Digitalization in industry. Where to start?

Sergey Zemelkin, Head of Corporate Data at RHIT — a Roskhim subsidiary — shared a unique methodology for launching digital initiatives in an industrial company. To build trust in digital solutions, the company organized a dedicated event with production leaders, collecting a large number of initiatives directly from the people running the processes. To evaluate proposals objectively, an express-assessment methodology was developed based on two key criteria — potential economic impact and real feasibility — which made it possible to rank priority projects. According to Sergey Zemelkin, any successful digital initiative rests on the "Production – Business – IT" triangle, where missing any one element makes a project unviable. The practical lessons he formulated include several key principles: digitalization starts with trust, not budget; begin with small but demonstrative projects; transparency of the process matters more than speed; focus on the most margin-heavy and resource-intensive processes, where even small improvements yield maximum economic impact. This approach builds a sustainable ecosystem of digital transformation.