ISA defines digital transformation as the adoption of sophisticated electronic tools and software applications to replace manual processes or simple spreadsheets to improve an organization’s efficiency, flexibility, resiliency, profitability, or other measure.
Digital transformation describes the process of integrating technology throughout and across an industrial organization to fundamentally change the way it operates internally and presents its products or services externally. Industry 4.0 is a related concept, initiated in Germany as Industrie 4.0, that is associated with smart manufacturing and the fourth industrial revolution.
The terms encompass topics such as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), edge computing, cloud computing, digital twin, engineering design & simulation, virtual & augmented reality, additive manufacturing, 3D printing, data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, predictive & preventive control, autonomous vehicles, and IT/OT convergence.