Innovation Drives Digital Transformation at Deere & Company

ARC has been tracking the digital transformation initiatives of companies by conducting surveys and analyses for the last 5-7 years. All this information has been collated and the Top 25 global industrial digital transformation leaders, across multiple industries and geographies, have been identified. ARC’s Industrial Digital Transformation Top 25 report highlights companies that are successfully integrating digital technology into all areas of business, fundamentally changing the way they operate and deliver value to their customers.

The tidal wave of digital transformation has restructured global industrial operations. In a pandemic-affected world, digital transformation has moved beyond the “nice to have” boardroom jargon to a “must-have” imperative. Organizations were forced to adapt with agility and flexibility to this new normal and accelerate industrial innovation. Established practices and business models were disrupted and destroyed, but destruction led to reconstruction and new ways to resolve challenges. 

Defining “digital transformation” is complex as it encompasses the gamut from technologies, processes, and collaboration across teams and geographies. ARC Advisory Group defines digital transformation as: “The integration of digital technology into all areas of business, fundamentally changing the way companies operate and deliver value to customers. The organization is typically charged to innovate and improve across multiple dimensions such as digital/disruptive technologies, culture and leadership, operational agility, workforce engagement, customer experience, environmental, social and governance, and competitive performance.”

This is the seventh in a series of blogs on the leaders in the digital transformation space.

Deere & Company

John Deere (the brand name of Deere & Company), uses digitalization to create more dynamic logistics and production planning, improve the visibility and accuracy of materials throughout the global supply chain and add the ability to customize real-time user instructions. Deere’s digital transformation starts from product designs and continues all the way through supporting the customers. Deere is not a newcomer when it comes to innovation. More than 25 years ago the company created its Intelligent Solutions Group (ISG), an internal innovation hub consisting of data scientists and engineers. The goal of this team is to develop and roll out advanced technology solutions and processes across the business.

Deere has continually transformed itself to be more agile and project-based. In 2020, the company upped its investment to fuel its 5G, manufacturing, and 4.0 ambitions. In addition to powering a new suite of high-performance computing analytics, 5G will enable the adoption of edge computing and autonomous devices as well as a larger set of smart applications like real-time locations systems, asset tracking inventory management, wearables, production automation and robotics.

Going Forward

The prevailing philosophy behind digital transformation has been that this transformation naturally translates to success. ARC will continue its research in all areas related to digital transformation to learn more about what is working – and what isn’t – as companies pursue their unique digital transformation activities. The Industrial Digital Transformation Top 25 report will be published annually. With this being the first issue, your feedback is very important to investigate new approaches and measures to adjust our methodology, identify successful digital transformation initiatives, and help the industry as a whole digitally transform. To download the final report, please click here.