Manufacturing companies today face two big challenges. On the one hand, they need to keep existing production lines of their products humming to meet their customers’ needs and the broader marketplace. On the other hand, they need to keep an eye on the technology landscape to understand how rapid and exponential change may disrupt their products’ relevance, manufacturing processes, or both.

The former challenge necessitates that companies become experts in cash management, carefully managing working capital, lean process design to maximize quality and repeatability without increasing costs, and incremental product design so that they can continue to stay in business in the present. This intricate balance requires processes to be locked down and variation to be carefully managed and controlled. Unanticipated change and variability can be very costly.

On the other hand, Industry 4.0 or the fourth industrial revolution is causing rapid technological change to disrupt product and process design. The duality of integrating physical and digital into a continuum requires manufacturing companies to embrace rapid and iterative agile methodologies. This mindset is culturally at odds with traditional manufacturing norms of command and control. Furthermore, this is not an either-or choice. Companies must lockdown processes for production and at the same time have a high tolerance for iteration with a focus on learning as opposed to a financial return. Increasing institutional knowledge can help to reduce employee turnover and improve the effectiveness of new hires. That knowledge drives value upward in the long-term.

icube™ teaches leadership teams of manufacturing companies how to foster a learning environment, take option-like bets, and thrive in a physical/digital duality environment.