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Transcends – Connecting the Internet of Things with People (Web, Cloud, Big Data, Analytics, Mobility) Enabling Smarter Sensors. Smarter Applications. Simpler Solutions.

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By Markus

It’s early spring in New England, and people here always welcome the change from winter to spring. In fact, one of the most used phrases I hear these days is “the world is changing.” This spring, however, it does not refer to the weather, but rather to the rapid change in our lifestyle that we had not envisioned even a few weeks ago. While people adapt as quickly as possible their day-to-day habits, it often is not that easy for businesses to adjust to such new situations. Sure, a mom and pop store can relatively quickly switch from having a dozen consumers walk in their shop to taking orders over the phone, taking their credit card info and placing their order in a bag outside the store for pickup when the consumer arrives in the parking lot. For any sizable business, switching to a new delivery model is much more involved. Over the past few years many companies have been working on multi-channel strategies. Those retailers who implemented theirs are now in a fantastic position to utilize it to the fullest. Those who did not are struggling. This is a bit surprising, since there are proven steps that can be done to establish a minimum level of automation and inventory management that allows adding an online channel to a retail business.

Let’s take a look at an example: a retailer who started a business just a few years ago, renting out high-end clothing. As a startup you need to carefully balance between investments that are necessary and setting yourself up for growth that could come suddenly. This retailer put about 200,000 pieces of inventory into their warehouse initially, all labeled with individual RFID tags to allow for quick and easy inventory recording. Every shipment that leaves and comes back in a box can be recorded semi-automatically without opening the box, but accurately tracking each box and identifying every item inside the box. Workers are used to quickly scanning the box within seconds, before clothes are dry-cleaned and then returned into inventory. Overall, it is a semi-automatic process that can scale quickly by adding a few more lines of processing, even allowing for social distancing. It also has the potential to fully automate the shipping and receiving process if so desired. The advantage of individual tagging each item allows for full insight into the inventory level at all times. This is especially advantageous now with an unreliable supply chain and fluctuating inventory levels.

Having such detailed insight into the inventory is the basis of selling via multiple channels, including an online business. Once you have reliable, up-to-date data on your inventory, setting up your online shop is much easier, providing your online shoppers with accurate availability of your consumer goods. What this retailer learned already on day one is that their semi-automatic process helped them identifying human errors in handling their goods. As such they were able to run their business with higher quality and customer satisfaction than they had anticipated. A nice side-effect, in addition to allowing them to quickly add capacities when needed. Another lesson learned. Moving towards full automation is a next step, along with additional remote operations and monitoring capabilities, making this retailer even more resilient to disruptions.

RFID and other sensor technologies have made significant progress over the past years in many ways. Increased accuracies, lower prices, and being able to better tag items that were not possible just a few years ago allow now additional applications for retailers and in the supply chain. Further, software applications that aggregate such sensor data are so scalable and easily integrated to existing inventory systems that adding sensor technologies even after the fact, after your warehouse was established, is much easier than many retailers envision.

Companies that have undergone a digital transformation process and make use of industry 4.0 concepts already are typically much better prepared to meet sudden challenges like we see today. From visibility into their supply chain and inventory, to being able to offer multiple sales channels to their customers, digitizing their business is often a vital foundation to not only managing the business effectively, but also to responding and adapting to sudden changes and demands. Retailers who offer their consumers safe ways of receiving goods according to social distancing best practices are open for business. Businesses that have reliable insight into their inventory and supply chain are reliable partners to their customers.

While the COVID-19 challenge arrived at our doorsteps rather suddenly, the requirements it brought with it could last. Shareholders will be watching a company’s ability to deal with change more closely as well as its level of preparedness to operate under difficult circumstances. Investors will look at a company’s capabilities to deal with disruption and limit their exposure to such risks.

Change is a constant, perhaps the only constant we see in business. It might come suddenly at times, but it surely will come. Businesses that are prepared for change can adapt quickly. These are the businesses that survive difficult times and succeed.
White Paper & Blog History

