Are We the Teachers or the Students?

The pandemic is not the only global crisis straining hospitals right now. A growing number of cyberattacks have left healthcare systems around the world in “critical condition” and struggling to recover. With more patient records, medical devices, pharmaceutical supply chains and healthcare information systems targeted every day, a concerted effort must be made to reduce vulnerabilities – especially as mobile device use increases.

That’s why we asked Gopi Polavarapu to join us for a quick conversation about the risks versus rewards of workforce collaboration apps in healthcare settings.

He spends his days helping hospitals decisions makers understand ways to automate both clinical and non-clinical workflows, which is now a top priority with pandemic-related patient surges, staffing shortages, and supply shortages persisting. Care team members must be able to consult with one another from a distance and coordinate patient movements, equipment use, and room turnover with other departments. They must also be able to share and access information without having to put forth much effort, as the focus has to remain on patients. That’s where collaboration apps prove beneficial.

However, the alarms are sounding about the vulnerability of healthcare systems and connected devices, mobility solutions included. So, Gopi offers some advice to those who are not yet continuously monitoring their devices and talks about what everyone can do to reduce security vulnerabilities when using workforce collaboration tools so they can maximize their many benefits:

Your Edge Blog Team: In Zebra’s newly released Healthcare Vision Study, a growing number of hospital executives say they are turning to technology to overcome long-standing operational challenges. In fact, the majority plan to give mobile devices to all staff types in the next five years, as there’s consensus that the quality of patient care would improve if nurses, clinicians and non-clinical healthcare workers had collaboration tools and healthcare applications.

However, we know mobile devices are viewed as easy targets by cybercriminals, making it that much more important for hospitals to think about how they will manage security. Are there some high-level best practices they should consider?

Gopi: Any device or network used to capture, store, transmit or access sensitive personal information must be kept secure and comply with local data privacy regulations to protect patient records. In the U.S., this would be the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA.

Therefore, all technology deployments in hospitals require the implementation and enforcement of strict security policies. Healthcare providers should be creating various layers of defense mechanisms to protect themselves from vulnerabilities and cyberattacks.

Your Edge Blog Team: Can you walk us through some examples?

Gopi: First, you must ensure both wired and wireless networks are appropriately secured and actively updating to the latest technologies. This means security patches and software updates must be pushed regularly. As a best practice, hospitals and other healthcare service providers should institute proactive monitoring and intrusion detection systems and perform regular assessments. Vulnerabilities should be corrected as soon as they’re identified.

It’s important to then ensure endpoints such as fixed and mobile devices are receiving the latest security updates provided by firmware and operating system (OS) vendors.

Mobile OS such as Android™ and iOS do not support enterprise multiusers like desktop operating systems such as Windows® and Linux do. Yet, most of the healthcare providers using Zebra Android devices as shared devices are allowing staff to login with the same passcode on all devices to make it easy to handoff from one person to the next during shifts. Instead, healthcare organizations should adopt single sign-on (SSO) solutions like the one from Imprivata to support multiple users, profiles, and roles. 

Remember, securing devices and making the user experience frictionless is as important to employee productivity as it is key to keeping information secure and protected. SSO tools help ensure all software solutions and mobile applications are integrated with identity providers such as Ping or Okta and leverage two-factor authentication and directory services for proper access control and authorization. From there, organizations can then use Near Field Communication (NFC)-powered ID cards to provide frictionless access to those devices with biometrics.

Your Edge Blog Team: Let’s talk a little bit about what can be done to protect more casual conversations between healthcare providers. With push-to-talk communication solutions replacing old-school paging systems and instant messaging on the rise among care team members, how can staff ensure patient information isn’t accidentally overheard or seen by others in the vicinity?

Gopi: Due to the social revolution and various free collaboration tools available in the marketplace, healthcare organizations are seeing the need to equip mobile devices used for patient care with enterprise-grade collaboration tools that can address – and reduce – many of these risks.

As you noted, there is a lot of employee collaboration occurring within the hospital network among both clinical and non-clinical staff. They’re sharing medical records and discharge papers, collecting patient data, coordinating facility turnover and schedules, and managing staff rosters and schedules – all of which contains sensitive information.

