As leaders in the manufacturing industry, we constantly navigate a landscape of disruption. From volatile supply chains and fluctuating market demands to persistent labor shortages, the pressure to perform is immense. Many of us have turned to digital transformation as the answer, and rightly so.
Enterprise operations run on precision, yet a single unreadable barcode label threatens to halt your entire workflow. You rely on printers to keep products moving, but choosing cheap, non-certified supplies often introduces unexpected chaos into your daily processes.
Each January, the tech world converges on Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), offering a preview of the future. We see smarter homes, next-generation gadgets, and brilliant displays.
AI-driven frontline operations will require companies to develop new capabilities that augment their current approach. Previously we explored how Asset Visibility delivers a complete, real-time view of the entire frontline environment, critical to provide AI models with knowledge of the current situation.
Legendary ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky famously said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” In the highly competitive footwear retail market, this translates to an absolute truth: you miss 100% of the sales you cannot fulfill.
In my conversations with customers and manufacturing leaders across Vietnam, there is a palpable energy right now. As global supply chains diversify, our local manufacturing sector is experiencing breathtaking growth.
Food and beverage facility leaders face a difficult reality. A significant labor crisis continues to challenge the manufacturing sector, creating immense pressure to hit production forecasts and reduce downtime.
Latin America’s fields and farms feed a significant portion of the world. The region produces more than a third of global agricultural exports, from Colombian coffee to Brazilian beef.
Manufacturing and logistics leaders face a complex, shifting landscape. The relentless pace of e-commerce, persistent labor shortages, and rising consumer expectations demand a new approach to operational strategy.
A striking paradox is unfolding in boardrooms worldwide. Companies are investing heavily in AI, yet a recent Hoover Institution study found over 80% of them report no meaningful productivity impact.
Across the transportation and logistics industry, AI continues its transformation from a future concept to a daily reality. In the back office, leaders successfully leverage AI and intelligent software solutions to refine demand forecasting and optimise asset visibility.
It’s a familiar pattern in technology: the differentiator of yesterday becomes the table stakes of today. For years, having an AI strategy was a competitive advantage; now, it’s an expectation.
AI commands headlines and captures imaginations, promising a future of unparalleled efficiency. Yet for executives leading operations in retail, manufacturing, and transportation, the practical application of AI often feels distant from the hype.
As leaders in the manufacturing sector, we stand at a pivotal moment. The pressures of global competition, rising consumer expectations, and supply chain volatility push us to innovate constantly.
That depends on how you want to use your system and who you want to be able to operate and maintain it.
Discover how AI can streamline your software testing processes while understanding the potential risks it may introduce to your business. Learn the essential steps to ensure trust in your testing results and maintain the software’s performance and objectivity. Optimize your testing strategies with a balanced approach to leveraging AI effectively and safely.
Today is an important day for Zebra as the company unveils its brand refresh. While our logo hasn’t changed, our new brand platform, “Better Every Day” represents a strategic evolution and tighter alignment with modern technology trends which recognize the impact that automation and AI are having on frontline workflows.
Picture this: David, an employee in a bustling store, notices a customer who looks frustrated as she is searching through the jeans display.
The world is changing fast, and so is your frontline. Whether you’re in retail, manufacturing, transportation and logistics (T&L), or healthcare, you’ve likely felt the pressure to do more with less.
Before a pair of shoes reaches your doorstep, it may pass through up to 30 touchpoints where Zebra products, solutions, or workers using Zebra devices play a critical role in its journey.
As the backbone of retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation and logistics (T&L) businesses, frontline workers drive results. Yet, according to Korn Ferry, a new study reveals that more than three-quarters (77%) of these workers believe senior leaders fail to understand their daily challenges.
The way we work is changing, and it’s happening fast. Across industries like manufacturing, retail, and transportation and logistics (T&L), businesses are embracing smarter, faster, and more connected ways of working. Why? Because the world demands it. Customers expect flawless service, employees want meaningful roles, and companies need to stay resilient in the face of constant change. But how do we get there? The answer lies in intelligent operations.
Amidst rising demands, global competition, and evolving consumer expectations, manufacturing operations must adapt to thrive. The research we recently unveiled with Oxford Economics sheds light on how intelligent operations can unlock transformative efficiencies throughout manufacturing operations.
