The worldwide adoption of IoT devices will see explosive growth over the next few years. According to the 2015 IDC Worldwide Internet of Things Forecast, by 2020 there will be a projected 30 billion connected devices and a revenue opportunity of $1.7T for the ecosystem. Enterprises are definitely aware of this digital megatrend, and have been planning to leverage innovative IoT technology to collect, process and analyze big data generated by smart connected devices.
A primary goal of these organizations is to maximize the value of their customer facing, revenue generating devices, such as vending machines or beverage coolers. Based on a recent study from the European Vending Association, there are 3.74 million vending machines distributed across Europe. Beverage coolers are also very prominent globally, with some estimates projecting over 14 million beverage coolers in remote outlets around the world for one brand alone. These assets are worth billions of dollars, let alone the actual merchandise stored in each device. Despite their significant monetary value, these millions of assets are often unmonitored, sitting quietly in retail stores, gas stations or street corners. Without human intervention by specialists, which adds hundreds of dollars of extra cost per asset, it will be a major challenge to conduct periodic device audits and capture insights on device health, location and performance. For example, no one knows if the device temperature or humidity are properly maintained on a consistent basis; whether the devices are consistently producing the optimal sales performance; or whether they currently have adequate inventory stock levels. In some cases, no one even has any clue whether a device is still placed at its designated location or has already been lost or stolen.
As a key technology player in the IoT space, SAP is working collaboratively with customers to develop innovative IoT solutions that solve critical business challenges. SAP recently launched SAP Connected Goods, a new cloud-based IoT solution delivered on the HANA Cloud Platform (HCP). It is designed to optimize device availability, utilization and performance by ensuring adequate stock levels and proper storage conditions for goods, helping enterprises reduce operational costs, increase revenue and improve customer satisfaction.
Key value drivers:
- Extend the digital core to remote outlets with smart connected devices
- Reduce operational costs and automate core processes
- Increase revenue and customer satisfaction with device optimization and utilization
Release highlights:
- Monitor overall stock out alerts to identify replenishment priorities
- Examine individual device information to discover important trends
- Create customized dashboards, with out-of-the-box integration to SAP BusinessObjects Cloud
While our current release scope focuses on vending machines and e-pushers, we plan to support a wide range of customer facing and revenue generating devices in the near future. And we will remain focused on maximizing customer benefits: allow companies to monitor and manage a large number of customer facing devices, reduce their operational costs, help increase revenue, and improve customer satisfaction.
- SAP Managed Tags:
3 Comments
