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Gearing up for the coming logistics revolution
The ground is shifting in the logistics arena, and lucrative new markets are opening up. As in any revolution, there will be both big winners and big losers. How can we best position ourselves to be on the winning side?
Contributed by RuggON Corporation
Wholly new ideas, and rapidly changing concepts, such as the IoT, AI, big data, robotics, and drones, are driving some amazing new applications that are creating these new markets today. And little-understood innovations, such as blockchain and cryptocurrencies, could even fundamentally undermine some traditional business models, disintermediating entire market segments and suddenly leaving many long-established organizations without a role to play.
Preparation creates winners
 To be ready to take advantage of these myriad opportunities, organizations need a core deployment strategy based around devices that offer versatile computing power, standards compliance, toughness, ease of use, and extensive connectivity options — plus upstream partners who are flexible and responsive to changing demands and special requests.
For example, leading rugged device makers have learned to address these needs by developing a range of durable, versatile devices, backed up by the experience and skills necessary to work closely with customers and quickly provide the best-in-class solutions for their specific requirements. It's obvious, also, that comprehensive SDK and API support and documentation are exactly what logistics application developers need to get up and running fast.
In this article, we will examine a few key applications and technologies, together with product strategy concepts that can help us navigate the evolving world of logistics today and well into the future.
Making logistics more efficient
 People are every organization's most important resource — and they are a key factor in sustainability, another important logistics trend. How can we make the best use of our valuable employees, and keep them safe, satisfied and working together smoothly?
 An obvious part of the answer is to give our staff the best possible tools — tools that are easy to use and that meet their needs.
These devices should adapt to the user, as much as the user adapts to them. These modern mobile devices feature thoughtful and versatile human interface design that works well in the toughest environments.
With organizations using increasing mechanization and technology to increase staff productivity, devices that work smoothly with vehicles are increasingly important for logistics, because well-designed vehicle systems are obviously a huge human efficiency multiplier, particularly in modern warehousing and delivery applications.
How do features become a competitive advantage for you?
It's easy to list hardware specifications and features, but in a cutting-edge rugged device, how do various product features actually translate into increased efficiency?
A rugged device that supports a wide range of standards enhances efficiency by providing flexible options for developers, and also helps them create reliable and future-proof applications. For example, products that support a comprehensive range of communication and navigation capabilities ensure compatibility with almost any device — even devices that have yet to be designed. Support for multiple standardized communications protocols assures easy, fast, and stable connectivity at all times by letting developers choose the best wireless system for each application, and even switching between protocols on the fly to maintain communications links, if necessary.
In addition, modern technologies, such as fast, long range UHF RFID, advanced sensors, and 3D camera functions allow users in the logistics sector to collect and transfer mission-critical data to the cloud for real-time analysis. This ability to take advantage of cloud computing services leverages the benefits of the IoT, and hugely increases efficiency by avoiding duplication of computing resources at the edge of the cloud. Therefore, it's important to choose devices that are ready for these newer technologies and to choose vendor and development partners with the knowledge and experience necessary to take advantage of them.
Seeing tomorrow's logistic applications
 Let's take a quick look at a few of the changes and new applications that are beginning to revolutionize logistics. Self-driving vehicles are already moving from science fiction to reality. For instance, a German automobile brand chose RuggON's Rugged In-Vehicle Computer (VMCs) for some of its self-driving vehicles that are used for picking up and off-loading materials and equipment. RuggON's devices are notable for offering a balanced combination of computing power, flexibility and connectivity that are all important assets for cutting-edge applications such as these.
RuggON's rugged tablets are also playing a key role as part of controller systems used in unmanned vehicles including ground and air devices, and encourages the development of robots and vehicles to explore new approaches to rapidly map, navigate, search, and exploit complex underground environments, including human-made tunnel systems, urban underground, and natural cave networks. Obviously, in these extremely challenging environments, tough, reliable and versatile devices are a necessity.
 Exciting innovations such as drones and robots are now being trialed as vital links in future logistics supply chains. It's not an exaggeration to say that these innovations will transform logistics.
 A typical application might see staff using a rugged device to manage a sensor-equipped drone. Backed by a versatile user portable device, such a drone could collect data, read cargo contents thanks to the long range of UHF RFID, or check and measure storage area via a 3D ruler application. For example, researchers at MIT have successfully used drones to enhance the effectiveness of RFID tagging systems in order to track and trace packages in a warehouse environment.
Obviously, similar approaches can be used to combine tablet-style rugged devices with robots and other semi-autonomous devices. Countless other applications are possible for drones and robots, and they promise to enhance productivity and efficiency, cut costs, and keep workers safely away from dangerous environments.
Combining semi-autonomous drones and robots with the connectivity and cloud computing benefits we discussed earlier will allow users to gather together data in real time, process it in the cloud with the latest AI and big data techniques, and instantly realize the benefits of that sophisticated analysis in the logistics supply chain and on the factory floor.
To look at one of many examples, a research team from the University of Texas at Austin and Carnegie Mellon University has developed a novel IoT system that combines the mobility of drones with the power of cloud processing. This project effectively offloads a strenuous computer vision workload from the drones to a sensor-cloud architecture, in order to greatly reduce drone battery draw and weight — therefore extending drone range and effectiveness and making the whole system smarter.
Controlling cost of ownership with a long term view
 All these new technologies sound exciting, and the benefits are obvious, but how about costs? While customers obviously want to keep control of the cost of their initial bill of materials, smart organizations are increasingly aware that total cost of ownership (TCO) is a more important factor than the initial sticker price, a little thought put into TCO today helps prevent budget shocks in future.
Expansion and connectivity options, together with strong software support and standards compliance, reduce TCO and help extend device lifetime. Durable and reliable products that support sustainability and save power also have a dramatic effect on TCO.
Some manufacturers take a lower-quality path that can appear attractive in the short term, but experience has taught RuggON that it is wiser to address TCO needs with rugged, flexible devices. RuggON's total solution includes software (a comprehensive developer kit) and hardware expansion modules, so buyers have no need to waste time finding or developing these resources — this also helps reduce budgets.
No limits for logistics
 In this article, we have briefly examined just a few of the fascinating and challenging changes that are coming to logistics, involving self-driving vehicles, the Industrial Internet of Things, AI, big data, drones, robotics, and so on. These changes have already begun to take effect and are about to transform the industry — nobody wants to be left behind.
In this rapidly changing world, today's managers must learn to think both vertically and horizontally, as they guide their organizations through the exciting months and years ahead.
At RuggON, we know that our rugged device series of products are ready to be a vital component of these innovative new logistics systems — in fact we are already working with partners to deploy such systems — and we believe that our skill and experience are the key to making our products work together with future technologies and keeping our customers ahead in their fields.
RuggON, with decades of ruggedized mobile solution expertise strives to improve productivity in harsh environments. Our dedicated engineering team is missioned to deliver devices with exceptional value & quality to improve user experience, we are keen to understand the different demands in each unique industry to provide application oriented & tailored solutions that are most efficient and yet effective.
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