A new paper from Siemens Financial Services (SFS) examines how innovative financing techniques are helping to drive growth in industry, healthcare, and infrastructure by enabling investment in the digitalisation of processes and technologies.
Digitalisation enables the output of real-time performance data from processes and systems. The analysis of such smart data can then be used to improve productivity and efficiency, leading to higher cost savings and an increased competitive advantage.
The paper notes that an increasing range of tailored financing methods is available on the market to support equipment, technology, and software acquisitions and technology upgrades. These include total cost of ownership (TCO) financing, performance-based financing, energy-efficient technology financing, multiple jurisdiction financing, and solutions to enable ongoing investment with built-in points of refreshment. Such financing solutions are increasingly obtained from specialist financiers who command technological expertise and profound knowledge of specific industries. Solutions can therefore be customised to support very specific technology applications and customer requirements.
Financing is becoming an increasingly-important investment enabler as organisations seek to harness technological innovations to enhance effectiveness. In the healthcare sector, integrated technology opens the door to automated production of custom-made prosthetics through the combination of measurement data from computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) scans.
Robotics with dynamic sample management provide the optimal mix of chemistry and immunoassay analytics with one-touch sample management, resulting in improved flexibility, efficiency and workflow capabilities. In addition, new technology can also enable fusion of clinical images by accurately putting 3D tomography, CT, MR and real-time ultrasound images on the same screen. This can significantly speed up the workflow by reducing the number of follow-ups, and provide improved clinical information without additional radiation. Against a background of accelerating technological advances, the availability of flexible and appropriate funding is a vital component in helping both public and private organisations fully embrace digitalisation.
“We are seeing a rising demand for intelligent financing techniques from public and private healthcare organisations,” said Chris Wilkinson, head of sales for healthcare and public sector for SFS in the UK.
“Increasing technology sophistication has driven a need for tailored financing methods that can address specific requirements such as financing non-productive set-up periods or future upgrade options.”
The report also highlights the new mindset of finance managers in funding the investment of new technologies. These professionals are focusing on a set of desired outcomes, including improved performance and productivity, cost savings and/or return-on-investment, before appraising the best financing method with which to achieve their business goals.
