What is productivity?
We believe that productivity includes every aspect of operational excellence, from the generation of an idea for a product through its manufacture, sale, maintenance, and, potentially, dismantling and recycling once it becomes obsolete.
But the problem now, as a generation ago, is that organizations too often overinvest in technology while underinvesting in the human capabilities needed to make it useful. How companies transform themselves depends, to a great extent, on the capabilities they need most. We see four primary structures, which collectively become Operations 4.0:
![](/~/media/mckinsey/locations/europe%20and%20middle%20east/deutschland/publikationen/2018%20compendium/ops%2040%20fueling%20the%20next%2020%20percent%20productivity%20rise%20with%20digital%20analysis/ops_exhibit_1.png?cq=50&mw=767&cpy=Center)
In the fourth industrial revoluton, digital anaylitcs enables a new level of operational productivity
![](/~/media/mckinsey/locations/europe%20and%20middle%20east/deutschland/publikationen/2018%20compendium/ops%2040%20fueling%20the%20next%2020%20percent%20productivity%20rise%20with%20digital%20analysis/ops_exhibit_2.png?cq=50&mw=767&cpy=Center)
Product-driven transformation: From cost to design to analytics-to-value
The next level of product transformation not only combines the latest design thinking with multiple sources of data but also exploits sophisticated advanced-analytics methodologies to generate insights about potential cost and value improvements. For example, computer-aided design tools linked to vast pools of procurement data, social-media activity, and cost and complexity benchmarks can allow a company to quickly identify designs that maximize profitability while minimizing wasted time and effort.
The factory of the future combines technologies that are available today
![](/~/media/mckinsey/locations/europe%20and%20middle%20east/deutschland/publikationen/2018%20compendium/ops%2040%20fueling%20the%20next%2020%20percent%20productivity%20rise%20with%20digital%20analysis/ops_exhibit_3.png?cq=50&mw=767&cpy=Center)
Combining people, novel digital technologies, and advanced analytics can yield a new breakthrough in productivity if companies learn to weave them all together. That’s the power of Operations 4.0 for organizations willing to commit themselves to it.