Measuring digital transformation in high-end equipment manufacturing: an I-P-O model-based approach

The digital transformation of high-end equipment manufacturing enterprises serves as a critical driver for upgrading the manufacturing value chain and achieving high-quality development. This paper constructs an evaluation index system for assessing the digital transformation level of high-end equipment manufacturing enterprises based on the Input-Process-Output (I-P-O) theoretical model. It employs the VHSD-EM model to evaluate the digital transformation levels of 124 such enterprises from 2016 to 2021. Additionally, the barrier model is utilized to analyze the primary obstacles affecting their digital transformation. The findings indicate that (1) overall, the digital transformation levels of high-end equipment manufacturing enterprises exhibited an upward trend from 2016 to 2021, though the growth rate was slow, with relatively few enterprises achieving outstanding transformation levels. Notable differences in scores and changes were observed across five key fields. (2) An indicator perspective reveals that the primary obstacles from 2016 to 2021 are concentrated within the top five, with most showing a slight upward trend. Conversely, from a criteria perspective, the challenges primarily involve enterprise awareness of digital transformation and the process itself, demonstrating a slight downward trend.