With COVID-19 cases on the rise again and economic uncertainty ahead, many businesses are looking for ways to cut costs and work with a limited workforce.
At AbeTech, we hear from clients every day who are trying to figure out how to work more efficiently and with smaller workforces due to social distancing restrictions and financial concerns.
At times like this, technology is always one of our best assets for strategies, and that’s why we’re working with our clients to help them make smart technology investments to become more lean, efficient, and productive.
In past economic downturns, mobile technologies and innovations have helped many businesses turn a negative market environment into a major win.
In fact, a 2010 Harvard study found that during a recession 9% of companies not only recover in the three years afterward, but they outperform competitors by at least 10% in sales growth and profit.
Subsequent research by Bain & Company on the 2009 Great Recession found that the top 10% of companies saw their earnings climb steadily throughout the recession and continue to climb afterward.
What allows these companies to beat the odds? There are a number of factors, including preparation, financial discipline, and good decision making. But one big factor is technology.
How technology improves efficiency
Technology gives us a way to improve efficiency, cut costs, and increase agility at a time when we need it most. According to Bain partners Tom Holland and Jeff Katzin, technologies provide new ways to move faster and simplify business processes with both step-change and continuous improvements.
In a 2019 brief, Holland and Katzin explained, “The [recession] winners…will deploy new technologies coupled with cost management tools, such as supply chain reinvention, complexity reduction and zero-based budgeting to change the game on cost.”
Katy George, a senior partner at McKinsey, also asserts that “technologies create much more flexibility around product changes, volume changes, as well as movement of your supply chain.”
To help with the costs of technology adoption during a downturn, George says “companies should prioritize self-funding transformation projects that pay off quickly, such as automating tasks.”
We’re helping many of our clients do just that. We’re helping them automate tasks, reduce complexity, and improve supply chain efficiency by deploying breakthrough mobile and wearable technologies from Zebra.
The right solution at the right time
For example, Zebra’s new MC9300 Android industrial touch mobile computer is helping workers get more done in less time by combining the simplicity of touch-screen interfaces and workflows with an industrial handheld mobile computer.
The MC9300 has 8-core computer processing power, up to 8 times the memory of previous devices, and advanced barcode scanning to capture everything from barcodes to documents and signatures. Workers are able to use these devices to dramatically speed up and streamline their workflows, and they can do it all with a finger, gloved finger, or stylus—even when wet.
We’re also helping many of our customers achieve unprecedented levels of supply chain productivity and efficiency with Zebra’s hands-free wearable technologies.
Using Zebra’s WT6000 wearable mobile computers, RS6000 Bluetooth ring scanners, and either a wireless headset or HD4000 head-worn display, workers can interact with warehouse software apps and pick, pack, and ship orders without having to juggle mobile devices.
Zebra’s solutions create completely hands-free processes, and they can be used with software applications to provide voice-directed and visual cues. These automatically direct workers to the right products and locations, along the most efficient paths, and they can validate correct picks and products with a hands-free barcode scan.
AbeTech: Your connected enterprise experts
To learn more about Zebra devices and how we can help your business get more done with less labor and costs, request a consultation with one of our advisors today.
