Digital transformation at Murano Glass: Challenges and new directions

Abstract

In 1949, Giovanni Murano decided to build a business from the art of glass manufacturing, leveraging the knowledge and skills available in the universally known cradle of glassmaking art, Venetian Lagoon, Italy. The company specialised in the production of glass bottles. Over the years, the company expanded and set up global footprints, positioning itself as market leader in medical glass products. The expansion into new regions required the use of advanced digital tools that will monitor performance and improve productivity across numerous dispersed manufacturing sites. It was a sweltering day in July 2019, Giuseppe stood next to the air-conditioning system, just 20 m from the overheated production line. It magnified the intensity of output as he explained the innovative ideas he had for the company: ‘Digital technologies are changing our society and working life and we need to use them to change the way Murano Glass operates and competes’. He described the implementation of an application that enabled remote assistance with augmented reality and a peer-assistance platform to connect employees all over the world. It would unite a geographically dispersed team and streamline connectivity. Despite his enthusiasm for the initiative, however, the budget for digital projects had shrunk and management support was lacking. His ideas for digital transformation were not progressing as he had hoped. Giuseppe wondered what was going wrong in Murano Glass’s digital transformation journey.