Even though Finland-based Nokia unloaded its mobile handset business on Microsoft in 2014, it remains the second-largest mobile equipment manufacturer in the world after Sweden-based Ericsson. The company has about 100,000 employees after its acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent in 2016.
Microsoft shuttered the handset business a scant two years after the company acquired it, freeing up hundreds of skilled technical resources, especially in Oulu, as I discussed in my last article.
In spite of these disruptions, Nokia still employs over 2,000 people in this small city near the Arctic Circle. In fact, the company still operates a factory there, manufacturing mobile base stations for telco service providers.
Given that 5G, the next generation of mobile telephony, is right around the corner, it makes sense that much of Nokia’s R&D efforts are focused on the new technology.
Touring the base station factory, however, concluding that Nokia’s innovation centers on 5G is a classic trees vs. forest mistake. In reality, the real innovation story here is the factory itself.
Read the entire article at https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbloomberg/2017/06/18/robots-managing-robots-nokias-digital-factory-of-the-future/.
Intellyx publishes the Agile Digital Transformation Roadmap poster, advises companies on their digital transformation initiatives, and helps vendors communicate their agility stories. As of the time of writing, none of the organizations mentioned in this article are Intellyx customers. Image credit: Jason Bloomberg.
