Case Study: Transformation & Leadership in Organization 5.0: Digital Leadership Driving Industrial Transformation in a Mid-Sized Machinery Manufacturing Enterprise

This case study explores how “PrecisionCoat Systems GmbH”, a medium-sized German manufacturer of customized coating and surface treatment systems, undertakes a comprehensive digital and organizational transformation between 2024 and 2025. Facing supply chain volatility, fragmented legacy IT, and a pronounced digital skills gap in an ageing workforce, the company aligns its transformation with Organization 5.0 by combining Industry 4.0 technologies with a strong human-centric focus. The case details how IoT-enabled production, the PCS PROFIT cloud platform, predictive maintenance, and a digital customer portal are implemented through a Seven-Role Digital Leadership Framework and the Three-S Model (Systems, Social, Space), emphasizing distributed leadership, psychological safety, and cross-generational knowledge transfer. It also documents measurable outcomes such as higher first-pass yield, reduced downtime and energy consumption, increased digital proficiency, improved employee engagement and psychological safety, lower CO₂ emissions, and the creation of new digital revenue streams, illustrating how human-centered digital leadership can drive resilient and sustainable industrial transformation in a mid-sized machinery manufacturing context.