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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

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

Is Your Supply Chain Planning Ready for Digital?

Not if the underlying process is broken. To realize the promise of new technologies, you must first step back to identify and fill capability gaps.

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.

China’s Next Leap in Manufacturing

Despite rising costs and trade disputes, the country’s manufacturing sector is poised for strong growth.

Procurement

Taming Tail Spend

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

Getting Quality Right with Digital Procurement

Deploying technology solutions along with conventional best practices can greatly mitigate the risk of future failures.

Jump-Starting the Digital Procurement Journey

Contrary to popular belief, the most successful digitization efforts do not begin with technology decisions. Focus instead on business and procurement objectives.

European Procurement Roundtable

At BCG's 12th annual European procurement roundtable, in Barcelona, more than 50 chief procurement officers discussed strategy in times of disruption.

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

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.

Robotics at Your Service!

We all know the wonders of robotics technology, but it's in the services environment that the advent of robotics process automation has the ability to disrupt business efficiency.

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.

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.