The realization of digitalization in production companies – currently also referred to as Industry
4.0 – aims for reduction of internal value creation costs as well as costs for intercompany
collaboration and plays a key role in their current strategy development. However, related
strategy research still lacks to provide operationalized digitalization methods and tools to
practitioners with scientific rigor as well as real-world relevance. To challenge this status
quo, we present a scientifically grounded 14-step procedure model including 11 practically
tested tools, developed specifically for real-world application. The model leads practitioners
from their first contact with industrial digitalization, through the maturity assessment of
143 digitalization items, until the implementation of a KPI-monitoring system and a continuous
improvement process. We applied and re-worked the procedure model during three
years of application. Validation and Feedback from practitioners and scholars indicate, that
the model drives strategy development towards objective and data-based decision making
and increases stakeholder engagement in organizations considerably.