Most of the collaboration tools available today offer various communication modalities, including telephony with voice extension, push-to-talk (PTT), secure messaging and locationing of people and assets. Most healthcare professionals prefer to use secure messaging for patient data and make voice calls in headset mode to keep the conversations private and prevent physical eavesdropping.

With that in mind, it’s important for decision-makers to choose voice collaboration solutions that can integrate with the local PBX in the hospital network and leverage secure RTP protocols. This will keep voice payload encrypted and further protect from eavesdropping. For example, Zebra’s Workforce Connect PTT Pro solution offers secure transmission of PTT sessions to prevent eavesdropping between the endpoints.

It’s also critical to look at the security of messaging solutions. Choose one that offers various levels of access controls. This will allow you to limit application logins to authorized parties only. Just confirm the messaging solution also encrypts data during transit and when at rest in servers.

And I want to reinforce one thing to the healthcare community and other organizations with shared devices: you must consider how you will protect all data elements before, during and after the user’s mobile device session. Of course, assigning permissions for device, data or application access based on role entitlement is necessary. A bedside nurse will probably have access to certain apps that other healthcare professionals may not have access to. But when that charge nurse signs off, how do you ensure the next person who picks up that shared mobile device next doesn’t accidentally see those high-permission apps or the previous user’s history? It’s critical you choose communication and collaboration tools that enable you to clear the cache, patient data and user credentials after each use.

Your Edge Blog Team: What else do hospital administrators, IT teams and even device users need to think about when introducing collaboration apps into the mix, from a security perspective?

Gopi: They must ensure the network firewalls (IDS) are in place to protect against external threats, and always push the latest security updates to devices to protect from cyberattacks coming from outside those networks. IT teams should also enforce proper access controls based on the roles and profiles of the users and protect identities with SSO or even identity protection systems with two-factor authentication. This will require some validation and careful monitoring over time.

And device users – hospital staff – should think about the information being provided or requested before taking action. Ask yourself, why am I being asked for this data? Is the data relevant to the task at hand? If someone else gets this data, would it be harmful?  These questions are intended to raise awareness of one’s environment, especially when the data is being transmitted via electronic devices and applications.

Your Edge Blog Team: Let’s talk safety of patients and staff. We know communication is key to improving response times when a medical event occurs, whether the patient is at home and EMTs need to respond or they’re in a hospital room and need a nurse or doctor to intervene. What can a collaboration app offer in these situations? How does the experience differ from more traditional dispatch, voice calling or alerting systems?

Gopi: In healthcare, mobile collaboration tools are addressing several different use cases in the context of safety. For example, acute care nurses can have a telephone extension on the mobile device via the app to pick up calls coming into their departments while on the move. Without this, calls about urgent patient needs could be missed, or a nurse who would otherwise be more valuable at the bedside might have to sit by the phone at the nurse’s station in case a call comes in. With enterprise-grade collaboration solutions, specifically, hospitalized patients can push a button on the bed to communicate with nurses for any care-related information. Again, the nurse can interact with that patient while making rounds using the collaboration app.

Healthcare professionals are also using enterprise-level secure messaging, voice communications and user locationing features found within these apps to collaborate better across distances, which is key to improving patient care. This is true in hospitals and on the front lines, where EMTs and non-acute care healthcare workers are using two-way radios or PTT solutions to communicate and coordinate care actions.

Mobile devices built for healthcare environments also have duress buttons on the back. When the button is long pressed, then the collaboration app can route voice calls, PTT calls and/or messages to hospital security or emergency services. This is beneficial when a user needs help with aggressively behaved patients. There’s also a drop detection feature that could automatically call for help if the app senses a device was dropped and not picked up. It could indicate the user fell and needs assistance.

Healthcare providers are also using telehealth solutions in non-acute care scenarios and offering remote monitoring solutions with software/hardware solutions to track health records like heart rates, blood pressure and blood glucose levels. All of this can be integrated into enterprise collaboration and communication platforms to aid with patient or care team communications and inform decisions.  

