barriers. They will need to adapt to win market share and get ahead of the competition.

Leaders in this industry must challenge strategies and regularly rethink business models with technology at the forefront of their minds. Digitized product development, predictive maintenance, and a highly visible, networked supply chain would lead to better core operations. Shifting focus from a business-to-business model to a business-to-business-to-consumer model and incorporating customer-facing activities can result in increased profit, faster time to market, better control over the brand and prices, as well as increased sales through better customer data collection. New ERP systems and big data would improve support operations such as HR, finance and accounting, sales, and customer service.

Wavestone consultants have industry-specific experience and know-how to address your transformation needs and help you deliver value and achieve operational success.

Discover the key ideas and stakes driving our engagements in manufacturing:

  • Connected vehicles: by mastering technological choices and adapting their organization, automakers have the opportunity to generate additional revenues and strengthen direct relationship with their customers
  • Digital Pharmacy: Digital transformation to become a significant health partner of the patient journey, beyond optimizing performance

Case Study: Benchmarking, Change Management, and Outsourcing



A $2 billion food processing company was seeking to achieve lower costs, greater efficiency, and transformation via business and IT outsourcing. Wavestone was engaged to evaluate the outsourcing business case and advise on change management and end-to-end sourcing transaction.



Outcome: Validated business case for 60% cost reduction in IT-BPS retained spend via outsourcing and projected a 13% negotiation potential in the chosen outsourcing vendor fee.

Insights