Global disruptions and instabilities, supply-chain breakdowns, and heightened customer demand for digital-first experiences are accelerating the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). To help companies transform their operations at speed, McKinsey & Company announced today the opening of an expanded Digital Capability Center in Italy to inspire and empower European organizations to embrace tech-enabled operations that transform business strategy into lasting success.
The 3,000 square meter expansion is a world-class simulation center that will allow companies to explore, try, and apply the latest digital and analytics technologies. Across industries (Heavy Industry, Technology & Telecommunications, Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Packaged Goods, Financial Services, among others) and functions (Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Product Development, Sales, Procurement, Customer Services, Corporate Business Functions and Capital Excellence), it will help to develop workforce capabilities critical to business and job growth across Europe.
“While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to drive significant uncertainty, companies are revamping their growth strategies with a renewed appreciation for how operating models determine strategic outcomes. To support any hope of lasting competitive advantage, operations transformation is as much about people as it is about technology, requiring changes to the human side at all levels of the organization to build stronger resilience, faster innovation, higher customer satisfaction, and more engaged workforces—the time to act is now,” states Wim Gysegom, Partner at McKinsey & Company.
“That’s why McKinsey has expanded the Digital Capability Center in Venice, so that we can help people to develop the right skills, mindset, and behaviors to transform business strategy into lasting success in the next normal,” declares Dinu de Kroon, Leading partner of McKinsey’s Digital Capability Centers in Europe.
The expansion of the center has allowed it to evolve beyond operational excellence in manufacturing to show end-to-end transformation in all functions of advanced operations and demonstrate the full potential of digital and analytics with immersive environments across the entire value chain. It is designed to help participants understand, pilot, and scale successful digital transformation in their companies across manufacturing, supply chain, product development, procurement, corporate business functions, sales, customer services, and capital excellence “.
McKinsey`s Digital Capability Center in Venice is a joint venture between McKinsey and Confindustria Alto Adriatico, an organization representing 150,000 manufacturing and service companies in Italy. The center also enjoys the support of Pordenone Technological Hub, the Ponte Rosso Consortium, and the Pordenone Chamber of Commerce. Launched in 2011 as a capability-building center for operations excellence, it was transformed into a digital experience center in 2017.
The expansion of the center in 2021 has seen investments of more than €11 million: €4 million in the building remodeling financed by the regional government of Friuli Venezia Giulia; and more than €7 million investment from partners and tech providers for machines and digital use cases.
“This expansion will help organizations’ teams be part of a greater, more complex and innovative end-to-end transformation process. Participants will experience scenarios that demonstrate manufacturing processes with real products, and back-office environments that show the complexity of supply chains, production processes, logistics, and sales in a broader and more realistic perspective across a wide range of industries,” explains Cinzia Lacopeta, Co-Leader of McKinsey’s Digital Capability Centers in Europe.
The new building enables the center to treble its capacity over the coming years, being able to train more than 500 organizations and 6,000 industry leaders in person annually, and up to 10,000 with remote programs. It will also host 240 days of training, demonstrations, and visits.
Wide spectrum of tech-vendors and startups ecosystem
The new center in Venice is enhanced with a rich and diverse ecosystem of more than 100 technology partners and start-ups. This wide spectrum of tech-vendors and startups offers the latest digital solutions and an advanced design-to-value lab where participants can learn through a hands-on approach.
Pioneer in remote immersive capability-building programs and digital construction
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, McKinsey´s Digital Capability Center in Venice has spearheaded remote experiential capability-building programs, adapted to hybrid formats. Over the last year, McKinsey´s Digital Capability Center in Venice has continued to train companies remotely while keeping the essence of its to programs to allow participants to continue to touch and feel tech-enabled transformations: 150 organizations served; 120 days of training, demonstrations, and visits delivered; and 1,000 leaders trained.
Built during the COVID-19 pandemic, McKinsey’s Digital Capability Center in Venice used the very latest capital project technologies including a digital twin, a digital control tower, and health and safety monitoring solutions to allow construction to continue safely and in line with COVID-restrictions. Do not miss the building expansion video & this article “Walking the talk: Best practices for digital construction.”
