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Digitization as an enabler for new revenue models

In a current Future Business Study, the VDMA presents four digital revenue models that are already highly relevant for the German food industry and will continue to gain importance in the future.

The platform-based revenue model includes the option that the manufacturer and the user of the machine connect via the platform. Via this connection, information regarding machine data, products (e.g. spare parts) and services (e.g. maintenance) is exchanged – in real time. In addition, machine manufacturers have the option to market their own products or the products of service partners via an online marketplace and to store relevant information (e.g. customer data) or settings on a (cloud-based) datashare platform.

The data-driven revenue model, which focuses specifically on collecting, analyzing and, if necessary, presenting machine data, helps the machine manufacturer to monetize data directly by selling the generated insights via remote maintenance, predictive maintenance or other intelligent tools.

Service or operator models represent the next promising revenue model. The core objectives are to increase value creation and to optimally exploit the potential of the so-called “share of wallet”. In detail, the models can be designed differently, the service ranges from renting the machine to full operation of the machine by the supplier. Central questions about the concrete provision of services and invoicing, which arise with models, must therefore be linked with each other.

The fourth model, which depicts the know-how-based revenue model, draws – as the name already suggests – on existing intellectual property to create further recurring sources of revenue. In detail, this means that the manufacturer sells know-how-based services in the form of training or consulting. Particularly in view of the current problem of a lack of skilled workers and managers and the prevailing “war for talent”, this model could have a great influence at present and in the future.

(Source: STRATEGIEN FÜR DEN DEUTSCHEN NAHRUNGSMITTELMASCHINENBAU 2035 – Teil 2 der VDMA Future Business Studie „Deutscher Nahrungsmittelmaschinenbau 2035: Branchen-Zukunftsbilder für den Maschinen- und Anlagenbau, p. 24)