MAS
DIGITAL EXCELLENCE
Q: What is your assessment of the country’s readiness in terms of digital adoption?
A: On the surface, Sri Lanka appears primed for digital adoption – with an electricity penetration rate of 98 percent, a literacy rate of 97 percent, a mobile device ownership rate of 110 percent and a fast emerging computer savvy youth population.
However, we lack a dedicated public strategy to accelerate digital adoption. Without a clear policy framework, individual industries have been left to develop their own digital strategies, leading to disparities and gaps, which become barriers to digital adoption. And the lack of talent, investments, infrastructure and governance practices are the result of the lack of policy.
By addressing these critical barriers and taking a proactive approach to digital adoption, Sri Lanka can harness the transformative power of technology to drive economic growth, enhance social inclusion, improve the lives of its citizens and enable a smart nation.
Q: Can you cite an example of how MAS has embraced digital technology?
A: When future-proofing MAS, we realised that Digital Product Creation (DPC) was an emerging technology. We saw the value of having digital twins (DT) – a virtual counterpart to a physical ‘product’ – in our product creation process.
Technology behind DT changes how products are made; manufacturers can surpass the time and cost of many cycles of sample development, and push the boundaries of traditional and sequential workflows. The ability to digitally display the fit and look of a product to customised dimensions changes the way products are sold, and unlocks faster timelines and enables almost real time responsiveness to market behaviour.
Still, technology cannot replace some aspects of product development. Digital transformation is more about how people use and adopt technology, and less about the technology itself. So we combine our decades of experience and expertise in product craftsmanship with digital technology.
This integration has enabled MAS to expand its craftsmanship and design expertise. We develop over 3,000 unique DTs annually across 50 brands, ranging from activewear and athleisure categories to complex products such as constructed bras.
We also marry digital technology with human expertise. Our 3D technologists appreciate product craftsmanship and understand production feasibility. They have a solid background in pattern making and garment construction, and are trained to use new technologies and incorporate the knowledge of best practices in the physical product development.
Q: What strategies have been put in place to ensure digital readiness of your employees?
A: Being a part of MAS’ transformation, we’ve realised that technology is only 20 percent of the work to be done, with process engineering being 30 percent and ‘mindset and capability of people’ commanding the balance 50 percent. That’s why we label our transformation as a business transformation.
With a more holistic approach to digital readiness that focusses on business transformation through the capabilities of our talent, we were able to break our transformation into key stages among our various internal stakeholders.
When future-proofing an organisation through digital readiness, it is also important to upskill the organisation’s leaders to embrace digital technology and appreciate that the investment into digital transformation will not see an immediate financial impact. Furthermore, there needs the be an appetite for risk since not all use cases will have a definite immediate impact. Learning to fail fast and cheap is a key part of any transitional period that will yield long-term rewards.
Q: What are your organisation’s future plans for digital adoption and transformation?
A: Our digital adoption and transformation strategy revolves around leveraging digital technologies to drive process transformation, rather than simply digitising existing processes. We recognise that to truly futureproof our business, we must go beyond surface level digitalisation and instead, embed digital capabilities into our core operations.
It refers to the use of digital technologies to fundamentally change how we operate to deliver higher value to our customers.
The headwinds that have come our way have altered the course of the manufacturing industry. And the pandemic highlighted vulnerabilities in the global supply chain while its lasting social impact has led to labour shortages. For customers, reshoring is increasingly becoming a more attractive option to increase efficiency and reduce supply chain risks. Bringing manufacturing back to domestic markets means revisiting our global operations.
While these changes are immense and rapid, they create new and exciting opportunities for manufacturers to adapt to changing market conditions and position themselves for long-term success.
Ninety percent of leaders worldwide get excited about transformation, 17 percent sponsor transformative initiatives with their best resources, yet only two percent manage to achieve the targets they set out. At MAS, when it comes to future-proofing with digital technologies, we aspire to be a part of this two percent.
– Compiled by Ruwandi Perera
Website: www.masholdings.com
