Macnica launches "Digital Execution Factory," a support program for companies that leverages its knowledge and practical know-how to quickly and flexibly launch in-house digital transformation

Macnica (Headquarters: Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture; Representative Director and President: Kazumasa Hara; hereinafter referred to as Macnica) announced today that it will begin offering the "Digital Execution Factory," a support program for businesses that leverages the knowledge and practical know-how it has gained from overcoming numerous challenges within its own companies and quickly and flexibly launching in-house digital transformation.

■Issues/background
As the times change and there is a shift from a mindset of "from things to experiences," digitalization is becoming even more important, making it imperative to create new services and solutions by leveraging digital technology. However, corporate systems have become complex, dependent on individual skills, and outdated due to years of incremental development; IT departments have become dependent on outsourcing, losing their ability to conceive and implement systems from a business perspective; and management views IT as a cost and is reluctant to promote DX due to the lack of clear ROI. Furthermore, there are many trends where companies' business departments have ideas for DX but don't know how to put them into practice, while IT departments have the knowledge but lack the personnel capable of designing the entire project and leading it.

■ Macnica 's Initiatives
Macnica has also had difficulty advancing internal DX due to similar issues, and there have been cases where the launch of internal and external digital services has been delayed due to a lack of the environment and knowledge to realize DX ideas.To address these issues, in fiscal 2024, the company launched the "Digital Execution Factory," which utilizes Siemens' software "Mendix," which enables the rapid creation of applications using low code, and is equipped with four functions based on citizen development: "Product Owner Support," "Development Process Support," "Human Resource Development," and "Governance."

The benefits have been tremendous, accelerating the release of new solutions at Macnica in the roughly year since its launch. One example is the development of the "Generative AI Platform," a new application that utilizes generative AI. This enabled the company to quickly implement data security settings and data integration settings for each user, link each company's generative AI solutions with in-house developed AI programs, and develop UIs and incorporate them into workflows tailored to each business. This has resulted in improved efficiency in tasks such as information gathering and proposal and email creation. This initiative has also received external recognition, with parent company Macnica Holdings, INC., Japan.

■ Corporate support program "Digital Execution Factory"
Macnica has decided to begin offering the knowledge and practical know-how on promoting DX that it has cultivated in-house through these activities as "Digital Execution Factory," a corporate support program to support customers' DX. This program utilizes Mendix's know-how, such as methods for developing DX talent and processes from IT planning to development, making it possible to put into practice a global, cutting-edge DX success process. Macnica, with its understanding of Japanese culture, will translate and localize the content that Mendix previously provided in English, and provide it to customers based on Macnica 's own experience as the first company to implement the program in Japan.

<The Five Ps that Support the "Digital Execution Factory">

①People
・Cultivate human resources who can collaborate with business and IT to improve operations and plan and develop new services
・Cultivate a pool of digital talent with practical skills, including planning (product owner) and development (low-code technology development)
②Process
Pre-development: Quantifying the value of ideas, determining development priorities based on value (ROI),
Best tools decision trees and more
・In development: Planning and development of agile applications that integrate business and IT
・After development: Build a standard process up to maintenance
③Portfolio
・Workshops to generate ideas for applications, such as internal business improvements and new services
④Platform
・Combining low-code platforms, AI, IoT, and other technologies to create a common development and operations platform that supports transformation
⑤Promotion
・Initiatives to increase motivation within the company, such as idea generation workshops, developer study sessions, and hackathons

Furthermore, Macnica provides the necessary support for achieving DX, such as Co-Dev (joint development) support and CoE construction support, based on this 5P framework.

Macnica The company will provide a wide range of services, including business improvement and new service planning and development support for business and IT collaboration, training support for product owners and low-code developers, and 5P assessment, planning, and execution support for the launch of DX CoE organizations. We will contribute to resolving issues such as IT human resource shortages and delays in DX promotion that companies are facing, and aim to improve the digital execution capability of Japan as a whole.

[Click here for details on Macnica 's "Digital Execution Factory" initiative]
https://www.macnica.co.jp/business/ai_iot/columns/145452/

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https://www.macnica.co.jp/business/ai_iot/products/service/148745/

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Macnica Smart Manufacturing Business
E-mail: consulting-iot@macnica.co.jp

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