Digital transformation is paving a way for innovation, services, and new data-based business models. Siemens is the industry partner for digital transformation. Dr Pham Thai Lai, president and CEO of Siemens ASEAN & Viet Nam, discusses the company’s strong support for its customers in unlocking the full potential of digitalisation for their businesses.

Digitalisation is transforming all areas of our life as well as existing business models. Can you name some of its most significant impacts on economy and society?

Briefly and simply, digital technologies can make manufacturing more productive and less resource-intensive, and supply chains more resilient.

Digitalisation and automation are game-changers for mastering these challenges.

They can also enable the widespread integration of renewable energy, make cities more liveable, render transport more efficient and vastly improve healthcare delivery.

Which industries do you think will most benefit from digitalisation, especially in the context of Industry 4.0 and the COVID-19 pandemic?

The top three industries that come to my mind include manufacturing, healthcare and supply chain management.

As we all know, the industrial world is facing urgent and rapidly changing challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the demand for goods and the conditions for their production virtually overnight.

In situations like this, industries have to quickly adapt to new conditions and maintain operations, even when employees are working from home.

This requires the ability to rapidly ramp up systems without overloading them and procure materials and parts in time, and be able to package larger quantities far more quickly.

Other global challenges are just as pressing. The global population is growing and with it the demand for food, water, energy, and other necessities. At the same time, consumers are becoming more aware and want products that are personalised, high-quality, safe, healthy, affordable and ecofriendly. All this is in the face of our planet’s dwindling resources.

Digitalisation and automation are game-changers for mastering these challenges.

Industrial companies can only master these complex and ever-changing tasks with the support of integrated digitalisation and automation, and by intelligently linking and analysing data.

As the pandemic reminds us, healthy economies depend on healthy populations. We must not lose sight of the fact that before the pandemic struck, healthcare systems around the world were already under pressure due to rising costs and insufficient resources.

Thanks to digital technology, the diagnosis and treatment of diseases can be greatly improved and the burdens on healthcare systems can be alleviated.

Digital assistants powered by AI, for example, can assist radiologists in diagnosing medical images. A digital twin of the vaccine development process has enabled GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to reduce the vaccine development time by around 25 per cent, as well as reduce waste by 10 per cent.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe supply chain disruptions in many countries over the world.

The situation could be much worse without digital technologies that are already available today.

Digitalisation has helped to make the supply chain more efficient and agile. It allows businesses to better cope with challenges and stay competitive even in such turbulent times. It also helps to build resilience of supply chains against potential risks.

In the context of Industry 4.0, most enterprise processes have to become more digitised. I totally agree with a statement from PwC’s study that one of the critical elements will be the evolution of traditional supply chains toward a connected, smart, and highly efficient supply chain ecosystem. And digitalisation is definitely the key enabler of this evolution.

What can Siemens offer its present and future customers on the digitalisation journey?

In order to enable companies to fully make use of the digitalisation potential, Siemens is offering the Digital Enterprise – a holistic portfolio of software and automation solutions.

The portfolio enables industrial companies of all sizes to implement current and future technologies for automation and digitalisation. Thus, they can tap into the full potential of Industry 4.0 and get ready for the next level of their digital transformation journey.

The Siemens Digital Enterprise holistic approach comprises of offerings for product design, production planning, plant design, production engineering, automation, commissioning, and services.

Suppliers and logistics can also be integrated based on a consistent collaboration platform. Companies can start with digitalisation at any step of their value chain, for greenfield and brownfield plants, and based on standardised and open interfaces.

The Siemens Electronics Works (EWA) digital factory in the German city of Amberg is a prime example. Whether it is optimised throughput, ambitious cycle times, or reliable security measures, the future of manufacturing is already a reality in many areas of the EWA thanks to numerous solutions from the Digital Enterprise portfolio.

Another prominent example where Digital Enterprise portfolio has been offered and has created great impact is through the cooperation between Siemens, Global healthcare company GSK and digital transformation leader ATOS to digitalise GSK’s vaccine development and production process. A key benefit is much shorter development times for vaccines, allowing them to reach people faster and with the optimum quality.

In Viet Nam, how is Siemens helping its customers to unlock the full potential of digitalisation?

In Viet Nam, we’re very pleased to work with a number of enterprises that are pioneers in digital transformation, such as Vinfast and Thaco.

Being Viet Nam’s first volume car manufacturer, VinFast has successfully produced its first cars ahead of schedule using Siemens’ portfolio of integrated software and hardware. The entire value chain has been integrated and digitalised with Siemens’ Digital Enterprise portfolio.

Truong Hai Auto Corporation (THACO) – a well-established auto manufacturing, assembly, and distribution enterprise in Viet Nam – has been a valued customer of Siemens Digital Industrial Software for many years.

Last but not least, the partnership between Cosmos and Vietbay, a Siemens Digital Industries Software partner, led to the implementation of NX™ software solutions.

Through the use of NX, Cosmos digitalised their part manufacturing process – from CAD models to finished parts. The integrated CAD/CAM solution helped improve production efficiency by 50 per cent, while increasing quality and reducing costs.

At Siemens, we are well aware that each company has specific needs and requirements that need to be acknowledged individually. Therefore, our Digital Enterprise portfolio is specifically tailored to suit the individual needs of the various industries.

We can help to maximise the journey toward digitalisation and Industry 4.0 by unlocking the full potential of digitalisation for all. VNS