“Technology and digital transformation are here to stay at Kide”
To kick off this interview, we’d like to know a bit more about you. What experience do you have in digital transformation and what do you think is your biggest challenge on this project?
Although the term “digital transformation” is a recently coined phrase, in reality it’s existed since the birth of computing: from its very origins, computing has never stopped transforming and evolving businesses.
In my case, I could say my entire professional life – which amounts to more than 30 years – has been dedicated to digital transformation. I’ve worked at very different companies – from SMEs to large corporations – in a range of roles, all of which were related to information technology: I’ve been the head of IT systems, director of IT for a post-sale service, director of digital transformation…
Since joining the Mondragon Construction division, my job has been focused on helping companies in their digital transformation processes, a task that I’m currently developing at Kide as well as Etorki and LANA.
Kide is tackling an ambitious digital transformation plan. What’s behind this decision?
In an increasingly digitised and competitive industrial context, taking a step forward in matters of digital transformation is an incredibly important move for a company’s growth in the coming years.
Kide is firmly committed to quality and customer service. The digital transformation of our processes (both internal and those that act as a point of contact with clients) will lead to an improvement in the quality of our products and the service the company offers. In short, technology will help us to be a more competitive company and improve our distinctive value in the market.
What benefits is the company’s digitalisation expected to bring?
- Improvement in service: through digital technologies, our clients will be able to access a portfolio of online services that will be of great use to them when providing the services that they in turn offer to their end customers. For example, services to view the components of the products purchased from Kide, warranty management, spare parts requests, order tracking, product traceability, etc. will be available for our clients on our future online platform.
- Product quality: management of our processes using advanced digital tools will enable greater control over production and management processes, which will result in better product and end service quality. In this regard, the introduction of advanced production management tools (MES systems) will enable improved traceability and quality control in our production systems. In addition, the rollout of tools to monitor the operation and performance of our cold systems online will lead to an increase in quality and control standards for this product range.
- Service quality: highly appreciated aspects in this industry, such as response time and delivery time frames, will improve thanks to the use of digital tools, which will provide our internal processes with more efficiency.
Does this plan require an economic investment and a personnel investment?
Kide has a powerful investment plan that includes a significant item for the digital transformation project which will address, among other aspects, the necessary investments in technology and reinforcement of the technological areas’ technical abilities. We’re fully aware that in order to achieve ambitious business goals our action plan must be equally as ambitious.
When is it expected to be launched? And completed?
Kide has already started its digital transformation process. In 2021, it drew up a Digitalisation Plan, which addressed the next three-year period and outlined the company’s digital transformation goals. In terms of its completion, given the speed at which digital technologies evolve we could say the digital transformation is a process that’s here to stay. The current plan’s estimated end date is the end of 2025 but, as I said previously, this is a never-ending process.
What are the stages in this digital transformation?
Once the Digitalisation Plan is finalised, the process starts with a restructuring and modernisation of the company’s digital systems. To do this, the strategic partnerships necessary to acquire state-of-the-art technology platforms have been established. The company is also working to train internal resources for the new technological challenges we’re facing.
In the second stage, it will address the rollout of high-added-value digital solutions that enable an improvement in the quality and service offered, thereby strengthening our brand image.
What are the priority departments or services in this digital transformation?
The digital transformation process we’ve commenced is completely cross-sectoral and affects all departments at the company Naturally, the impact on some departments will be greater, since the changes will be more profound on some compared with others, but all departments are involved in this process to some extent.
Thus, areas like production, sales and logistics will see their current processes improved via the use of digital tools, leading to an improvement in these processes’ quality and effectiveness.
Once the digitalisation is complete, how will it impact the services and products Kide offers? How will it impact your current and future clients?
As I mentioned previously, current expectations are high. From a client’s perspective, we hope to offer distinctive value in the service Kide offers through digital services. Online access to information, to business services and an immediate response are some of the benefits we want to offer our clients.
With regard to products, we want them to stand out for being highly connective, accessible and manageable through digital services.
This is all in addition to other factors, including innovation, 100% national production and our industry experience, which will put us in a strong position to continue growing.
Would you like to add any specific information or comment?
In conclusion, I’d like to highlight that we fully believe digital technologies are an essential resource for Kide’s evolution and that they’re here to stay. The process is challenging and complex, but we’re really looking forward to it and we’ll have all the means necessary. And it helps that in the company’s clear “vision” technology and Kide can work together. On a group level, Mondragón is really focusing on digital transformation and we hope it will be a successful project at Kide as well.
