HENKEL ADHESIVE TECHNOLOGIES: DATA-DRIVEN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
HENKEL ADHESIVE TECHNOLOGIES: DATA-DRIVEN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION 02
OCTOBER 2020
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Head of Digital Operations, Dr Nick Miesen discusses digital transformation of operations and the power of data
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passion for digital technology, and it’s power to drive business optimisation and operation excellence, underpins much
of Dr Nick Miesen’s career. Miesen, who has more than 12 years’ experience in areas as diverse as 04
aerospace, chemicals, supply chain and manufacturing, and fast-moving consumer goods, brought that experience to Henkel Adhesive Technologies at the start of this year. Since, he has been responsible for driving digital change in the organisation’s supply chain, supporting Smartfactory capabilities roll-out across the organisation and leading the company’s Global Digital Quality programme. As one would expect, Miesen is well versed in the latest digital technologies. He is also a vocal proponent of the importance of perfecting the operational basics that underpin those technologies. “Looking retrospectively at the concept of digital transformation, particularly four or five years ago when I was working at AkzoNobel, there was a fair amount of hype around digital. That’s over,” he says. “Companies are realising
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there’s a lot of tough work in adopting digital strategies and that there’s no
“ The foundation of any digital transformation is the people”
silver bullet. If your processes aren’t standardised and you don’t have the basics in place then worrying about the ‘sexy’ tech like AI or VR just won’t work - you’ll stay locked into the experimental phase.”
— Dr Nick Miesen, Head of Digital Operations, Henkel Adhesive Technologies
Miesen elaborates on the ‘digital backbone’. This refers to the infrastructure, strategies and processes in place that enable technology adoption to be maximised and bring operational
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excellence. “It’s really important to
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07 not be blinded by new innovations,” he states. “From my perspective, the foundation of any digital transformation is the people - I’d rather have 1,000 highly capable individuals trained in the basics than a couple of master coders. That strong foundation across the organisation lets you build out the entire decision making process, to properly analyse and problem solve and achieve the low hanging fruit first. There’s a bigger picture, of course, and a full strategy but only focusing on that just isn’t a sustainable approach to building operational excellence.” w w w.he nkel. com
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In January this year Miesen joined
us house all our data in a single sys-
Henkel Adhesive Technologies as
tem. That’s a great starting point for
Head of Digital Operations and was
digital, and not something I’ve seen in
tasked with building a digital supply
other companies I’ve worked with.
chain. The business, which is a lead-
“But, objectively, I saw very early
ing solutions provider for adhesives,
on that there was the potential to
sealants and functional coatings
do much more with the data,” he
globally, was already in a strong posi-
continues. “For example, there was
tion digitally, he says. “I found the
a lot of data around introducing new
business to be really advanced, and
platforms and systems, but not a lot of
quite visionary in terms of that digital
utilisation of that data and that’s really
backbone I mentioned. We have a
where I saw my role coming in - to take
major programme being finalised to
advantage of and build on the great
consolidate all SAP systems and let
work that has already been done, to
E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :
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Nick Miesen Title: Head of Digital Operations Company: Henkel Industry: Adhesive Technologies Location: Amsterdam Red thread in Miesen’s career is data for business optimisation, from Operational Excellence (L6S) to Digital Transformation. He has over 12 years’ broad industry experience in aerospace, chemical and FMCG. Miesen worked in various roles, mainly in innovation or supply chain, at the Dutch National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR), Deloitte, AkzoNobel and Heineken. In 2016 he cofounded an Advanced Analytics startup, Jugaad. In the beginning of 2020 he started as Head of Digital Operation at Henkel Adhesives Technologies. He holds a PhD in Aerospace Engineering, a MSc in Physics & Astronomy and is certified (Master) Black Belt. w w w.he nkel. com
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bring in those low hanging fruits and
“ The high-level strategy is to build digital operations”
build out the basics in the best way.” Since joining Henkel, Miesen has led the company’s Global Digital Quality programme, which aims to predict and improve product quality, he has strategised, planned and deployed digital programmes and
— Dr Nick Miesen, Head of Digital Operations, Henkel Adhesive Technologies
sought out opportunities to introduce new technologies to the business. “The high-level strategy is to build a digital supply chain,” he says. “But, it’s important to be very clear on what
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that actually means. “First and foremost, it’s about the seamless flow of data both ways that’s the backbone,” he continues. “But within that are several smaller objectives. You need connectivity, for example. So, data needs to be transferred and centralised and then you need visualisation of all that data. That plays into the global quality function I am responsible for, as if you can have a global solution whereby we can track and visualise any variations in quality of material input and finished goods. Having the whole organisation globally able to visualise all that data gives the ability to make better decisions and OCTOBER 2020
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work towards operational excellence
regressions, then move along the level
and create customer value.”
