IoT in manufacturing tackles waste, fraud and inefficiencies – Part Two
David Stain, Zebra Technologies
In the second part of his article on tackling waste in the industrial Internet of Things, David Stain, the industry marketing lead for manufacturing and field mobility at Zebra Technologies, detail how IoT can help.Seeing more, everywhere, with IoT: By increasing visibility of products across the supply chain, IoT can improve traceability from farm to fork, reduce fraud, meet consumers’ expectations for greater transparency and create new marketing opportunities.
From farm to fork: Tracing from farm to fork has been a big issue for a long time and IoT can help truly make it happen. Using barcode labels fixed to products, or RFID labels fixed to pallets (and read in batches by fixed readers), businesses can more easily trace products as they flow through the supply chain. A general rule of thumb is to use as many stages and gates as possible. A 2D barcode can be created as soon as a product is harvested and then that code can be scanned and, if necessary, the data associated with it, updated at every stage and gate it goes through. From the farm to its arrival at a processing plant; then out to delivery to businesses, or wholesalers; then from the wholesaler on to business warehouses. The more gates businesses have, the greater their visibility. When items reach the business, they are then scanned into their warehouse and checked against the flat file sent from the supplier or wholesaler. Encouraging farmers to barcode-label produce as soon as it’s picked or culled is one area where there’s significant room for improvement. This will be a major change for many suppliers and businesses may need to help them through this process.
For example, advising them on which barcode systems, printers and scanning devices sync best to their already existing systems to ensure seamless connectivity with their ERP and supply chain apps. Also, by installing smart sensors in their own trucks, or asking third party logistics providers and their wholesalers to do the same with their fleets, businesses can gain much deeper insight into how perishable goods have fared across the supply chain. Businesses can instantly see any problematic or prolonged changes in temperature. They can also infer from the data how drivers are working and encourage best practice – such as ensuring cold store doors are always kept closed – to optimise transit conditions.
Be more transparent: The latest GS1 2D barcodes can include much more information. Businesses can use this space to not only track their goods through their supply chain but inform consumers too. Data, including the source of a food, how it was produced and when, can be included and revealed using a simple smartphone app. So the consumer can see that the 28-day-old cut of beef that they are looking at really was culled 28 days ago. Businesses can even include some information on their progress through the supply chain.
Up sell and engage consumers with your brand: The notion of consumers scanning barcodes for information with their smartphones is now reality creating a new era of smart retailing. This provides the opportunity to include – or link to – recipes within ingredient listings to encourage people to try new things and buy additional products. Businesses can also offer complimentary products as part of the recipe deal to build loyalty and encourage shoppers to engage with their brand.
 Slash fraud and limit losses on defects: A company’s way of barcoding can be unique to their business. Therefore, any attempt to replicate their labels to get illegal foods into the supply chain will become much, much harder. What’s more, there’s a knock-on benefit too. Tightly tracked batches of goods can be easily located. So if there’s an inadvertent food issue – such as a crop spray problem – businesses can easily locate and recall, or destroy, just the batch in question.
The billion-dollar dividend: So what improvements can businesses expect from IoT? Scope for fraud can be slashed immediately and, if they start to communicate via barcodes with consumers, they’ll be a leader in an area that will become more important as people’s confidence and trust in their brand becomes as – or more – important than price in determining purchasing. But the biggest gain is in the supply chain. By ensuring the better management of temperature of perishable items in transit, there have been cases where customers add two days on to their sell by and use by dates. In terms of cutting waste across the industry, that could add up to savings of hundreds of millions – perhaps even billions – of dollars. This big focus on the issue of food loss, leaves no doubt that IoT is a technology movement that lives up to the hype.