• March 2020 – Using IoT to maintain our freedoms in a World continuing to become exponentially connected
• April 2019 – Announcing RIFIDI® 3.8 Release – Connecting the Internet of Things with People
• March 2018 – Announcing RIFIDI® 3.7 Release – Connecting the Internet of Things with People.
• January 2017 – Announcing RIFIDI® 3.6 Release –Key Feature: ALE Implementation – Further Connecting the Internet of Things with People.
• July 2016 – Transcends named as one among the Top 10 Retail Security Solution Providers 2016 by Retail CIO Outlook    
• April 2016 – Transcends Exhibiting IoT Sensor/RFID Edge Platform @ MIT Connected Things 2016 Conference
• December 2015 – Transcends Announcing RIFIDI® 3.4 Release – Connecting the Internet of Things with People.
• October 2015 – Internet of Things and the Role Transcends Powered by Rifidi Plays
• May 2015  – Transcends Announces RIFIDI® 3.3 Public Release. Includes Key Feature RIFIDI Enterprise Management Dashboard
• March 2015 –  Announcing RIFIDI® 3.2 Public Release
• December 2014 –  Transcends and ThingWorx, a PTC Business, formalize partnership adding Rifidi Platform to theThingWorx IoT 
• November 2014 –  Announcing Rifidi 3.1 Public Release – REST, API, MQTT, Failover and more 
• September  2014 –  Better Understanding The Real Value in the Internet of Things (IoT)
• June 2014 – Internet of Things (IoT) Model – Where is your organization and How RIFIDI® can accelerate
• June 2013  – The Transcends Products & Solutions are Easy as 1-2-3
• March 2013  – IoT Reference Architecture – The New Internet: People + Things = Internet Ecosystem
• December 2010 – Definition of an Edge Server:

By Markus

As I am preparing for the weekend I tend to plan what fun activities I want to have or what restaurant I will try out this weekend. What fresh fish should I buy? Ah, I need a nice bottle of wine to go with it. While I typically plan out such fun on Friday night using online resources, I end up going shopping on Saturday to my favorite fish store, the local liquor store, and other fun places. Yes, I admit, I am a foodie.

What’s different this weekend? I will stay home! Going to the supermarket I would just wonder if there is a person inside that is already infected with the coronavirus. What is the probability that one of the fifty people inside was exposed to someone else who tested positive? Maybe even without knowing. As an engineer I want to know “what is my risk?” Other countries already limit access to supermarkets to four people or even one person at a time. Unimaginable for us in the US right now, but will it get to that point? As a consumer I am mainly concerned with my own health and the freedom I am used to going to any store, at almost any time of the day and purchase whatever I need. Then there are the retail workers that might get exposed; and the retail store owners. Many of them will face not just significant revenue losses, but even the risk of losing their business and livelihood. So much at stake! While some stores will stay open, like supermarkets and pharmacies, others could be closed anytime. Retail stores in Italy and Spain face exactly that challenge. As a consequence workers are losing their jobs, retirees their savings, and so on.

In challenging times like this we all should contribute to solving the problem. It starts with following directions given by the CDC, but also means we should think about how can every one of us bring in his expertise and skills. In that sense I am sharing my personal thoughts:

Human mankind has made tremendous advances in science and technology over the past years. For myself I have seen cloud and sensor technologies improve significantly just the past couple of years. With mobile phones we can use apps that serve a variety of functions. Sensor technologies like Bluetooth and Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) can identify themselves wirelessly, without touching a reader. No physical handshake required.

How can we use those technologies to fight this virus? There are some simple measures we as a society can take. Check at each entrance of a store what a person’s health status is. Sounds radical to everyone concerned about HIPAA, but a quick check in a central database that stores coronavirus tests would do us tremendous good. A result of “yes, this person was last tested x days ago and it was negative” would let you in, and more importantly: it would give you and everyone else in the store a level of confidence to shop with much lower risk. They would not stay home. If the result is “no, this person was last tested y days ago and it was positive”, then that person should not be in a store, rather be quarantined until the tests are negative. Isn’t that common sense? I also want to keep record of who is in the store with me at the same time. Why? If one of them (even myself) gets tested positive in the next days or weeks everyone else who has been in contact should be notified automatically when and where they have been in the vicinity of that person who is positive. A person tested positive would need to use online shopping services until cleared. Again, common sense.

From a technology perspective such an implementation would go quick. It’s relatively easy. Putting RFID readers in place at stores (even just one reader per store can do it), connect them to a database in the cloud (software already exists, no new line of code required), and store RFID tag IDs and a consumer’s cell phone number in the database. Give health care administrators a way to record test results. Consumers just need to use existing phone functionality to register and to see verification they are allowed to access the store. With the proper (already existing) components such a system can be put in place within a few weeks. We can slow down and manage the pandemic and get our lives back.

While technology offers such solutions do we really want to let authorities track and watch us so closely? Where could those data end up? Governments or private companies might even want to sell our data. What governance structures are required to restrict the use of data to a scope an individual agrees to? These are important questions that need to be addressed.

European countries are closing more and more borders. I never thought this could happen. Spain is closing many stores, I never thought a few days ago that would be possible. The impact in the economy will be enormous, devastating. 9/11 and the financial crisis 2018 might be just a small footnote in history books compared to what we need to face soon. People and companies will have to adapt in a way they never had to before. Faster and more radical than we ever envision.

This is a natural disaster unfolding in slow motion, over the next months, maybe even year(s). Let’s find solutions to those new challenges, adapt in a way we want to, and gain back control over our lives.