Potentials of Digitalization in Tool Management

It is indisputable that digitalization may tap previously unused potentials in industry. However, the amount of approaches for implementing digitalization in tool management is scarce. To close this gap, this paper proposes a framework for approaching digitalization in tool management. The framework consists of three sequential steps. The first step is about the definition of the company's individual goals of tool management such as a high tool availability, a low tool inventory and a high product quality. In the second step, the digitalization levers and their influence on these three goals are determined. Three of the most important levers are the development of competencies, the integration of databases and the usage of track and trace technologies. In the third step, measures for the implementation process need to be derived. For assisting companies in determining the gap between the current and the target status, a Readiness-Model is presented. The developed three-step framework increases the transparency of the potentials and provides a guideline for the implementation process.