How the Platform Economy Can Benefit Connected Manufacturing

The platform economy is an ecosystem of digital platforms that interact to achieve higher efficiency and value delivery. Companies such as Amazon, Uber and Airbnb continue to be disruptive as they leverage the platform economy to stay at the forefront of innovation.

But what if the same success can be replicated in the manufacturing sector?

Much like the world economy, interactions between multiple networks in the platform economy help create and capture value in the ecosystem. In other words, the more participants create stronger network effects across the value chain.

This creates new manufacturing opportunities, including the ability to reduce marginal costs to near zero⁽²⁾.

Given the number of participants in the ecosystem, manufacturers will have to aggregate big data efficiently; automotive companies, for example, collect terabytes of data daily. However, different stakeholders often utilize different systems, which further complicates data management and impedes valuable contributions to the ecosystem.

This is where the right digital platform shines — it’s able to consolidate and share data from disparate systems within the organization but also with partner companies, suppliers and original equipment manufacturers.

While there is a need to take part in the platform economy, less than two percent of companies have adopted effective platform strategies⁽³⁾.

It all boils down to identifying the right digital platform — one that not only suits your unique business but also integrates different participants and orchestrates interactions seamlessly within a single, safe virtual space. The right digital platform must be:

1. A system of operations that empowers businesses to design and test consumer experiences and
2. A business model that enables multiple groups to create, exchange and capture value between them.

Both of these are defining traits of our 3DEXPERIENCE® platform.

Built to allow careful and smooth coordination between activities and powered by end-to-end digital connectivity, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform scales with your business while respecting different organizational rules and constraints while providing all participants secure access to a single source of truth.

Opportunities that result from meaningful participation in the platform economy are ripe for manufacturing; it’s time to seize them with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.