By: Rajesh Gharpure, VP and Global Head, Manufacturing, Energy, Industry 4.0 and ESG, LTIMindtree

The manufacturing industry is going through an exciting phase of a phenomenal period of transformation, such as the Industry 4.0 revolution, the emergence of radical business models, and applied AI. Among all, direct-to-consumer technology is emerging as one of the most significant disruptors in the manufacturing industry. Traditionally, the manufacturing industry has always believed that Customer Experience (CX) belongs to CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) and Media and Entertainment industries. However, the winds have changed, even for the manufacturing industry, and consumers are no longer interested in just buying products or services. They are more inclined toward buying as a value-added experience. Even being laggards in this space, manufacturing firms have started their journeys toward delivering superior customer experience.

Achieving a purposeful transformation in customer experience requires collaboration and partnership across the following tenets –

• OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) Manufacturers
• Technology
• Execution/Implementation
• Data
• Competency/Skill

The synergy of such a robust ecosystem will foster an environment of customer delight – internal and external.

Manufacturing CX Ecosystem

In this blog, we will dive deep into the role of each of the partners that constitute the Manufacturing CX Ecosystem.

OEM/Manufacturing Firm

One of the most vital components of the ecosystem is the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)/Manufacturer, as they deliver the customer experience. To deliver customer delight, an OEM/manufacturer primarily focuses on –

• Being transparent to the customer
• Being proactive with the customer
• Being predictive to the customer

These focus areas, coupled with personalization, not just help in sales but also enable the manufacturers to retain customers in the longer run.

Technology

Technology is the backbone to enabling customer experience – it enables the manufacturer to create a collaborative customer experience workspace. This way, manufacturers can connect with the customer to understand the latent requirements of consumers. To revolutionize customer experience, technology firms are focusing on enabling –

• Analytics
• Automation
• Artificial Intelligence
• Personalization

They are focusing on not just manufacturing but also across industries. Significant investments are being made in laying the foundations of Metaverse, which is poised to transform the customer experience as we know it.

Data

An accurate 360-degree customer view is foundational to delivering a delightful customer experience. This requires the unification of siloed customer data into a manageable, accessible, democratized package. This package can deliver 360-degree customer insights for the manufacturers. This entails the collection, cleansing, management, and analysis of swarms of customer information from disparate internal and external sources. Gone are the days of personalization. Customers today expect “hyper-personalization,” which requires leveraging data science and AI to contextualize the experience for every single customer along every step of their unique customer journey.

Execution/Implementation

Effective customer experience is not just a technology play; it’s a symphony created by –

• Domain experts
• Process experts
• Experiential design experts
• Orchestrated by data scientists

To design the best customer experience, it is important to understand the company’s vision and CX goals – understanding the solution, business value chain, technology interventions, business requirements, etc. Service providers are constantly re-engineering themselves to build competencies in the aforementioned areas to stay relevant in the ever-evolving marketplace. The focus area for service providers is –

• Understanding the required competency
• Nurturing these competencies through computer-based training
• Self-learning and certifications

Competency/Skill

Academic institutes are gearing up to deliver industry-ready graduates aligned with the latest trends and technologies. The curriculum is undergoing continuous updates, in terms of content and delivery methodology, in consultation with technology veterans and industry leaders. Specific to customer experience, academia is not just focusing on technology and analytics but also on providing a functional understanding of the customer experience journey/lifecycle and value creation through effective customer engagement.

Looking Forward

According to HBR (Harvard Business Review), 80 percent of brands think they deliver a delightful customer experience. Still, only 8 percent of their consumers agree to have had a delightful experience. Acquiring customer experience in the manufacturing industry is not an easy task. It can be facilitated by a strong CX ecosystem. The technology is already here, but it’s just an enabler. The customer is a human being with emotions. The CX game begins and ends with keeping the human as the focal point and providing them with a genuine and organic reason to come back. However, CX is not just about bringing all the enablers together; it is also a wholesome process of maintaining trust, being ethical, and keeping it transparent.