Project report:
Process industry I4.0 ecosystems DigiProcess provides support for SMEs and industry partners in collaboration and cooperation. This is done by building a digitalization ecosystem for SMEs and industry partners for different business areas like steel, mining, bio, forest, and energy. More info: www.digiprocess.eu
I4.0 ECOSYSTEMS Ecosystems are cooperation structures of partners that cooperate towards a shared goal. In business ecosystems, this shared goal often aims to increase the value of partners´ services and products. Business partners in business ecosystems rely on each other´s contributions to a greater degree than in traditional value chains where partners can more easily be replaced (Adner, 2017). Development of I4.0 technologies change demands for products, services, business models, innovation processes, and the very nature of business activities in process industry ecosystems (Coreynen et al., 2020; Gebauer et al., 2021). To face these demands caused by I4.0, process industry companies are developing their business ecosystems to gain better access to digital capabilities (Sklyar et al., 2019), accelerate development of new digital offerings (Jovanovic et al., 2021), and to ensure delivery capability of I4.0 solutions across global markets (Raja et al., 2018). Benefits of I4.0 ecosystems By developing their ecosystems for I4.0 demands, process industry companies acquire capabilities to co-innovate and provide greater value for their customers (Berthet et al., 2018; Rukanova et al., 2021) and help to ensure the successful provision of their digitallyenabled services and solutions (Kohtamäki et al., 2020; Paiola & Gebauer, 2020). Through these I4.0-ready business ecosystems, process industry companies can co-evolve capabilities around new I4.0 innovations, work cooperatively and competitively to support new I4.0 offerings, satisfy customers' I4.0 needs, and eventually develop the next round of innovation. “Ecosystems and transactions are key for the most efficient digitalization activities in the future” - Juha-Matti Pesonen, Outokumpu
Virkkala P. & Saarela M. (2022). Project report: Process Industry I4.0 ecosystems
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