For more routine, automated workflows, the communications capabilities of workforce collaboration solutions are targeted for the task at hand. For example, users can initiate a PTT session to signal responders for a “Code” event, follow-up with text, and then escalate if required. 

Fundamentally, the integration of various communication mechanisms such as the telephone, PTT, messaging, alerting, and task management with existing and future backend systems allows for efficient seamless interoperability of the applications, tools and devices necessary for patient care and provider safety. That is, assuming they’re married with a versatile user/role management system protected by secure authentication.

Your Edge Blog Team: We know workflow automation is a top priority in the next year or two for hospital administrators. So, can you talk about how workforce collaboration tools can support that ambition?

Gopi: Imagine an EMT starting patient admission before arriving at the emergency room. A dynamic group chat could be created with patient details to admit the patient and automatically assign doctors, nurses and other support staff based on who is currently free or has bandwidth to take new patients in the shift. This dynamic group chat/feed will continue to provide updates to everyone in the group until the patient is discharged from the hospital. 

Collaboration tools can also be integrated into hospitals systems and nurse calling systems to monitor the health of the patients with real-time metrics and automated alerts. It can use what we call IFTTT logic to automatically dial/text everyone who needs to attend to patients in emergency situations.

What many of our customers like is the ability to use collaboration tools to locate assets like IV pumps, ventilators and other medical equipment in facilities. It improves utilization. Even patient locations can be tracked, which is helpful when it comes time to process patient discharge paperwork.

Your Edge Blog Team: Are there any other capabilities IT teams and tech buyers should consider when selecting workforce collaboration toolsets and deciding which apps to authorize?

Gopi:  Compliance is important, of course, as well as integration with existing infrastructure like Wi-Fi and PBXs. Also think about voice quality. Enterprise-grade tools should provide jitter and noise cancellation capabilities, and support voice roaming via multiple Wi-Fi access points.

Originally published here!

2021 has been a year of many firsts at Zebra. We launched our first machine vision solution, acquired our first robotics company, and – for the first time ever – defined clear, measurable inclusion and diversity (I&D) goals for all people leaders, with goals encouraged for all employees. Though all will contribute to the greater good of Zebra Nation and society in their own ways, we believe the last one on this list of “firsts” has the potential to move the needle significantly as we advance our broader I&D aspirations.  

Technology, though a meaningful contributor to our well-being in fast-paced, demand-intensive workplaces, can’t fulfill the one thing humans crave more than anything: other human connection. Social media contacts don’t sufficiently satisfy our need for acceptance of our authentic selves, especially in settings where we must interact face-to-face and work side-by-side with others.

Therefore, it’s imperative for all companies – even those developing the most intelligent and technologically advanced robots – to strongly root their culture in “conscious inclusion,” says Natalie Bodus, Senior Director of Inclusion and Diversity and Employer Brand here at Zebra. Companies must also appreciate that each of us are incredibly diverse in our own ways and play an important role in confronting biases and advancing a culture of belonging across the organization while focusing on outcomes, not just “feel good” activities.

In her last Inclusion and Diversity Action Report of 2021, Natalie spoke about the quantifiable progress that Zebra has made throughout the year in its efforts to become cultural change agents both within the company and in global communities. In our 15-minute sit-down, she also discussed:

• her perspective on the meaning of allyship.
• what it takes to be a genuine upstander versus a performative ally.
• why it’s important that we – as companies and people – not rely on historically underrepresented populations to drive our transformation.
• the specific actions Zebra has been taking to encourage greater allyship across the company.
• how Zebra will leverage the momentum built in 2021 to drive greater awareness and ownership of the actions we can all take to advance inclusion and diversity, increase engagement in Zebra-hosted I&D conversations and initiatives, and continue to expand our philanthropy and volunteerism to advance equity at large.

