Accelerating Digital Transformation
Companies are confronted with the challenge of tapping into new digital business areas alongside their traditional approaches to the market, while at the same time including their employees, customers, and business partners in the transformation process. Thanks to Sika’s determination to press ahead with digitalization, the company succeeded in integrating these opportunities in its growth trajectory and has benefited from the surge in demand in e-commerce.
Digitalization Vision
The company’s digitalization vision is structured around four main pillars: revenue, efficiency, relevance, and acceleration. The first one is about building new revenue streams with digital services and a new business model. The second involves using digital technologies to drive down costs and increase productivity in manufacturing. The third is about differentiating on the market, staying relevant for customers, and growing by transferring offline strength to digital.
The latter drives growth, adoption, and collaboration by leveraging Sika’s decentralized organization. These pillars are put into practice via five digital building blocks: Customer Centricity, Operational Efficiency, New Business Models and Innovation, Effective Knowledge Worker, and IT excellence.
Sika Global Digitalization Board
The Sika Global Digitalization Board was established in 2020 in response to the increasing relevance of topics like digitalization and cybersecurity. These social and economic development trends create risks as well as business opportunities that allow Sika to actively shape the process of change and diversify and improve customers engagement channels. The Board is composed of the CEO, CFO, Regional Manager EMEA, Regional Manager Americas, Head Construction, Chief Innovation and Sustainability Officer and the Head of IT Sika Group.
Data Protection and Customer Data Privacy
While Sika does not want to hinder the flow of information required for the business, it is crucial to protect Sika’s know-how from improper use. The company is committed to respecting the data privacy and integrity of all employees, customers and third parties. Sika applies all technical and organizational measures necessary to guarantee an adequate protection and the accuracy of the personal data on file. The Data Protection Policy is closely aligned with widely accepted international standards. It is reviewed regularly and updated if necessary to meet business needs, changes in technology, or regulatory requirements.
Digitalization of Sika Operations
Operational efficiency is one of the pillars of the Sika Growth Strategy. In all manufacturing sites, digitalization of processes and data management plays a fundamental role to further develop and optimize Sika operations. However, examples of operational efficiency can be found in all functions or areas of the business where Sika incurs in expenses through its normal business operations (opex), including e.g., Procurement, R&D, HR, Finance, Sales and Marketing.
Digitalization for Improved Customer Experience
The company’s aim is to translate its “Customer First” approach also via digital technologies by offering consistent and relevant experience to its customers. To achieve this goal, Sika takes a customer-centric approach and sets up its initiatives according to customer intents rather than technologies. One example is to “Learn and Develop”. Understanding that customers want seamless learning and development opportunities via digital channels, Sika provides these opportunities in different platforms: The first platform is composed of “Knowledge Articles” on the website, where customers can learn more about specific solutions or technologies. The second platform is made up of webinars, where customers can deep dive in various relevant topics. The third platform is the “Sika Knowledge Center”, an online portal where customers can visit courses and earn certificates and, depending on the case, accumulate further education credits. All digital solutions provided by Sika are optimized technologically, meaning they are integrated with the larger platforms, or single sources of truth, such as the company’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). This same logic is applied throughout Sika’s customer centricity digital program.
Digitalization of Sika Products and Solutions
Sika leverages digital technology to optimize or enhance processes related to the use and life cycle of its products and solutions. One example of optimization at Sika is the range of calculation software available to its customers. These tools allow for more speed in the selection of Sika products, hence avoiding waste or shortage of material during a given application. Another example of enhancement is the range of monitoring tools, which allow customers to identify structures in need of repair, refilling or at a breaking point. These tools allow customers to better manage the life cycle of a project and optimize processes during application. Each Target Market analyzes how digital technology can improve or enhance customers’ experience and develops solutions accordingly.