Mapping the Future and Taking Advantage of AIDC Technologies · © 2012 SAIC. All rights reserved. Mapping the Future and Taking Advantage of AIDC Technologies April 3, 2012 Chris

© 2012 SAIC. All rights reserved.

Mapping the Future and

Taking Advantage of

AIDC Technologies

April 3, 2012

Chris Hook Director AIT Business Development, SAIC


• Technology Dynamics

• The Solution Mix

• Enabling Change

• A Platform for Migration

• Planning Your Future

Agenda


• The AIDC landscape is complex and dynamic

• Best in class companies will have “technology watchers”

• Always remember to ask “So what can this do for my business?”

• If you’re unsure, consult a trusted advisor who has a proven track record

• Validate assumptions and assertions

– But remember that you may be breaking new ground…

Monitoring Technology


• Watch for synergistic advances – Increasing sensitivity of pRFID tag chips

– Higher performance reader / antenna systems

– Enhances in software functionality to leverage new edge data: predictive analytics for inventory movement trends

– Adopted data representation and communications standards

– Disruptive innovations in isolation can stall…

• Who will be the top level “change champion” to sponsor utilization and adoption?

Monitoring Technology


Solution Ingredients

People

Process

Technology


Solution Ingredients

People

Process

Technology

We witness increasing reliance on technology over time


Why Change?

• Improve overall operating efficiency

• Improve capital asset utilization

• Reduce inventory carrying costs

• Reduce losses

• Increase accountability

• Reduce human errors

• Increase process throughput

• To achieve differentiation (first mover advantage)

• For sustained competitive advantage


Why Change?

• In December 2011, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) issued an RFP for the phased deployment of an RTLS solution, network-wide

• In the VA’s view, “RTLS” means:

– A long-term initiative to procure and deploy technological solutions for real time location technologies in VA facilities

– A system with a single user interface that allows for viewing and managing all locating technologies

– A National Data Repository with analytics and business intelligence tools


Why Change?

• VA RTLS scope: deploy the set of nationally standardized RTLS solutions to VHA Medical Centers, Clinics, non-patient care locations (>1,500 sites) to:

– Improve operational efficiency and the quality of Veteran care

– Decrease operational costs

– Maximize equipment utilization

– Increase efficiencies and staff productivity

– Reduce delays and improve patient care

– Minimize lost and misplaced items

– Improve customer and staff satisfaction

– Improve the quality and safety


Image courtesy of Vue Technology

Count and locate inventory automatically. Light up the store or stock room to achieve automated, real-time inventory monitoring; tagged

goods may be positioned arbitrarily

Why Change?


Why Change?

“The future is a wired shop floor complemented by sensing technology, a platform for ubiquitous machine-to-machine computing in which human resources are dedicated to customer service, allowing sensors, readers, middleware and enterprise software to reconcile inventory in real time.”

From “Chaos in the Retail Cosmos”, VDC

This is a great illustration of my argument concerning the dynamic people-process-technology mix that must be applied to problem solving


• Abstract (or normalize) AIDC edge data

• Ensure data carriers have unambiguous data

• Look at the existing and to-be business process workflows to select “the best” AIDC technologies

• Apply an extensible framework

• Strike the right balance between COTS and necessary development work

– You will likely be breaking new ground if you are seeking to gain first mover advantage

Supporting Migration


A Versatile Platform


A Versatile Platform

VA owned capital assets

Leased or rented assets

Medical – surgical devices

Consumables

Staff

Patients

Pharmaceuticals


• Understand the “corporate risk demeanor”

• Define which operational areas are most important to senior stakeholders

• Ascertain your business process hot-buttons

• Identify one “high impact” area in which to start, become heroes, and use this as a poster-child

• Ensure cross-functional support and practical involvement (this is not an ambush…)

Planning Guidelines – First…


• Comprehend the difference between criticality and capital value – A low capital value item could be deceptively critical

to operations

• If you are concerned with accountability [of item movement], make sure you also monitor the movement of things with motive power

• Strive for the maximum possible degree of automation of data capture

• Ensure that solution elements are appropriately standards compliant

Planning Guidelines


• Determine the degree of precision of “location” which you need to satisfy business processes

• How quickly must edge data be passed to the decision layer to facilitate process enhancement? – Study this on a use-case by use-case basis

• Strive for a common platform which substantially abstracts AIDC technologies from business workflows

• Create a comprehensive roadmap to avoid stove-piping

• Make sure you have a toolbox which allows adaptation of business workflows

Planning Guidelines


• Establish key factors for success

• Ensure you understand how to measure the impact of changes which you enable

• Decide what you will do differently once the new, actionable data is available

• Remember the process-people-technology mix

• Think collaboratively rather than competitively

• How will you propagate early phase learning across the enterprise?

Planning Guidelines


• RFID is just one facet of “wireless and sensor” technologies that facilitate increasing sophistication in automated sense and respond systems, which are being applied to transform business operations today

• Adaptability across the entire spectrum of the solution stack, and all that a deployment entails, is critical to avoid wasted investments

Closing Observations


Q & A

Documents

Mapping the Future and Taking Advantage of AIDC Technologies · © 2012 SAIC. All rights reserved. Mapping the Future and Taking Advantage of AIDC Technologies April 3, 2012 Chris