先進製造之策略： 六家製造企業之個案研究

Abstract

現今製造產業隨著資訊及通訊技術發展趨勢開始產生重大的變化。2013年德國政府提出工業4.0計劃，著重於強化結合實體與虛擬世界的網宇實體系統(cyber-physical industry)，以提昇未來德國製造業的發展。有鑒於上述變化及工業進展，本研究根據各種相關資料，針對六家製造業龍頭企業就其企業本質、轉型過程、所面對的挑戰及未來發展進行個案研究。本研究發現奇異公司(General Electric) 及西門子(Siemens)配合相關軟體開發及人才招募已於2016年底大致完成整體企業的數位轉型。這些企業開發出開放式雲端分析工具，以確保在此物聯網新數位時代中能持續保持全球製造業的領先地位。另外，本研究亦發現這六家製造企業有一些共同的趨勢。汽車產業率先結合先進的物聯網及人工智慧技術並配合利用工業4.0概念的生產系統研發出各種無人駕駛汽車，使其成為目前網宇實體系統之領航產業。此外，未來製造產業需具備三項特性：一為以軟體開發為主軸，第二為硬體與網路的高度連結，第三則是其產品及生產系統自成一生態體系。相關軟體開發投資及相關軟體開發人才的取得成為未來製造產業在數位化轉型及具競爭力企業的重要發展策略。

Information and communications technology (ICT) development has started to change the ways of manufacturing significantly. In 2013, the German government issued its final report of the Industrie 4.0 program to secure the future of the German manufacturing industry by strengthening cyber-physical systems, which represent the convergence of the physical and the virtual worlds. In view of the foregoing trend and industrial advancement, the author conducted case studies of six leading manufacturing companies in order to analyze and examine each company’s background, its process of transformation, the challenges it has encountered, and strategic actions for the future. Based on various sources of evidence, the thesis comes up the first finding that General Electric and Siemens had almost completed their digital transformations by late 2016, with software development and software talent acquisitions as the key drivers. They produced open cloud-based analytical tools, which are intended to secure their leading positions in the new digital era of the Internet of Things (IoT). The next finding is that the six case companies are moving in the same direction. The automotive industry is developing driverless vehicles, which equip advanced IoT and AI technologies, with production systems that utilize Industrie 4.0 concepts and is becoming the forerunner of cyber-physical systems. Finally, future manufacturing is characterized by the three communalities: its products or solutions will be software-driven and internet-connected, and all its products and production processes are embedded in the ecosystem. Investment and acquisition of software talents are the key strategic actions for enabling digital transformation and building a competitive organization for future manufacturing.