TUNE IN NOW

It’s no secret there’s friction at several stages of the supply chain right now, which is contributing to the shortages and bottlenecking we are currently seeing. The biggest issue is that not one piece of the supply chain is breaking right now, it’s the entire structure. This makes it difficult to pinpoint one area of the supply chain and resolve the issue. While the supply chain was highly efficient prior to the pandemic, it was running based on a predictable environment. However, the changes brought on by the global pandemic were unprecedented, making it difficult for supply chain operators to predict demand. Without any historical data or similar disruptions at such a large scale in the supply chain, companies had to make quick adjustments and, in many cases, did so in such a conservative way that manufacturing started to slow down as a result.

Now that we are beginning to move out of the pandemic though, at least from an economic perspective, demand is accelerating so quickly that manufacturers are struggling to keep up. It will take some time for the supply chain to recover from the changes brought on by this pandemic as operators adjust to what is needed from a material, labor, and transport perspective.

However, there are a lot of very smart people working hard to find solutions to pressing supply chain issues. There are also many heroes working around the clock at warehouses, distribution centers, ports, air cargo hubs and retail stores to ensure this holiday season is joyous. Yet, we don’t think they’ve been getting the credit they deserve. I’ve asked some of our Zebra leaders to share what’s being done behind the scenes and on the front lines to keep things moving:

Jim Lawton, Vice President and General Manager, Robotics Automation, Zebra Technologies:

“In my years of working in the supply chain, I’ve seen a lot of disruption. Tsunamis, strikes and materials shortages caused by geo-political unrest all seemed powerful enough to change everything, but in the end, didn’t change much. Today, listening to customers talk about how they are responding to the havoc wreaked on the supply by the pandemic and its tenacious aftermath, this time it’s different. Especially in the warehouse.

As consumers go online to purchase everything from groceries and dry goods to gadgets and expect orders to arrive tomorrow or even today, the warehouse is now front-and-center in the customer service race. Warehouse operations teams are rethinking everything – from how the floor is organized and how goods move from intake to shipping to labor strategies. Driven by the need for real change, robots and automation are no longer a curiosity or a future investment that needs to be piloted for years. We’re seeing more and more teams boldly moving ahead with implementations, recognizing that robots and automation are essential to the demand-driven model for warehousing operations that will be born from this disruption.”

Mark Wheeler, Director, Supply Chain Solutions, Zebra Technologies:

“Organizations are dealing with a high degree of change and disruption to their supply chains. It’s really multi-dimensional. First, the competitive battle that is ‘customer service’ is ongoing, leading many to conclude that they will have to position inventory closer to the point of demand. Manufacturers are increasingly shipping directly to their end users – in many cases, for the first time.

On the supply side, inbound materials availability, supplier response time and both materials and transportation costs are dynamic and less predictable. In response, organizations are prioritizing visibility and flexibility in their technology investments and their operational designs. They are implementing new generations of intelligent mobile robots to make physical automation accessible to smaller facilities and inherently less risky and more flexible than more traditional alternatives.  They are recognizing they must provide workers with tools that are easy to learn, easy to use and ergonomically well-implemented if they are to attract and retain labor, which is critical to their performance. These tools include wearable computers and scanners. Workers have shown they also appreciate when mechanized solutions like autonomous mobile robots (AMR) take a lot of the physical effort out of their day.”

We also asked for their thoughts on what more could and should be done by business leaders to help minimize the impact of shipping delays on their customers. This is what they shared:

Pat Smith, Chief Customer Officer, antuit.ai, a Zebra Technologies company:

“If you take a step back, the supply chain is a system of delays. Meaning, there is lead time involved from raw material to the delivery of the finished product that can be expressed in days, weeks, or months for each ‘leg’ in the chain. And each ‘leg’ depends on understanding the demand (i.e., forecast) that it (the ‘leg’) needs to deliver (i.e., execute or process) to achieve service level expectations, either to the next ‘leg’ or to the end customer. The notion of delays and dependencies of one ‘leg’ on another, many of which have been exacerbated due to the pandemic and recent supply chain disruptions, creates demand uncertainty and poor customer service.

