How Can RFID Help the Food & Beverage Industry?

RFID (Radio-frequency Identification) technology is used for tracking and identification of animate and inanimate objects using radio waves. In recent years, it has solidified its position as a potential market leader in the wireless communication technology. The great benefits that it offers to its users, have given it an edge over the other existing wireless technologies. Market analysts have observed a rapid growth in the use of RFID technology in various industries.

According to the data given by National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey,  almost one-half of the U.S population consumes alcoholic as well as non-alcoholic beverages every day. In such scenario, beverage industries have to maintain their reputation and remain competitive. They need to find efficient and reliable production and delivery methods to foster their growth. RFID technology can provide cost-effective solutions in a timely manner.

RFID technology can be utilized in the beverage supply chain. With RFID-based supply chain system, production cycles can be improved. It minimizes error by eliminating manual and paper-based methods. This way, RFID prevents distribution delays and helps in enhancing productivity of the company.

Many companies are using UHF (Ultra High Frequency) RFID systems to track their products efficiently. RFID tags are attached to the beverage containers before they are shipped to the retailer. It becomes a lot easy to track and identify the shipments with RFID. For wine producers, RFID is the perfect solution for tracking the distribution as RFID tags can be attached to the cork.

Expanding the Horizon for Business-Centred ITSM Needs

A logical step in IT management is to tie itself into the corporate business strategy by articulating future business directions and the services that will likely come about as a result of business growth. Creating a similar list of planned services or initiatives can help the IT service provider incorporate business strategy into IT strategy and consider how business directions will shape IT future needs. It can also reveal cost-saving opportunities along with technology innovations that can create more robust and faster-to-market business services. This is the beginning of the business and IT partnership where service innovations, economies of scale, service asset exploitation, and market space innovation can accelerate business profits and increase business market share to new levels. Within ITSM, this is known as Service Portfolio Management.

Companies using ITSM enjoy success for the same reasons that all successful companies do. No matter where you visit a McDonald’s restaurant, you know what to expect. Your food will be served quickly, the staff will be courteous, and the facility will be clean. The menu will be familiar and the prices predictable. This predictability and familiarity breeds consumer confidence and loyalty. So, how does McDonald’s achieve this sustained, predictable, and consistent service? By being process-driven and aligned to the needs of their customers.

At the formative stages of this process, a partnership between business and IT emerges, and each party begins to reformulate a common understanding and a common language of what services are. Each party begins to understand the needs of the other, the necessity to maintain a dialogue, and the realization that ITSM is about enabling business outcomes. In this collegial environment, both business and IT have business outcomes that are integrated, harmonized, and create synergy for both sides of the partnership.

RIM (Remote Infrastructure Management) vs. Traditional Management

RIM is becoming a widely used management system for many organizations. It offers flexibility and level of control to an organization. These are few of the features of RIM that has been attracting many companies. According to a report by Everest Research Institute in 2007, RIM outsourcing market is growing by the rate of sixty percent every year and is expected to increase. This growth rate is far more higher than the expected growth rate. RIM, already a billion dollar market, is considered to be the potential leader of the current management market.

Companies who were using the traditional IT management plans are now switching to RIM. In a traditional management system, the service providers are responsible for managing the entire data center as well as hosting important system applications in their own facility. In a more managed traditional system, service provider manages and controls the essential IT equipment as well. But in RIM, the organization has the full control over the selection of equipment as well as their procurement. Here, the service provider takes up specific tasks such as managing a single application server to support  complex operations and supporting call center applications.

Recent studies show that companies are not only obtaining technical support from the RIM service providers, but they are also buying critical services from them. These critical services include management and monitoring of servers, databases, networks, security and desktop systems. It would not be wrong if we call the relationship between RIM providers and their clients a strategic alliance that will play a major role in the success of client's organization.

Go Green: Connection Between RFID and Environment

Over the years, many people have used the word 'technology' as an antonym to a healthy environment. The word green technology may seem weird to such people, but it is a fact that such technologies exist. The technologies that are recyclable, energy-efficient, safe and healthy are known as green technologies or environmental technologies. Currently,  RFID may not be categorized under the green technologies but it might very soon be the newest addition to such Eco-friendly technologies. RFID can be utilized to promote a healthy environment among our society.

Impact of RFID

RFID technology can be used in recycling reward programs. RFID tags can be attached to the recycling bins of every resident of the community to track the amount of materials that are being recycled by each of the residents. Rewards should be given to residents who are recycling the most. The RFID-based recycling reward programs will definitely promote recycling, and it will be a big step towards a safer and healthier environment. RFID can also help in improving the waste management process. Utilizing RFID tags and readers in waste management market will improve the whole process. Hauling vehicles and bins that are RFID-enabled can track the missing containers and also automatically update the data entry for customer billing. Incorporating RFID with technologies like GPS, route mapping and monitoring of vehicles can be improved.

RFID can also help in reducing waste by providing an efficient way for smart packaging of products. It will add safety mechanisms such as tamper-proofing and will also provide the ability to measure the freshness of the product. RFID can impact environment in a positive way.

Know The Basics: Business Process Management

Business process management (BPM) is a service that provides proper support and essential information to facilitate the operation and future strategies of the business. It is a methodical approach that helps in providing a more effective and efficient work-flow for an organization. One of the prime benefits of BPM lies in its potential to make an organization capable of adapting the ever-changing and competitive business environment. BPM was usually carried out by a business consultant as a project work but now, there are many BPM service providing firms. The objective of a BPM service provider is to reduce the human error and any possible miscommunication to a minimal level. They also undertake the task of making the stakeholders focused on the requirements of their  roles. BPM (business process management)is also viewed as a point of connection within an organization. It is a point of connection between the line-of-business (LOB) and the IT department. LOB is a common term which refers to one or more related products that service a specific business need. For the execution of a BPM service, a framework is required. Company owners can choose from any three different kinds of BPM frameworks that are explained below.

Types of BPM Frameworks

There are total three types of BPM frameworks that are currently available in the market. The three available BPM frameworks are as follow:

Horizontal frameworks

The frameworks that deal with design and development of the business processes are known as horizontal frameworks.

Vertical frameworks

The frameworks that focus on a particular set of coordinated tasks are known as vertical frameworks. They also have pre-built templates that can be configured and deployed as per client needs.

Full-service Suites

Full-service BPM suites consist of five essential components such as process discovery, process modeling, work-flow engine, business rules engine and testing.