What does digital transformation mean for IMI?

The specialist technologies at the core of IMI’s business are constantly evolving, making the most of digital connectivity to create extra value for the customer

What the Industrial Revolution was to the 19th century, the Digital Revolution is to the 21st – we’re living in exciting times for engineering. The opportunities to reshape our world for the better and tackle urgent challenges such as climate change are incredibly exciting.

“We’re using digital connectivity and data intelligence to really advance our businesses,” says Daniel Shook, Finance Director of IMI plc, describing how the global engineering company is going through a digital transformation on three fronts.

“First, we’re using digital tools and connectivity to unlock value for customers through real-time data stream analysis,” he says.

Second, IMI is using data to identify and prioritise new customer opportunities, as well as detecting any areas in the business where we need greater customer investment.

“And the third area is what we have always been doing, using data and digital tools to make your own processes more efficient,” says Daniel. “On the shop floor, in the back office, to streamline and automate to drive costs down.”

Digital innovation is reshaping engineering

The ongoing evolution in data collection and smart dashboards is a boon for a company like IMI, which makes products that provide customers with a safer, more productive, more sustainable operation. With the feedback loops that digital connectivity allows, IMI can present hard evidence of this and help the customer optimise their activities.

IMI Insyt, for example, is a cloud-based system which uses data-driven analytics to identify operational problems at industrial plants, including cracks and leaks in pipes and equipment, before they become serious issues.

A digitally connected ecosystem such as HyInsight can pinpoint where an HVAC system can use energy more efficiently and raise comfort levels.

IMI’s BrainCube Connect integrates all the control units for pressure maintenance and water quality processes. What used to require an entire building management system is reduced to one intuitive unit that a customer can run via their smartphone or laptop.

“More and more we’re making our products intelligent,” says Daniel. “So a building or plant manager doesn’t have to physically go and take a reading on the machine, it comes straight to them, and they then can choose to modify the system along the way.”

Christian Thesing, Senior Specialist Pressurisation and Water Quality for IMI Hydronic Engineering in Füllinsdorf, Switzerland, specified the first generation BrainCube in 2004, followed by a second ten years later.

“Both are big steps forward compared with what went before,” he says. “The user interface has really moved ahead. When you compare it to our competitors no one else has anything like this. We’ve produced a high-end product for the same price as lesser products on the market.”

How data can help businesses get to net zero

The ability to make data visible and useful couldn’t come at a better time when business is focusing on carbon emissions.

“All three IMI divisions play a big role helping our customers to not only reduce their carbon emissions, but also to access the data to verify the improvement,” says Daniel. “The next step for companies advancing on ESG is to provide hard, auditable data to say: ‘Yes, we are absolutely reducing our environmental impact.’ So that’s the big one, the real exciting benefit of our recent product development.”

“And we’re not just supporting lower emissions in existing processes,” Daniel adds. “IMI is also enabling the hydrogen economy, making hydrogen production and distribution safer and more cost effective, and providing solutions as vehicles move to battery electric and hydrogen fuel cells,” he says. “And our products in the life sciences space are helping customers develop machinery that can diagnose ailments faster, or develop the next vaccines. It makes all of us want to come to work.”

Getting a return on investment in digital innovation

At the R&D level, digital simulation tools are speeding up the innovation process. “Before, we were dependent on external companies to support us with flow design and flow simulation. It was expensive and involved a lot of to-and-fro,” explains Christian. “Now, we have an engineer who can make all the calculations on the simulations in-house.”

Daniel emphasises that IMI’s Growth Hub process, which typically involves 12-week sprints for R&D, is structured so that design engineers validate early the product or service value with a large customer pool. “Tell me what the size of the prize is,” says Daniel. “Tell me the tremendous value created for the customer. And tell me if it’s going to cannibalise an existing solution, because sometimes great ideas might improve on an existing solution. That’s okay. We just need to ensure that the investment is going to get a return. But once that’s been validated, our questions shift to, ‘If we doubled your prototype money, could you deliver it faster? Because this is a great idea, let’s accelerate it.”

Hiring talent with digital skills

“We’re evolving the shape of our talent to drive faster on these three areas of digital,” Daniel explains. “Data scientists and software engineers are joining us and it’s rewarding to see how they are helping our existing great talent to think differently, and maybe bust some traditional assumptions along the way . It’s an evolution, not a revolution, as we bring in new skills. And, with our One Big Team culture creating the right environment for new ideas and thoughts, we’re accelerating our customer solutions and driving IMI forward.”