Smarter use of data increases efficiency

Over the past decades, companies have invested a lot of time and money in 'digitizing' their processes. As a result, a lot of efficiency has been gained, but most systems are not much smarter than digital mailboxes: they are mainly used to pass on information. "There is still a lot of untapped potential in the information from the systems," says Remco Dijkman, Professor of Information Systems at TU Eindhoven. By making smarter use of the information already present, companies can become at least 10% more efficient. And he calls that a conservative estimate.

Dijkman: "The information already present in the company can be used to make predictions about how the work processes will proceed. Think about how long production or transport will take, which suppliers are likely to have delivery problems or what the quality of a product will be? With the techniques developed by Dijkman, these predictions can then be used to make adjustments during the process in order to shorten the duration, reduce the costs and improve the quality.

Digital Twin

Dijkman has developed a software framework to improve business processes in practice. This is used in part through the European Supply Chain Forum, a network organization of academics, students and large companies. The framework is used to make a digital twin of the business process. Dijkman: In this 'digital copy of reality', the solutions are tested in practice before they are implemented in the actual process. The framework is also expandable, so that a subsequent solution can easily be added to it and used."

July 1 Remco Dijkman wil deliver his inaugural lecture

Channelweb published an article (in Dutch)