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Our Latest Thinking on Operations

Improving operations has never been easy, and the rise of digital has ushered in new challenges and opportunities. Capitalizing on big data, machine learning, and AI to boost efficiency is essential, but it requires new skill sets and a cultural overhaul. Explore BCG’s latest thought leadership on digital operations and more.

DIGITAL OPERATIONS

LEAN AND MANUFACTURING

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

PROCUREMENT

DESIGN, ENGINEER, BUILD

SERVICE & SUPPORT

COST & EFFICIENCY

CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Featured Insights

Organizing for Digital Operations at Scale

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Quality 4.0 Takes More Than Technology

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Blockchain in the Factory of the Future

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Jump-Starting the Digital Procurement Journey

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Digital Operations

The How-To Guide to Digital Operations

Digitizing manufacturing operations is imperative—yet immensely difficult. Companies that have tried have seen mixed results. We’ve identified factors that separate leaders from laggards.

Putting Value First in Digital Operations

Tune out the tech sales pitches. Focus instead on what you seek to achieve from a digital transformation.

Organizing for Digital Operations at Scale

It’s not enough to establish the right organizational structure. Companies must also attract and retain digital talent and overcome the limitations of legacy IT systems.

Lean and Manufacturing

Advancing Robotics to Boost US Manufacturing Competitiveness

Stakeholders must work together to achieve the technology refinements and workforce reboot that will reinvigorate the industry.

Surviving Disruption in Additive Manufacturing

Mastering the interplay between materials and printing technologies will be critical to success in the industry’s increasingly competitive ecosystem.

How Ford Organized for Digital Operations at Scale

Digitization—when done right and at scale—yields impressive results. Discover how manufacturing companies can learn from Ford’s success as Mike Mikula, Ford’s global chief engineer, shares insights with BCG’s Jonathan Van Wyck.

Supply Chain Management

Building Segments-of-One Supply Chains in Medtech and Biopharma

Digital technology allows for an unprecedented level of customization. Here’s how companies can unlock the potential value.

Supercharging Supply Chains with Uber Platforms

Uberization is about to transform supply chains everywhere, as companies increasingly rely on the supply chain capabilities of external, platform-based ecosystems instead of building their own.

How Shifting Costs Are Altering the Math of Global Manufacturing

Tariff wars may dominate the news, but changing cost structures will have a longer-term impact on where the world’s goods are made.

Reinventing the CPG Supply Chain with Zero-Based Budgeting

Incremental reductions won’t cut it in today’s business environment. CPG companies must fundamentally change the way they manage their supply chain costs.

Procurement

Supercharge Savings by Getting Closer to Suppliers

To optimize their cost-cutting efforts, smart companies are turning to their suppliers.

2019 European Procurement Roundtable

At BCG's 13th annual European procurement roundtable, in Munich, more than 80 CPOs and procurement executives discussed what it will take to win in the next decade.

Raising Procurement’s Game in PMI

Investors increasingly want more than low-single-digit savings from acquisitions. Procurement is in a position to deliver.

Taming Tail Spend

Digital can help procurement teams gain a much deeper understanding of their purchases—and cut costs significantly.

Design, Engineer, Build

Why High Oil Prices Can Be Bad for Energy Companies

During price upturns, companies often indulge in bad behavior, such as “window dressing” capital projects with overly optimistic cost and completion assumptions—jeopardizing project performance.

Think Big

Behind Think Big is transparency and collaboration. That's how BCG conceives a successful large capital project. Let’s think big to make big things happen.

The Most Innovative Companies 2019

Innovators are doubling down on digital—and embracing AI, platforms, and ecosystems for advantage.

The Race Toward Engineering 4.0

Leading companies are already sprinting toward a digital and data-driven future.

Service & Support

With ERP and Digital Support Functions, It’s Not Either-Or—It’s Both

Adopting a best-of-breed approach improves flexibility in critical processes while unleashing more agile ways of working.

Service 4.0: Transforming Customer Interactions

Customers today have high expectations, but traditional service providers often fail to meet those demands. Service 4.0 represents a fundamental transformation that can help companies meet consumers' needs.

Banks Can Outsmart the Competition with Intelligent Operations

To keep pace with evolving customer expectations and achieve greater efficiency, banks must implement a set of operational improvements interactively and in harmony.

A Radical Redesign for Support Functions in the Digital Age

New technologies are changing how support functions work—and rendering some of them entirely obsolete. To capitalize, companies need to reorganize those functions from the ground up.

Cost & Efficiency

Simpler, Faster, and More Efficient Operations in Financial Services

A practical approach to cost cutting can yield savings of up to 80%.

Zero-Based Budgeting Comes to Business Functions

To prime your white-collar processes for digital (or any) transformation, drill down to the process essentials.

The Corporate Center of the Future

The growth of automation, digitalization, and virtual collaboration is putting pressure on companies to reimagine the way their corporate centers operate.

The CFO’s Vital Role in Corporate Transformation

CFOs can maintain a relentless focus on value creation by serving as strategic advisors to business leaders, overseeing performance, and communicating a persuasive equity story to investors.