Crafts 4.0: modern, mobile, network-compatible

The skilled trades have a lot to do and require an efficient infrastructure – the DHB is launching a series for operational equipment.

This article is part of the special topic Digital Crafts

Industry 4.0. This is the buzzword of the decade when talking or writing about digitalization. One might think that digitalization only takes place in the halls of large-scale industry. The skilled trades and their representatives are fighting back. Targeted support for only individual areas is not enough for the skilled trades. In a recently published special survey by the Central Association of German Skilled Crafts (ZDH) 83 percent of managers confirmed that the Digitalisation of the world of work is full of opportunities for the local craft industryDigital business models should be pursued in all economic sectors with political support. In 2016, 95 percent of skilled trades managers supported this.

Crafts infrastructure must be sustainable

The leadership of the ZDH therefore strongly advocates that only with a sustainable infrastructure can craft businesses achieve their goalsA clear warning: Germany must not be left behind. A clear warning to companies: No one can escape the digitalization of the world of work and production, although this will certainly vary in intensity depending on the trade. Hairdressers, beauticians, butchers, and bakeries are not at the forefront of the digital world. All other trades, in contrast, are utilizing the new technology 100 percent. Saarland's Minister of Economic Affairs, Anke Rehlinger, summed it up at a Chamber of Crafts symposium: Business owners who want to sell their business to a successor in the next few years would have to invest in digitalisationOtherwise, the business would lose its attractiveness and value.

You might also be interested in:

Operations management

Communicate flexibly via email

Operations management

Mobile Hardware

Operations management

Success with your own website

Looking at regular customers is not enough

Incidentally, this is also the response to a letter writer who, indignantly, dismissed the whole new thing as superfluous and nonsense. His business generates sufficient revenue with regular customers. However, this approach is outdated, as in a 2014 survey of 6.000 craft businesses, almost 94 percent that they use a stationary PC, notebook, smartphone, tablet or server16,4 percent of all companies use computer-assisted machines in their actual production processes. That was over two years ago, but by now, the penetration of production processes has likely progressed even further.

Catching up on the use of social media

Companies have to catch up in matters of data backup, Facebook and Xing – around 15 percent use this. Electronic participation in public tenders was even lower, at 12,1 percent. The same figure was reached in 2014 for employee recruitment and job postings. A major future topic is the mobile devices: Here 23,2 percent of all companies reported using these for planning, calculation and on-site consultingAnyone who wants to satisfy young, tech-savvy customers needs to step up their game here. What was once optional becomes mandatory if they want to survive in the market.

The German Crafts Journal starts with a Series explaining the topic of digitalization, from hardware equipment, the creation of an email account and a homepage to production with a 3D printer.