The aim of this article is to present what difficulties occur on the path of a company's transformation towards Industry 4.0 and how the companies surveyed have dealt with them, as well as to show what results they have achieved in the area of digitalization and digitization. The article presents the process of digitalization and automation in Polish manufacturing companies. It identifies effective solutions and examines their impact on organizational performance. The research was carried out in two large manufacturing companies operating in Greater Poland. Each of these companies was at a different stage of digitization, and there were visible differences in the effects of implementation. The main problems were that the implemented systems were not used by managers and there was an apparent lack of a process approach in both organizations. There was a lack of awareness that digitalization was just a tool to achieve better manufacturing efficiency. Most importantly, in both companies the management recognized the mistakes made and realized how important digitalization is for the development of the company, and in both companies measured were taken to improve the digitalization process. ALFA hired an external company to help implement the changes with a strong commitment from the top management. BETA continued to develop the solutions already implemented and is looking for new ones to help improve the processes.