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The Digital Servitization Exchange Podcast
Connecting research and practice in the transformation from products to digital services.
The Digital Servitization Exchange Podast explores how manufacturers create and capture value through services and software. Designed for both researchers and practitioners, the podcast brings together academic insight and industry experience to unpack the concepts, challenges, and opportunities driving digital servitization.
Each episode delves into themes such as service innovations, subscription models, industrial IoT, digital platform ecosystems, and organizational transformation. Rather than focusing on individual voices, the podcast emphasizes relevant topics that matter across domains — offering evidence-based perspectives for academics and actionable ideas for business professionals.
By bridging theory and practice, The Digital Servitization Exchange Podcast provides a space where learning flows both ways: from research to real-world implementation, and from practice back to research.
Ideal for: academics, doctoral researchers, industrial leaders, digital transformation managers, service strategists, and anyone shaping the future of digitally enabled services.
The Digital Servitization Exchange Podcast
#23 Komatsu and the Rise of Smart Construction Solutions
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Description
In this episode, we explore how Komatsu reinvented itself from a world-class maker of heavy machinery into a global provider of Smart Construction solutions. Faced with labor shortages, low productivity, and rising safety demands, Komatsu made a bold bet on digital servitization—shifting its focus from selling machines to delivering smarter, safer, and more productive construction outcomes.
The episode traces Komatsu’s journey from early telematics and machine automation to a fully integrated digital jobsite vision that connects drones, 3D design models, cloud platforms, AI analytics, and semi-autonomous equipment. We examine how Smart Construction transforms the entire construction workflow—from survey and planning to execution and inspection—and how Komatsu built an open ecosystem of partners, platforms, and consultants to scale this vision globally.
More than a technology story, this is a strategy and transformation story: how Komatsu changed its business model, empowered less-experienced workers to perform expert-level tasks, and repositioned itself as a long-term productivity partner rather than just an equipment supplier. It’s a compelling example of how digital servitization can reshape even the most traditional industries.
Key words
Smart Construction, Connected & Autonomous Machinery, Platform Ecosystems
Outcome-Based Productivity