RFID Journal Reported:

ABI Research, headquartered in Oyster Bay, N.Y., has announced that it expects the worldwide RFID market—sales of RFID hardware, software and services—will have a compound annual growth rate of about 15 percent from now until 2013, with annual revenue reaching $9.7 billion by that year. ABI’s research director, Michael Liard, believes the RFID market is growing robustly, across all product categories of RFID technology.

Really….

15% over 5 years works out to be 3% growth. 3% is not much more than the growth of the supply chain. One might even argue [Read more →]

Tags:   RFID · scanner guns · WMSNo Comments.

One of the hardest things to know is if a consultant you are bringing into a project is an expert or not.

Do they know their stuff, [Read more →]

Tags:   consulting · expertNo Comments.

Let’s face it. Technology can be a real pain in any business. That statement is coming from a 20+ year computer geek who really excels at technology and change. But the reason that I make that statement is because it is true.

No matter how nice technology is packaged, how good the training is, how many help files or how many free web sites you have, there is always a problem with technology which just doesn’t fit the mold of “do it yourself”. Technology and the change surrounding it is just complex.

So it is with supply chain systems. [Read more →]

Tags:   consultants · ERP · process · software · TechnologyNo Comments.

An old story back at the beginning of May has had me wondering. Not because I own a Ford truck, but because I don’t believe the entire story has been told.  Some reports are making this story about bad supply chain management.

The existing story was regarding the Excello plant closure and the line that most people are taking out of this is the following: [Read more →]

Tags:   charity · excello · ford · unionNo Comments.

Yesterday, I spent some time with a major distributor in the Oconomowoc, WI area. This very large facility of 1.1 million sq. ft. impressed me but not for the typical reason.

See the expectation when visiting a plant this size is in the seeing of the automation running the facility. When a company is receiving 300 trucks per day and moving out 155 outbound trucks, you would expect that automation is at the highest levels.

One additional fact which would lend this thought, was the fact brought up right away that of the 167 doc doors, they use these doors for both receiving and shipping. Making things more complex, they have two different modes of storage [Read more →]

Tags:   site visitNo Comments.