What is arguably soon to be table stakes to achieve greater customer satisfaction is for manufacturers and retailers to both get closer to the source of customer demand – at the zip code or store level. To accomplish that goal, advanced analytical solutions such as AI-based forecasting are necessary to marry internal and external data (i.e., promotions, pricing, product attributes, competitive activity, local events, social media, mobility data). This produces insights and predicts highly granular forecasts that are double-digit percentage points more accurate than current practices. This increase in accuracy reduces uncertainty and provides a confident signal to plan, make, source, and deliver (the individual ‘legs’ of the supply chain). And it’s all built from the lens of the customer, to serve the customer best, which is essential in these times of uncertainty to retain and grow revenue”

Andre Luecht, Global Practice Lead, Manufacturing/Transportation & Logistics, Zebra Technologies:

“Full supply chain visibility enables all participants to ‘keep the promise.’ The situation is far from perfect with delays and shortages looming over the holiday season. However, knowledge and insights into inventory levels, location of goods and delivery times and schedule updates can be communicated to the consumer proactively. Customers will likely not mind ordering an item in advance to allow for longer lead times. Clear open and honest communication based on full inventory visibility will make the difference.

And remember, while the current pandemic-related strain on the supply chains is still very present, the next challenge is right around the corner. The large infrastructure bill just announced in the U.S. will increase construction activities around the country. This will increase the demand for commercial truck drivers (think cement trucks and construction equipment), likely impacting the long-haul commercial driver shortage even more. Now is the time to prepare, re-think and align supply chains to ensure fulfillment in the future.”

Deanna Self, Director of Operations, North America and Latin America, Zebra Technologies:

“My focus has shifted a bit since my last post. Now, as the Director of Operations for Zebra’s largest distribution center here in North America, my focus is on the people who are central to supply chain execution. The labor shortage is no kept secret. The pain is felt in every industry and especially amongst the front-line employees, or rather our front-line heroes, who at the end of the day are the ones making everything happen to ensure customers get everything needed by year end. 

As a leader, the actions I’ve been taking is working across all functional teams to proactively identify demand, including that which may be artificial at this point, to ensure we can have the right capacity available to pick, pack, and ship all desired product by year end. But it’s not as easy as just identifying demand. There is a larger element of understanding our workforce, having uncomfortable conversations with ourselves to challenge prior ways of working, and finding new solutions that will build on capabilities and motivate. This challenge definitely extends beyond just getting through the holiday season.  Outside of ensuring a competitive wage is being offered, companies should be looking at ways to have more flexible hours, better humanistic design offerings, and reevaluating overall benefits offered to these employees. We owe it to these heroes to take a hard look at our past offerings and ways of working to ensure they really align with our values and to what our employees value most.”

Originally published here!

It’s a given at this point: for businesses looking to compete for buyers online, a high-performing website is no longer an advantage – it’s a requirement.

This has been the case for years, but it’s become even more crucial after Google rolled out their recent page experience algorithm update. Since then, business websites must be clean, mobile-friendly and deliver a great user experience to have a real shot at ranking in organic search.

How to Know If Your Website Makes the Grade

Say your website hasn’t been updated in years. If you haven’t had any complaints, you might be tempted to think it’s fine as it is.

Unfortunately, the adage doesn’t apply here – just because your website isn’t broken doesn’t mean you shouldn’t fix it. If your site isn’t up to their standards, your potential customers won’t take the time to tell you; they’ll be too busy giving their business to your competitors.

The good news is that you don’t have to guess as to whether your site is optimized; there are several quantitative factors that will tell you whether you’re in good shape or not.

One of our favorite tools for uncovering this is the Website Grader. In a few seconds and with just your URL, this tool will deliver your scores – and recommendations – related to your site’s:

• Overall Performance
• SEO Ratings
• Mobile Efficiency
• Security Measures

These areas are directly related to how Google and other search engines are assessing your site.  Reviewing these scores provides a roadmap for how to improve your website’s chances of ranking in online searches (or assurance that you’re already well-optimized if you get a good grade).

Will Getting a Good Grade Alone Help Your Site Rank?