of complexity so that you can gain
With this step in place, Miesen
greater understanding by using statisti-
explains that the focus shifts first
cal analysis,” he says. “The next step is
towards being more predictive and
to add intelligence to those statistics,
then bringing greater intelligence
which enables you to analyse, prove,
and algorithms into the process. The
predict and understand anything.
former, he explains, revolves around
“Those, for me, are the key steps in
using the data collected to model
the sequence of building that digital
processes, from the simple to the very
supply chain. We move from simple data
complex. “You start with simple linear
to advanced data analytics, and as we w w w.he nkel. com
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15 do it the supply chain becomes increasingly digitised for us, our suppliers and
“ We move from simple data to advanced data analytics, and as we do it the supply chain becomes increasingly digitised for us, our suppliers and our customers”
our customers. It’s quite conceptual but it’s a very clear and defined process.” While for Miesen the process is clear there are, he concedes, still challenges to overcome in digitising a supply chain operation. “We still have data in different systems and formats. The biggest hurdle is getting that data into the right place and in the right order.
— Dr Nick Miesen, Head of Digital Operations, Henkel Adhesive Technologies
To a degree, the analytics and visualising of the data is the easy part. The big challenge is found in knowing which sets of data to address first, in trying w w w.he nkel. com
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to align the different ambitions and functions of the various stakeholders and standardising the operations process. If we do that, it’s really the biggest step to take forward.” Henkel’s size, too, poses challenges to operational excellence. Miesen and the team are responsible for optimising operations across 140 sites. “I don’t need to explain that, to implement a digital journey across so many facilities means you have to work smart. This is why we’re adopt16
ing a Smartfactory approach, which includes a manufacturing execution system (MES), a robust ERP layer and a host of other smart tools,” he explains. “It’s a really powerful technology to have available, particularly as we have a long-term strategy to move towards full automation at our sites.” Furthermore, on the subject of enabling digital transformation, Miesen adds, “I see the development of the Vegam system as the answer to a customisable digital future; a digital twin with the ability to create an interactive layer with the ERP systems is a powerful tool, from the shop floor to the board room.”
1876
Year founded
€20bn+ Revenue in euros
52,000 Number of employees
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Of course, since Miesen joined the company in January, the world has seen significant disruption as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic. For businesses in every sector, the impact has been enormous, forcing a shift in both how existing operations are carried out and, in a broader context, in the implementation of new technology. Naturally, Henkel prioritised the safety and wellbeing of its employees while ensuring it could continue to operate and supply its customers. 18
“The biggest change, like everyone else, was in facilitating a remote working environment,” says Miesen. “I think, collectively, we are all very proud of Henkel’s response to the cri-
“ Data is power and to have that database in place will enable the next step”
sis, particularly across such a broad and diverse business. It’s definitely brought several new technologies into the picture too, as well as refocused everyone’s views on using technology. For example, things like augmented reality innovations have
— Dr Nick Miesen, Head of Digital Operations, Henkel Adhesive Technologies
come into focus with us deciding to use Microsoft’s HoloLens system, which will facilitate remote workshops, remote audits and more. More
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broadly, I think this will change some
our understanding of exactly what the
of the more conservative thinking
customer wants. Data is power and to
around technology and business.”
have that database in place will enable
Disruption aside, Miesen is resolute
the next step - to the lab, to the testing
in his commitment to Henkel’s digital
facility and intelligent modelling. That’s
journey. His immediate focus remains
where you’ll see the real benefit of this
on building an innovative digital sup-
journey, it will absolutely keep us ahead
ply chain while changing the way that
of the curve.”
Henkel does business to be more agile and lean. “If we build our processes to be better and use our data in the most effective way, this will feed into our product development processes and w w w.he nkel. com
HENKEL AG & CO. KGAA HENKEL GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN GUSTAV MAHLERL A AN 2970 1081 L A AMSTERDAM T +0049 211 797 0
www.henkel.com
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