Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)

Sales Planning: Big Data Provides the Answers

March 17, 2017

Analyst Insight: We have come a long way from the days where gut feel and years of industry knowledge ruled the day and drove critical decision-making. "Water Cooler Talk" seems a thing of the past, but to effectively work together, businesses must replace it with a new process. Face to face cross-functional team discussions are critical in helping teams learn to work together and communicate effectively. Welcome to sales and operations planning (S&OP). – M. Scott Moon, principal, Tompkins International

New Study Examines Mass Adoption of IoT Technology

March 17, 2017

RFID Journal

The average return on investment from the Internet of Things is 34 percent, with one in 10 interview respondents reporting returns greater than 60 percent, according to a new study published by Aruba, a Hewlett-Packard Enterprise company that specializes in next-generation networking solutions.

Blockchain: A Better Way to Track Pork Chops, Bonds, Bad Peanut Butter?

March 15, 2017

The New York Times

Frank Yiannas has spent years looking in vain for a better way to track lettuce, steaks and snack cakes from farm and factory to the shelves of Walmart, where he is the vice president for food safety. When the company dealt with salmonella outbreaks, it often took weeks to trace where the bad ingredients came from.

Most Retailers Plan to Use RFID, IoT Technologies by 2021, Study Says

March 15, 2017

RFID Journal

Zebra Technologies' "Retail Vision Study," released this week, finds that the majority of retailers surveyed globally expect to embrace radio frequency identification and other Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, as well as use analytic data from those systems by 2021, as more shoppers move to online sales.

Invest in These Technologies to Improve Profitability and Productivity

March 14, 2017

SupplyChainBrain

Analyst Insight: With companies reshoring their manufacturing facilities back to North America in today's market and in the future, leading industrial manufacturing companies are striving to enhance factory performance and improve plant productivity to maintain a competitive edge. Industrial manufacturing is in the midst of a technological renaissance that is transforming the systems and processes of the modern plant. Companies can't afford to ignore these advances or they will be left behind. – Brian Neuwirth, VP of Marketing and Sales, UNEX Manufacturing

RFID-Enabled Fuel-Monitoring System Connects to Internet of Things

March 9, 2017

RFID Journal

Fluid Management Technology Pty Ltd. (FMT), a specialist in fuel tank management, has developed an RFID- and Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled solution for clients that need to accurately monitor their fuel consumption. The backbone of the system is a device that the company calls the SmartFill GEN 2, which helps prevent theft by restricting fuel dispensal only to authorized users.

IBM and Maersk Ready Blockchain Technology

March 8, 2017

Maritime Executive

Maersk and IBM have announced a new collaboration to use blockchain technology to help transform the global supply chain.

The Benefits of an IoT-Connected Warehouse

March 8, 2017

SuppyChainBrain

Analyst Insight: The Internet of Things (IoT) was originally the concept of "things talking." In the early days we envisioned RFID tags on everything, helping to identify and locate any object in the universe. The RFID tag would uniquely identify the item, determine its location, and put a time stamp to the transaction. It was a straightforward concept. It was either there, or it was not. It was all about identity and location. – Eric Peters, executive vice president, Tompkins International

Four Key Elements of an IoT Strategy for Manufacturers

March 7, 2017

SupplyChainBrain

Analyst Insight: When people talk about the Internet of Things, they can mean many different things, even within one industry. For a manufacturer, there are four major areas where IoT may have an impact: the manufacturing plant, the supply chain, service and the product. – Bill McBeath, chief research officer, ChainLink Research

Optimizing Digital Operations for 'Smart' Supply Chain

March 6, 2017

SupplyChainBrain

Analyst Insight: Variously called Industry 4.0, the Industrial Internet, or simply digitization, the emergence of machine-to-machine interactions, human-to-machine interactions, robust data and analytics capabilities, and cheaper, more ubiquitous sensors is pushing the Internet of Things (IoT) into the core operations of more and more companies. Among the business operations especially ripe for transformation by digital and IoT capabilities is the "smart" supply chain. – Eduardo Alvarez, Principal, PwC, and Rodger Howell, Principal, PwC