Just a few days left in 2010. Most of us have all been busy trying to get that last project in the can to wrap up the year. I try and pull that work forward into the September, November time frame so I can concentrate on my next year plans, review trends for the coming year, align with the best of bread tools and position our efforts into markets that are heating up.
A lunch date here and a phone call there and I keep my finger on the pulse of what the market is doing and draft my plans accordingly. Here are my Top Five markets that effect Logistics and RFID tools for automated location for the coming year:
1) From a manufacturing stand point:
a) The Auto Industry is back!
i) Just maybe not as strong as the North American (US) Work force would like to see. We see a big upswing in investment in overseas facilities and projects. New competition entering the market from China and India following the success the Korean Cars have experienced here in the US this is a business plan to follow. GM and Chrysler are leaning heavily on none US based product and are now bringing to market Cars that are really world class in function not just words. Ford has done a wonderful job of rebuilding their product line and business model by starting at (can I use an over worked phrase) Job 1; Build a car people want to buy and drive - what a concept?
b) Heavy manufacturing:
i) Wow with commodity prices hitting records every few days this was an easy guess! The people that make the large Mining Equipment like Caterpillar, Komatsu, John Deere, and Volvo just to name a few, have a sellers’ market to feed right now. Massive cuts in 2009 have left them a bit short handed but built up the cash reserves. Now they just have to learn how to do more with less, and automate some processes to Value Stream operations. Setting on cash will let them buy up market share, they just need to make sure and save some of that cash for core improvements.
2) Agriculture is a coming market:
a) The bread Basket of the United States has changed over the years and we now have technology breaking out all over from GPS guided equipment to soil sampling at application time to adjust fertilizer to the actual soil requirements as you drive. Saving money on over application and reducing over use reduces fuel cost as well. Cost of Chemicals and the resulting theft of them is becoming a problem as well. The World Ag market is right there with the US and the growing needs of the world are demanding more.
3) Health Care:
a) Well the world population worldwide still grows and here in the US the Baby Boomers are all aging nicely. Regulation and health care cost have continued to rise at an alarming rate. All this has forced cutbacks, staff overloading and increasing patient base stressing this system.
4) Education:
a) This and Market Five are closely tied. Here in the United States we worry about or children in school and their safety but these pale in comparison to what some children experience around the world. School Lunch programs, medical response, resource scheduling, and testing all are becoming hard to control and trace.
5) Public Security and safety:
a) Public transportation has never been largely used in the United Sates as much as it has been deployed around the world. Large metropolitan areas in the US have some busses, trains, and subways but once you leave the city we depend on the automobile for our transportation needs. We are seeing move people moving to public transportation to save cost in the US, and Air Travel is growing quickly as well.
b) This is not repeated for the most part worldwide as public transportation is a core part of the daily life.
c) With massive amounts of people relying on or moving to public transportation, accidents, weather issues, and just the uneasy state of the world today is stressing the system to find new answers to Support and service of this vitally depended on system.
What does all of this have to do with RFIND? Opportunity, the use of RFID tools to track and trace Equipment, services, People, and Items to save time, money, and increase efficiencies. RFID is the tool of choice for streamlining systems and processes without manual input. Deployed properly it will return its total investment in well under a year and pay off additional dividends for years to come adding to you bottom line and operations.
Check with your RFID Consultant today for how these tools can help you in 2011.
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