VDC Research: RFID, Barcode, Retail Automation & Self-Service Market Blog

New AutoID Coverage from VDC: Announcing our Machine Vision Solutions Research Program

After several months of investigation and early market analysis conducted by our AutoID team, VDC Research Group is pleased to announce the launch of our 2014 Machine Vision Solutions Market Research Program. This new research is a natural fit with our legacy coverage of core AutoID technologies such as barcode scanners and imagers, RFID and RTLS as well as our on-going analysis within industrial automation and sensors sectors. VDC’s machine vision program will help AutoID vendors, industrial automation equipment suppliers and machine vision specialists understand the key trends, issues and drivers shaping the machine vision market in industrial and non-industrial sectors. 

Machine vision components and systems sales have emerged as a multi-billion dollar global market opportunity. At its core machine vision is the process of applying a range of technologies and methods to provide imaging-based automatic inspection, process control, robot guidance and much more. As these solutions become a more critical part of automating business processes and operations across industries, we expect broader end-user adoption and market growth in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors.

The research program influencer period is now open for vendors and solutions providers.  Research program influencers help shape our upcoming machine vision market coverage, segmentations, analysis and more. Please contact VDC for more information about becoming a research influencer and gain early access to machine vision insights from our AutoID team. We can be reached at: i[email protected]

Key research program components include the following:

• Track 1: VDC Views: on machine vision solution selection & deployment

• Track 2: Machine Vision Market Analysis reports for:

-    Industrial/Manufacturing Sectors

-    Emerging Markets/Verticals

• Track 3: Vendor Spotlights & Evaluation Guide
• Track 4: Machine Vision End-user Analysis report

 What are some of the key questions answered by this research program?

• Where are the growth centers for machine vision components and solutions in terms of industry sectors, applications and regions?
• Which vendors and solutions providers are leading the machine vision market today? Which companies are considered innovators shaping the future direction of the machine vision landscape?
• Which types of enterprises most frequently deploy machine vision solutions and why?
• How will vendors differentiate themselves from their peers in the highly-fragmented, highly-competitive machine vision market?
• In which environments are the relatively less complex smart camera-based machine vision systems a significant threat to PC-based solutions?

First Look at Our 2013 Thermal Barcode Printer Market Report

Commoditization and rapidly declining price points have barcode label printer vendors reassessing their products, positions, and partners. Market saturation and high penetration rates in key industries, longer life cycles, and the global economy are all impacting vendor performance. Growth is plateauing in the stationary thermal printer category, and rising regional and/or vertical-specific competition is adding more margin pressure on leading vendors. Portable printers are riding the ongoing mobility wave, with several market participants looking to capitalize on existing growth opportunities.

There is a need to extend presence beyond traditional vertical markets and application environments. For this, vendors must expand their product portfolios and make their printers available to the end-user community via strategic channel alliances. Price as the only competitive differentiator will not help build a sustainable business model. As such, continued investments in research and development initiatives, in order to align product development strategies with evolving user requirements and preferences, are critical to success.

VDC believes vendors need to take the following three-pronged approach to meet growth and profitability targets in today’s barcode printer hardware market:

- Focus on the negation of commoditization,
- Don’t let low hardware costs be your only growth strategy, and
- Participate in market or product line consolidation.

Learn more about our research and find out how to purchase this recently-published report here.

Honeywell Continues to Embrace the BYOD Trend with Upgrades to its RDM Solution

When Honeywell introduced its remote device management (RDM) solution, Remote MasterMind (ReM), in early 2009, it was exclusively designed for Honeywell hardware (both rugged mobile devices as well as barcode scanners). In 2011, the company upgraded this solution to include any device with the Windows Mobile operating system. Over time, however, the wide range of devices available and the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) movement has made RDM implementation particularly challenging because of device compatibility limitations. Enterprises considering and deploying consumer-grade devices have a need for platform-agnostic device management and maintenance solutions.

In July, Honeywell announced a significant upgrade to this integrated mobile and scanning device management solution. Remote MasterMind 4.0™ now allows management of Android™-based smartphones and tablets (including the Samsung Galaxy series) along with Honeywell’s purpose-built barcode scanners and mobile computers. The upgrade is specifically designed to benefit companies evaluating and even adopting BYOD programs – pushing software updates and providing remote diagnostics capabilities from one central location. Other value propositions of this software include strengthened password protection for enhanced data and server security, the ability to wipe data from lost or stolen devices and a single dashboard to manage a whole host of devices.

Beyond the value the MasterMind 4.0 solution provides to organizations, it exemplifies Honeywell’s eagerness to adapt to the evolving enterprise environment. ReM 4.0, along with the Captuvo sleds for Apple® products, has proven Honeywell’s desire to provide value and business even when their hardware is not used as part of organizations’ mobile device strategy. VDC believes this approach has and will provide a unique way for Honeywell to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

(A special thank you to Nicholas Reposa for his significant contributions to this posting. Mr. Reposa is currently a Researcher in VDC’s AutoID & Data Capture practice.)

Zebra's New MotionWorks Sports Solution Aims to Change the RTLS Game

Earlier this week Zebra Technologies announced the release of MotionWorks Sports Solution, a RTLS solution specifically designed for sports. Using ultra wide band (UWB) RTLS receivers placed around stadiums, active RFID tags are placed in players’ jerseys in order to keep accurate track of player movement within inches. This solution is able to provide objective data, such as speed, location and movement direction and process the data for tangible uses. MotionWorks promises to lead to not only a new age of advanced sports analytics, but also enhancements to broadcasts, player safety and a broad array of coaching benefits. It is also fun to think about how fantasy sports leagues (i.e., football) could forever be changed if this solution were to be widely deployed within a professional sport. Zebra has already had successfully implemented this solution with soccer and football teams, and strongly believes it can help teams, players and business partners in all sports. Game on!