The study titled, “Impact of Intelligent Operations” quantifies the benefits of workflow optimization and identifies how intelligent automation transforms manufacturing performance. It also reveals a compelling case for adopting intelligent operations to improve quality, reduce costs, and unlock new growth opportunities.
The challenges facing AI today, such as data scarcity and quality concerns, might seem daunting, but they also present an opportunity. By turning to the wealth of data generated on the frontline, businesses can create more intelligent, efficient, and adaptive systems.
In the rapidly evolving landscape of industrial automation, staying ahead of the curve is paramount. Enter 3D imaging technology—a game-changer that is transforming manufacturing, logistics, and industrial operations by offering unprecedented precision and efficiency. As industries strive to enhance their competitiveness, understanding the capabilities and applications of 3D imaging is crucial.
In the ever-evolving landscape of intelligent automation and manufacturing, smart cameras have emerged as pivotal tools transforming machine vision technology. With advancements in edge processing and seamless integration capabilities, these devices are redefining the way industries approach efficiency and precision. As manufacturers, logistics operators, and warehouse professionals seek to optimize operations, smart cameras offer a promising solution for intelligent automation. By delivering real-time insights, and automated decision-making capabilities, robust, scalable, and adaptable smart cameras are ideal for a diverse range of industrial applications.
Last month, Zebra and Clearview, a Zebra industrial automation distributor, hosted a launch event to officially open our new Industrial Automation Center of Excellence. The two-day launch event underscored our commitment to collaboration and innovation in fixed industrial scanning and machine vision.
Today, I want to share with you the story behind this initiative. The center is more than just a facility; it represents our vision for the future of industrial operations—a future where technology serves people and empowers organizations to thrive.
Retail operations generate vast amounts of data every day. This data, which includes sales transactions, inventory levels, customer interactions, and employee actions, holds the key to understanding and resolving operational issues. However, traditional data analysis methods often fall short, struggling to address the multi-step nature of many retail problems.
Unlock the full potential of AI in your business operations by integrating automated data capture. Discover how tools like RFID tags, barcodes, and environmental sensors can provide AI with the comprehensive data it needs to make smart decisions, spot patterns, and enhance efficiency. Ensure real-time visibility and seamless data access to empower AI-driven insights and streamline your operations. Learn from Andy Zosel’s expert insights in this latest Forbes Technology Council article on leveraging AI and data capture for superior business intelligence.
Two healthcare and pharmaceutical sector experts say resistance to change is causing many organizations to miss out on the benefits of automation and experience preventable disruptions in their operations. Yet, there are many ways you can turn DSCSA requirements into business advantages...if you're open to automating certain parts of your business. Find out how.
Were exactly should RFID, machine vision and other automation technologies be used within the reverse logistics chain? Alex Whiting, founder of MiTEQ, reveals what he’s found to work best.
These are the questions to ask every time you’re assessing a new machine vision project for a production or distribution environment, if you want to get it right the first time and save money in the process.
Sometimes it takes more than “industry standard” best practices and policies to protect your people. These are the extra efforts that have helped us reach a rarely achieved workplace safety milestone: one million hours worked with zero workplace safety incidents.
Let’s talk about how Scrum compares to Waterfall project management, what it has in common with Agile, and how you can start using Scrum to keep your projects on time and on budget.
If you used machine vision years ago, you may be hesitant to go there again. But modern AI-based systems are giving many manufacturers and warehouse operators significant competitive advantages. Here’s how.
The features and functionality of the cameras, sensors, and scanners used across your vision system won’t matter if you don’t have the right software underneath. Software is the glue. So, I'm curious: Did you closely inspect the software needed to run each of those pieces of hardware before buying them? Did you consider how easy (or difficult) it would be to get all the software platforms to work together as part of "one system"? Or have you found the software complicating things since putting those new hardware components in place? No matter your answer, you need to read this post.
You need to know everything there is to know about deep learning OCR, a new AI-based text reading tool, mainly because it’ll tell you what you need to know about so many things – such as your products’ quality and status.
Did you know there’s a way to configure your SAP mobile apps so they – and you – can keep working when offline? That's probably good news if you’re losing access to your SAP data and workflows every time your mobile device loses its connection to a Wi-Fi or 4G/5G network connection, you’re going to want to hear this. Read this blog post to learn more.
Responsible AI development, training, testing, and use require ongoing engagement and foundational practices to ensure long-term success and ethical implementation. Here is what you need to do to get started, whether you're an AI model developer, tester, or user.
