Key Trends for 2010
Welcome to 2010! I came up with these six key AIDC trends this year:
Healthcare & RFID
Our industry has traditionally not had a big footprint in Healthcare. Our successes were limited to providing printers and media to support labeling applications. However we’re now seeing increased interest in streamlining procurement processes to improving inventory control. I believe this has a lot to do with hospital administrators realizing that their current supply chain practises can no longer support the increased workload associated with an aging population and government bureaucrats telling hospitals to start reducing costs – in all areas. This is why in 2010 RFID will play a leading role in helping hospitals become more efficient. Where bar code scanning is basically one scan one person we’re now designing RFID systems for hospitals that don’t require a front line hospital worker ie. nurse or doctor to do any scanning. Instead data capture (part #, serial number, lot #) all happens as they perform their work. Where the bar code did little to make inroads into healthcare – RFID will be that break through technology this year.
Government RFP
We’re seeing a plethora of RFPs this year from all sectors of government. Stimulus money started working its way into the system late 2009 and I expect this continue through 2010.
Rise of the Smartphone Application
We’re going to see lots of apps for Smartphones as opposed for just ruggedized PDAs. Two forces are driving this trend. First is cost. Everyone gets one with their cell phone plan – so the cost of adding business applications will be minimal. The second is increasing technological sophistication of these devices. These devices have email, word processing, spreadsheet, and internet access. Combined with a camera, GPS, and WiFi radios – who needs a notebook anymore? And a third factor is the U.S. Department of Homeland Security who are clamping down on carry-on luggage. This is prompting a lot of business travelers to simply leave their notebooks in the office.
Collaboration in the Supply Chain
Companies are wary of big ERP systems and their ability to make their supply chain more efficient. Memories of big cost overruns, customization charges and extended time frames are still very fresh in CIO’s minds. So instead it’s a return to a best of bread breed approach with emphasis on integration. Yes they’re buying individual solution sets but CIOs are now expecting supply chain collaborators to have integration built-in.
Return of the bolt on Warehouse Management System for Legacy Systems
A lot of companies are still running legacy warehouse management systems with old telnet or batch based data collection front ends. With distribution facilities wary of adding head count; they’re now looking for an edge from technologies such as voice picking and RFID. And software features such as concurrent serialization/lot#/best before tracking and smart replenishment. As a result companies will start looking to replace their data collection front with technology that runs on better equipment and can support more sophisticated warehouse practices.
Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance
One of the requirements concerns in-store wireless networks. Retailers will have no choice but to upgrade their WiFi networks to the PCI standard which requires the replacement of older but unfortunately in many cases, still good 802.11 b/g networks. The requirement basically states that stores with external facing IP addresses must pass a network security scan every 90 days and only PCI compliant equipment can do this. Retailers not meeting PCI Compliance face very large monthly fines in the thousands and additional charges if their networks get comprised (not to mention bad press). Right now we’re very busy helping retailers become PCI Compliant this year.
All told it will be a very busy year for industry. Here’s to Scanners On in 2010!