Digital In Unipart

Most leading companies realise that digital transformation is as much about culture as technology. That’s why Unipart Rail’s leadership team is committed to building digital capability in employees as well as in the products and services we deliver for our customers.

In Unipart Rail we have invested in Instrumentel – a multi-sector developer of Condition Based Monitoring Systems – covering the complete process from sensor design and manufacture through to data storage, analytics and automated decision making. This acquisition is accelerating the speed of technological change in our innovation processes AND in the understanding of our colleagues of the power of digital transformation and the possibilities of harnessing the power of data to automate processes.

With the world economy now well into the 4th industrial revolution, and the rate of human adaptability is being outpaced by the scale of technology change, it is vital for employees to understand how digital skills and tools can be applied to their day-to-day working lives.This builds on the philosophy of The Unipart Way to “engage people to solve problems at their own level”.

Within the business we have established a network of ‘Digital Champions’ – individuals with an interest in digital technologies AND the skills to engage and inform colleagues in a wide range of technologies so that everyone knows how and where to get information and solutions that drive value for our customers. Whether they’re improving a customer’s warehouse operation by moving from paper to digital processing, or using coding to automate manufacturing processes, or developing equipment that reduces testing regimes from 54000 to 4 seconds, the application of digital thinking is now so embedded within Unipart that the company is changing from within.

With this change comes opportunity as it is estimated that a third of colleagues’ jobs across the economy will be automated with technology – giving us the opportunity to be more productive and to do more with the resources we have – rather than contracting the size of the business.

This response to this is in the hands of the business – and the individual – to recognise this is an opportunity, not a threat, and to respond with an empowering message.

For any cultural change initiative, strong leadership is essential. Which is why John Neill, Chairman and CEO of Unipart Group, is leading the drive across the entire organisation to build digital capability in both the workforce and in the products and services we deliver for our customers.

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