The food wasted annually – the ~1.3 billion tons of food that ends up in the landfill – contains enough calories to feed approximately three billion people for a year! So, why is even a single person experiencing food insecurity or hunger right now? There is clearly enough food being produced to feed everyone on the planet today and then some. In this blog post, Leo Lowy takes a closer look at the root causes of food waste and loss as well as the technology tools that could be applied right now to stop food waste in its tracks at a global level. Read his recommendations.
If you're planning to use machine vision to assist with quality control or automate other visual inspections, there are some things you need to account for when designing your system. In the latest episode of the Industrial Automation Insider podcast, two engineers from Tri-Phase Automation explain what you should think about when spec'ing out your vision system to avoid headaches later on and make sure you get the results (and return on investment) you want.
Do you know exactly when, where and why losses are happening within your operations? If not, it will be hard to figure out how to prevent them, fix inventory distortion, and eliminate friction within your operations. So, let’s talk about loss detection.
There is so much that can be done on planes, in airports, and on the tarmac to make the air travel experience so much smoother. Fortunately, it sounds like some very smart tech upgrades are going to be made by airlines to improve the passenger experience amidst competing priorities and regulatory pressures. Find out what will likely be changing soon (and what changes are already starting to land).
Find out how one Fortune 1000 manufacturing company is going to save $1.1 million annually…just by digitizing forms and going paperless with a zero-code, SAP-friendly software solution.
While AI is certainly proving helpful with quality control during the electric battery production and electric vehicle assembly processes, AI isn’t the only thing that improves inspection results. Find out what can help automotive suppliers, manufacturers, and integrators even more.
They say there’s two sides to every story. Well, now there’s at least two viable machine vision solutions to every problem when you invite both seasoned and early career vision system engineers to the table, and that’s making it easier to see the right path forward. These two engineers (from different generations) explain why.
AI must fail over and over to succeed. But there are several mistakes you want to avoid making when teaching an AI-driven application how to look for anomalies on a product, component, or label using deep learning.
If you’re looking for a way to complete airplane cabin inspections and turn around flights faster without compromising passenger or crew safety, check out this new RFID-supported process that’s proving helpful for airlines like AirAsia.
No matter how much technology enables to run your business more efficiently, people are still the ones responsible for your success (and developing the technology that allows you to work in new, better ways so that success becomes possible). So, it's time to give credit where credit is due - and make sure we're thinking about technology in the context of human impact.
It may be tempting to push customers toward staffed checkout lanes instead of self-checkout (SCO) to reduce losses. However, doing so could push your most loyal customers away. So, let’s talk about ways to stop SCO-related shrink.
If you’re wondering, “How is deep learning already at work in the real world (i.e., my world)?” or “How could deep learning help me work in new, more efficient ways?” then you’ve come to the right place. This blog post serves as a primer to deep learning, explaining what it really is, how it works, and how you can make it work for your business for inspections, quality control and more.
There are many advantages to test automation – and to giving your human testers AI tools to assist with exploratory and performance testing. Here are the proven ones.
Marcin Kowalski from Avicon Vision Systems in Poland pulls the veil back on some very cool ways machine vision technology is being used to track ball movements, confirm the quality of a chicken’s life, and more.
ID checks, citation issuance and incident reporting require data precision. Yet, records systems are rife with typos. That’s why more agencies are taking a second look at OCR technology.
Learn more about what type of data is flowing from Zebra’s technology systems into ServiceNow asset management systems to help you keep tabs on all your assets without doing more than lifting a finger.
When Zebra mobile devices are accidentally left at workers’ favorite lunch spot, a customer site or on a pallet in the yard, Device Tracker can now pinpoint their last known locations on a map.
It’s time to stop underestimating package sizes and undercharging customers for shipping. There’s a better way to get an accurate measurement and payment at drop-off and pickup points. Learn all about it.
It’s never good when your blood is boiling. But it’s worse when blood samples are spoiled, and no one knows it.
AI does not start and end with ChatGPT (or whatever other generative AI is creating the most buzz). So, let’s talk about what AI means for your business, including your workers.
Between the expanding capabilities of machine vision systems, maturity of deep learning OCR, and modularity of industrial automation systems, you have an opportunity to de-risk your operations and meet SLAs with ease.