CSSI partner Zebra Technologies, a leading manufacturer of rugged and data capture equipment, has released the 2018 ( download it below ) based on a survey of global and across a variety of industries and business sizes. This is a fascinating look ahead at and next steps in based on the opinions of the people who will make it happen. Based on the study, we can say that the next 5 years will be lively, as the number of fully-connected factories doubles, and half of facilities adopt RFID or RTLS, in pursuit of improving , , and . The pressure is on to improve the efficiency of and the .
Study highlights and key takeaways of the
include:- IIOT (internet of things) will move beyond the hype. 27% of respondents are capturing information from various sources, but the data is kept in silos.
- By 2022, only 19% project the silos to persist. Asian firms project to lead the way in becoming fully connected, with 77% versus just 63% in North America.
- Quality will be seen as a competitive differentiator, and thus quality management will drive change. 58% of respondents cite supplier quality as an issue.
- Auto ID technologies such as barcoding and RFID enable superior visibility into the process, and will play a role in improved quality management, , and .
- The American Society for Quality reports that every $1 spent on quality management returns $6 in revenue, $16 in cost reduction, and $3 in profits!
- expect to increase the number of tracking points and ‘gates’. This allows real-time monitoring of production, and real-time tracking of item locations. is increasingly important.
- 28% plan to adopt real-time tracking by 2022 versus 7% today.
- Industry 4.0 is going to drive towards Just In Time (JIT) shipments, with suppliers anticipating manufacturer needs.
- 26% currently require suppliers to provide JIT shipment notifications… this will increase to 35% by 2022, with high tech leading the way at 41%.
- RFID will grow from 24% to 33% for both shipments from supplier and shipments to customers.
- will transform the plant floor. Key categories are , real-time location tracking, wearable , , and & recognition – all of which are projected to exceed 50% of manufacturers in 2022.
- Paper-based processes will decline from 62% to 21%.
- RFID will find its home on the plant floor. While currently used more commonly in shipping, RFID will find a place in manufacturing, with sharp usage increases for work-in-progress.
- 48% plan to use RFID as part of the manufacturing process by 2022.
- Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) will achieve usage in 53% of facilities (versus 39% today).
- The use of ID cards for real-time location of employees will rise from 35% to 50%.
- will use RTLS to improve visibility and .
- , such as the rugged and barcode scanner is a critical tool for effective .
Download the complete for free:
![]() |
Also available: Zebra’s Vision Study.