On the way to the economy of platforms
The economy and society are changing constantly and ever faster. Accompanied by a change to the so-called platform economy with its digital business models. Like the entire B2B sector, the industry is also affected by this change.
Platform as a model for success
Amazon, Uber, Airbnb, they all rely on the platform principle - and are extremely successful with it. The operators usually build their digitally supported business models on a central basic promise. It's about diversity of offerings, transparency, efficient processes, seamless interfaces, and always a convenient customer journey.
Platform companies orchestrate their ecosystem accordingly and constantly increase its attractiveness. Their business models benefit from the so-called network effect. This means that the benefit (and value) of a platform as an intermediary grows as the number of users increases. The more providers operate on a platform, the more attractive it becomes for consumers - and the reverse is also true, which is why network effects enable above-average, self-accelerating growth.
Platform business models in industry
The dynamic development towards an economy of platforms does not stop at industrial sectors. Tradition is encountering a wide variety of technologies as well as a fundamentally changing environment with new types of business models characterized by cooperation and new forms of value creation.
The VDMA defines digital platforms as "intermediaries that use digital technology to connect two or more market participants via the platform and simplify or even enable their interaction". For example, suppliers, consumers, other players, and the platform itself interact with each other in a variety of ways.*
In industry, a wide variety of platforms are currently establishing themselves as pioneers of industrial digitization and creating powerful digital ecosystems with which they are reshaping the interface for collaboration between a wide range of participants. Industrial platforms are already connecting customers, product manufacturers and other players and creating a digital space for interaction, joint value creation and collaborative innovation.
Such platforms can be divided into data-centric and transaction-centric ecosystems according to their orientation. Data-centric platforms generate, collect or store industrial data sets and provide an infrastructure for their exchange, analysis and evaluation. Users benefit, for example, from the analysis of their machine and plant data, increasing availability and reducing downtime.
Transaction-centric platforms include, for example, on-demand manufacturing platforms that orchestrate buying and selling in a unified digital environment, simplify the process with an optimized customer journey, and thus bring transparency to previously opaque markets.
DMG MORI in the platform economy
As a leading manufacturer of machine tools, metal-cutting product service systems and integrated digitization solutions, DMG MORI relies on "Architecture First ". Thanks to the massive development and expansion of its digital architecture, DMG MORI can now offer end-to-end digital solutions right through to the new PAYZR business models of the as-a-service economy from a single source. As a leading machine tool manufacturer, DMG MORI is working aggressively on a hybrid future of real mechatronics and digital customer added value in the future fields of digitalization, automation and sustainability.
The ADAMOS industry platform creates a comprehensive ecosystem in which end-to-end digital solutions can be jointly designed, further developed, distributed and used for machine and plant engineering and their customers. ADAMOS opens up access to data-based business models such as software-as-a-service and equipment-as-a-service.