Digital Transformation Examples: How Companies in Your Industry are Changing Their Operations

Most of us hardly remember the time when employees used paper and pens to write their reports, and one or two others had to carefully go through all these documents and understand their colleagues’ handwriting (a challenging task, indeed). 

Like, come on, Merriam, what did you write here?

Progress has given us better solutions to cover all our needs and boost the overall working process. And since the world is still growing and changing, more and more innovative technologies are appearing regularly. 

Today’s global corporate culture is all about digitalisation; 91% of businesses have implemented or plan to implement a digital-first company strategy, according to Foundry's 2021 Digital Business study. We detailed the digital transformation challenges that businesses will face in 2022 in this article.

As app development experts, MadAppGang can relate to the desire most companies have to conquer the world of digital. It’s not only about trends, after all, but helping your company perform better. 

With that in mind, here we explain what digital transformation means for businesses exactly by looking at real-world examples.

Back in 1948 the father of the information age, Claude Shannon, presented a small book called A Mathematical Theory of Communication to the world, and that’s when all the buzz started. He was the first to suggest measuring information in beats (discrete values of zero or one), and got the global digital ball rolling. 

Fast forward to 2022 and here we are, storing data in clouds, sharing it via the net, adopting innovations into day-to-day life and business, and feeling excited about digital technology growth. Sometimes changes seem scary, but as Ralph Waldo Emerson once said ‘Knowledge is the antidote to fear.’ So, let’s find out what benefits we get when opting for digital transformation. 

Leaving paperwork far behind, nowadays we have transformed how we collect, store, manipulate, and analyse data. Digitalisation, among other things, involves leveraging the power of Big Data to give businesses a greater understanding of their customers. Modern technologies drive data efficiently, and data, as a result, efficiently drives business. 

Rumour has it that laziness is the engine of progress. To find out if it’s true we Googled, and saved hours we could have spent scouring books in the library. It’s a joke, of course, and technologies are not about being lazy, but rather achieving better results in less time. In the same vein, advanced digital tools can automate repetitive tasks, letting you focus on more creative things. 

Whatever service you provide, it’s important to leave a first good impression on your customers. The way they feel while interacting with your solution is the main aspect they consider when choosing between you and your competitors. So, the more intuitive and seamless the user experience is, the higher the chances of prospects becoming loyal customers. And remember: 67% of consumers confessed that they’re ready to pay more for a great experience.

An increase in income is also an impact of digital transformation. According to statistics, digitally mature businesses are 23% more lucrative than their less developed counterparts. And the stats mentioned above show us one of the reasons: if you keep up with the times and your customer’s needs, you’re likelier to succeed and get a higher ROI.

With all the aspects we’ve already mentioned it’s clear that digitalisation will help you gain a competitive edge. Without it, unfortunately, winning a slice of the market in your niche is a long shot. 

The good news is that digital transformation is not scary or dangerous, and you can easily implement it in your business and client-facing solutions. Let’s see how companies from different industries handle digital transformation and make the world a better place to live.

They say ‘When in Rome do as Romans do’ and we say ‘When in business digitalise as your business needs.’ Digital transformation is an individual company’s path. Depending on the field your business operates in, your digitalisation journey should be inspired by other successful cases but still progress in its own unique way. 

In this section, we’d like to talk about a few industries with real examples of companies that went through the process and managed to offer the world something new and meaningful. 

Healthcare is a basic human need. Everyone goes to the doctor from time to time, and most of us have faced an unpleasant situation while visiting: lengthy, disorganised queues, scheduling errors, a doctor who lost all of your earlier analyses and prescriptions, and so on.. Digital transformation appeared as a real painkiller in healthcare. 

With the invention of telemedicine, hospitals managed to resolve numerous challenges, especially those that centred on human error. Now you can make an appointment via a few clicks on your phone or computer and also fill in all the necessary information about your allergies, diseases, and medical history. Customer relationship management (CRM) systems help doctors store, collect, and manage patient data, so there’s little risk information is lost. 

One solution that helped the world overcome the challenges of COVID-19, in particular, are platforms for online communication between doctors and either their patients or colleagues. For example Siilo allows medics all over the world to cooperate with each other, share their experience and even hold online meetings with clients, so the latter don’t have to visit a hospital for a first consultation. 

As you can see, digitalisation worked well for both workers and consumers and even helped save more than one life. 

Siilo - a secure medical messenger platform

Like healthcare, digital transformation didn’t miss the fitness industry. Coming back to the elephant in the room (COVID-19), a lot of people couldn’t attend gyms and even do sport outside due to restrictions, so companies made alternatives: applications for exercise at home. Apart from that, apps started putting on the shoes of nutritionists and personal fitness trainers, offering users personalised nutrition plans (for example Lifesum), or guided video-tutorials for workouts (Apple Fitness+). 

