Company that speaks the language of industry

By Chris Khang

Chris Khang

The industrial world changes daily. What was declared the market trend today may soon become outdated. To keep up with fast-paced business dynamics, companies ― despite how complex or how enormous ― should change and adapt accordingly.

Becoming a leading company in the industry does not require a secret ingredient. It calls for companies to be innovative, simple, winning-spirited and accountable to the ever-changing environment.

Today, we are seeing digital disruption across many industries. Big data gathered from a fleet of engines goes through software to be analyzed into what is useful for the manufacturing industry; and the convergence of the physical and the digital, with the Internet of Things or the industrial internet, is bearing fruit.

Applying digital and internet technologies in any industry, such as aviation, power, energy and telecommunications, is expected to bring a technological breakthrough as well as innovations in operations, such as cost reductions and increased efficiencies.

Companies are competitively announcing their visions to incorporate digital into their own industries for the next five to 10 years, to seize the great opportunity to lead the next industrial turning point.

Some say that it will reap profit from the Internet of Things as it is the key to innovation. Others say that opportunities lie in the cloud industry.

For GE, it started with the creation of a digital division, GE Digital, a transformative move that brings together all the digital capabilities from across the company into one organization.

Over 14,000 software developers and 30,000 digital staff support customers in more than 100 countries, serving industrial assets worth $1 trillion and generating $5 billion in revenues; and in October, GE announced through the “Minds + Machines 2015” event in San Francisco that it will transform itself into the world’s premier “digital industrial company” and grow to become a top 10 software company by 2020.

Becoming a digital industrial company is GE’s new vision that will incorporate GE’s already established industrial strength with the digital world and leading the intersection of the physical and the analytical.

Throughout its 140 years of history, GE has been known as a traditional manufacturing company. By transforming into a digital industrial company, GE will consolidate software and digital organizations and accelerate investments in digital thread and analytics.

This is expected to turn information that is gathered into productivity and help customers achieve better outcomes. GE believes that a company that adapts to the new standards of industry quickly becomes the industry standard; it has met the challenge to be uniquely positioned to provide for the new digital industrial age.

GE’s bold but winning decision to be aligned with the everyday changing market and to capture the market opportunity is striking, and we are already seeing significant results from saved costs and increased efficiency.

Korean companies should also try to execute bold decisions and maximize their capabilities to seek new opportunities that lie ahead. Korea, especially, has all the good reasons for success in the upcoming digital era.

It is known as a country that already has well-established IT infrastructure and highly competent talents. Korean companies should make full use of such capabilities and lead in the digital wave that is reshaping industries.

If this big and 140-year-old GE can change into a digital industrial company, others can too.

Chris Khang is president and CEO of GE Korea.