At CeMAT / Industrial Transformation Australia, two conference sessions coordinated by APPMA, spotlighted the intersection of strategic vision and practical action in digital transformation for packaging and processing. Henrik von Scheel, a global strategist known as the originator of Industry 4.0, and Daniyal Baig, a mechanical engineer with extensive manufacturing experience, both addressed how Australia’s industrial sector can prepare for the future.
Von Scheel’s keynote centred on what he called “digitalisation 2.0”, a shift beyond basic connectivity to a more integrated approach that connects virtual, digital and physical systems across operations. He identified packaging and processing as key areas undergoing structural change, driven by robotics, AI, smart labelling, and supply chain automation.
“This is the biggest shift we’ve seen in human mankind,” von Scheel said, referring to Industry 4.0. “It changes how your organisation works, operates, performs… faster than ever before.”
He warned against seeing AI as a shortcut to transformation, noting that many AI projects fail because they are essentially digitalisation projects in disguise. “You cannot do AI without digitalisation. Most AI projects are 90 per cent digitalisation projects,” he said.
According to von Scheel, Digitalisation 2.0 must be purpose-driven and designed with business outcomes in mind. He outlined three practical phases, sensory connectivity (linking devices and sensors), digital engineering (aligning software and performance systems), and digital operations (integrating processes and workflows across the value chain). A fourth phase, digital twins, is often used where bandwidth or systems limitations prevent real-time integration.
In packaging operations, this transformation includes integrating labelling machines, warehouse systems and smart manufacturing tools into a common framework. Von Scheel stressed that the real value lies in designing workflows that optimise how services are delivered, not simply digitising existing steps.
“This is where competitiveness is designed,” he said. “You can only change skills at the people level and people are the centrepiece.”
He also highlighted the potential of inventory financing enabled by digitalisation, which allows companies to leverage better data visibility to reduce risk and access funding. “You cannot do inventory financing without Digitalisation 2.0,” he said. “If you can’t show an insurer how much stock is sold, stored or in transit, they won’t insure it.”
Taking a more operational approach, Daniyal Baig’s session focused on how manufacturers, especially Australian SMEs can begin or scale their digital transformation journey. Drawing on his experience working with clients globally through his company Almight, Baig outlined the common challenges: limited local talent, reactive technology adoption, and pressure from external disruptions such as geopolitical events, supply chain volatility and climate impacts.
“Australian manufacturers often wait until technology is obsolete before replacing it,” Baig said. “We’re good at adapting to the environment, but less proactive when it comes to adopting improvements.”
Baig outlined the key drivers for transformation as data, innovation, and value. He emphasised the importance of understanding where data is created, how it is consumed, and how it is shared. He used Google Maps as an example of a tool already embedded in supply chain operations, often without formal recognition. “People in your business are already using AI, you may just not know how,” he said.
To begin transformation, Baig recommended an end-to-end mapping of technology and processes, followed by alignment with business objectives and cost profiles. “Don’t go technology-first. Be objective-first,” he said.
He endorsed the SIRI framework for conducting technology and capability scans, and advocated for a use-case-specific approach, focusing digital tools on individual departments or product lines rather than organisation-wide rollouts. He also encouraged companies to self-fund early initiatives through incremental improvements and identified simulations, gap analysis, and existing system utilisation as low-cost starting points.
Baig cautioned against common pitfalls: poor data quality, implementing technology in isolation, and failing to involve people in the change. “Digital transformation should enable strategy, not be the strategy,” he said.
Both sessions pointed to the same underlying message: manufacturers must move beyond buzzwords and take deliberate, structured steps to transform their operations. While von Scheel focused on long-term strategic realignment and the redesign of business models, Baig brought that vision to the ground level with frameworks, risk considerations, and implementation tactics tailored to the Australian context.
Each speaker underscored the need for people to be at the centre of transformation, with skills, workflows, and collaboration playing a larger role than software alone.
“Manufacturing is the backbone of innovation via engineering,” von Scheel said in closing. “This is your time to shine if you work together and share best practices.”