But fitness applications were popular before quarantine: for sportspeople it was always crucial to have the real metrics of their activity. At MadAppGang we helped build an AI-powered running app called SmartRun. The app doesn’t focus solely on the runner’s performance (how many miles run and average speed), but also on the user’s health. The app connects to multiple devices, such as smartwatches or fitness trackers, and retrieves heart rate data to suggest the best training mode or provide additional recommendations. 

What’s good about apps like SmartRun is that they don’t tell people what to do, they guide them, care about their well-being, and are more human-like. With that being said, everyone who wants to adopt a healthy lifestyle, can easily do so using modern technologies.

This business sector is all about speed. Literally. Logistics specialists deal with a bunch of information, a lot of simultaneous processes, and numerous numbers. And they have to do it fast and without error. That’s a lot of pressure! And pressure doesn’t lead to great results. 

Nowadays, logistics companies are trying to make workflows more automated, easier, and error-free. One of the greatest examples of a company that actually did it is UPS. This American shipping and supply chain management giant adopted digital technologies for synchronising its operations and logistics strategy. It helped them boost their performance and fulfill client demand. The first thing they implemented was On-road Integrated Optimisation and Navigation (ORION). This tool collects all data from previous routes, analyses it and generates the best route for the next delivery. 

Another great technology UPS uses is Enhanced Dynamic Global Execution (EDGE). It helps the team manage all internal processes such as package sorting, truck loading and so on. One of the innovations they integrated into their work process because of EDGE is Bluetooth receivers. Anytime a delivery package is moving to the wrong track, they warn the workers. 

Statistics on how ORION improves performance 

Of course, these two are not the only technologies on the market. There are a lot of them, and even more can be developed. So, get on the track! 

Mobile banking is the most fabulous invention humans could make. After pizza, of course. No one likes to go to that terrific building, answer thousands of questions, and sign hundreds of papers to get a card, then do the same to change the passcode, and then to change euros to dollars, top up the card, and finally send 10$ to your friend for a soda. Phew, I got tired just writing about it!  

With mobile banking, you don’t have to go anywhere to complete home banking tasks. On your smartphone any transaction is made in an application with just a few clicks. And if you face any trouble, you can just talk to the built-in bot, or the one in a messenger platform, and get the help you need. Immediately.

MadAppGang was honored to take part in the digital transformation of WebMoney, one of the largest international settlement systems in the world. We were challenged to develop an application with a custom UI that was highly secure and user-friendly. Security is a number-one priority in the finance industry, users want to be sure their data is protected and financial institutions need to stay within regulatory guidelines. 

And now for the tastiest part of this article! Nowadays food is a cult. Eating is not just a necessity, it’s a whole activity: we go out to restaurants to feel fancy, we order food delivery to invite our friends over and watch a movie with them, we always want to try something new and interesting. For modern consumers, what the food looks like, if it has a story, and the way we receive the food is important. 

How many times have you waited for food so long that you already wanted to leave? At least once. For you it’s just an experience, but for businesses it’s minus one loyal customer. So, companies need to deal with this problem and most of them find the answer in modern technologies. 

When McDonald’s faced customers' complaints about slow service, they decided to improve their experience by implementing new in-store, drive-thru, and home delivery systems. They digitalised all the processes and made their clients take part in these. You can see this in play in the self-service terminals in every restaurant and the company’s dedicated app. 

Another food industry giant, Domino's, resolved the same problem by launching a special Pizza tracker, where you can see the whole process of making the pizza you ordered.

MadAppGang didn’t stand aside either, but the project we worked on doesn't involve only food orders. For our client, we developed Tayble, a restaurant app used by 500 venues that lets customers read menus, reserve tables, and pay for their orders all within just one app.

The whole world strives for energy savings, and there’s a reason for it. Climate changes and higher energy costs mean businesses are looking for more sustainable ways to generate and use power. Renewable energy sources and ventures that capitalise on these can help companies and individuals lighten the load.

It’s difficult to understand what to do with self-generated electricity, when you don’t understand the fundamentals of grids and electricity markets. When you have an alternative power source, and have no idea how much energy it generates, how much of it is consumed by a certain piece of equipment, and if there’s a way to streamline consumption, it can become a headache to say the least. That’s why digitalisation came to this field too. 

With AI technology, users can keep track of energy usage, manage consumption more effectively, and increase grid reliability. It also allows smart grids to thrive by integrating a variety of different energy sources. At MadAppGang we worked on the Evergen app, which helps people manage home solar systems, and understand how much electricity they consume and which items consume more. Such apps can help regulate energy use and help people take full control of their power consumption.

You’ve read about real examples of how digital transformation has changed different business sectors. And now you’re more confident about the hows and whys, but you still got a what. What should you do? 

All the companies we’ve mentioned started with the understanding that digitalisation will surely help their business grow. If you got this, then let’s just think about further steps together. Our team will gladly analyse your business and explain what digital transformation can bring to your business. 

MadAppGang has experience helping business from disparate fields join the digitalisation movement and become more competitive. Take our professional hand and let’s start your digital journey.