Mobile technology is being deployed creatively today in the supply chain, but at the same time it is a well-established approach in certain supply chain areas, like warehouses, retail stores, and logistics. Mobile tech adoption in some instances began informally with handheld units in the field that allowed managers and workers to report in orders, production and deliveries-but the most significant advancement from mobile over the past five years has not come from the end mobile units themselves, but rather from their ability to integrate real-time with the “heavy hitter” backend systems that run the supply chain, and not in a delayed, batch mode.
“Certainly there are many examples where mobile technology is being used in the supply chain,” says Reik Read an industry analyst at investment bank and brokerage Robert W. Baird & Co. “But five years ago, there was still a lot of batch processing, with downloads of field data into central data repositories at the end of the day. You couldn’t run in a real-time mode this way. Since then, wireless communications speeds have increased dramatically and prices for mobile technology have fallen to allow for many devices that are now deployed to exchange data in real-time. This has made mobile technology an efficient solution for the supply chain.”