While an optimized site will make it more likely that your site will rank in search, it doesn’t guarantee it – and it definitely doesn’t negate the importance of having great content.

It’s one thing if your website’s content happens to be so trusted and authoritative that no other businesses can compete. In this scenario, the nitty-gritty technical issues are less critical because you already own that space.

However, if you’re reading this post, I’ll assume this isn’t the case. This means you’ll need both quality content and an optimized website to have a competitive advantage.

Google specifies how this works::

“While all of the components of page experience are important, we will rank pages with the best information overall, even if some aspects of page experience are subpar. A good page experience doesn’t override having great, relevant content. However, in cases where there are multiple pages that have similar content, page experience becomes much more important for visibility in Search.”

Do You Need a Perfect Website Grade to Rank Better?

Short answer? No.

In most cases, when we’re helping clients optimize their sites, there are some relatively quick updates we make that result in major gains in their grade. These changes also often correlate with a boost in organic search visibility. From there, we’ll usually plot out a few additional rounds of updates to continue optimizing the site.

At a certain stage, we’ll hit a point of diminishing returns. That’s a signal that getting from a near-perfect to a perfect grade is no longer a “problem” worth solving.

For example, say your page is already loading within a few seconds and you’ve covered the basics like compressing images, enabling caching and minimizing unneeded plugins. At that point, paying a developer for hours of work to get your page to load a fraction of a second faster likely isn’t the best use of time and resources.

Do the work to get a strong grade – but don’t get bogged down chasing perfection.

How Hard Is It To Get a Good Grade?

If your grade is considered low, it’s a sign that your website needs significant improvements. But keep in mind, boosting your grade will require some expertise with web design, development and SEO strategy.

In many cases, website optimization can be a hefty undertaking. Between ensuring the site is responsive for mobile users, minimizing redirects, enabling browser caching and giving each page unique, descriptive link text, there’s a fair amount of technical work that’s required.

Don’t have the in-house resources to optimize your website? Give us a shout! As an agency with years of experience in B2B web design and SEO services, we know how to turn business websites into high-performing lead generation machines.

Originally published here!

Is executing an ROI-positive eCommerce marketing strategy an excruciating task?

You’re not naive. You know you have to put up your Shopify Plus website, write an advertisement, or pound the pavement to drum up sales or you won’t have enough money to turn the lights on.

However, the idea of employing promotional tactics to drive traffic to your eCommerce site, convert that traffic into a high-paying client, and retain those clients post-purchase makes your skin crawl.

No matter how good your eCommerce store is, you can’t help being worried:

• If you start a campaign to drive brand awareness, will you generate enough traction?
• If you want to drive more sales, will your eCommerce marketing tactics stack up?
• If you have discounts and offers, how do you use them to boost your eCommerce marketing efforts?

It can be challenging, but some tips can help nearly all eCommerce marketers draft a marketing strategy.

Let’s take a look at five of them.

#1. Tap Into Search Engine Marketing

The search engine is integral in boosting the eCommerce conversion rate. Statistics say that:

• 44.0% of buyers start their online shopping with a Google search (nChannel)
• 37.5% of all traffic to eCommerce sites come from the search engine (SEMrush)
• 23.6% of eCommerce orders come directly from the organic search result (Business Insider)

Search engine’s eCommerce marketing strategies start with search engine optimization (SEO).

When creating product descriptions and overviews, it’s critical they be as informative as possible to help your target buyers make informed decisions.

More importantly, optimize the product descriptions and overviews around product-driven keywords that include the product’s name. Doing this ensures that search engines can present your online store in front of potential buyers whenever they search for target keywords.

For instance, if you sell cars in bulk, Google will likely send you traffic for the search term wholesale cars if you include the term on your page.

Optimize your page titles, headers, and alt texts around the right keyword so that search engines can rank your online store for the correct queries.

On the other hand, SEM might involve creating Google Ads campaigns—PPC campaigns, banner ads, display campaigns, or product-specific ads campaigns that allow you to pay for the top spot on search engine results.

The best part?

PPC guarantees that potential buyers will see a link to your page when they enter a term that matches the one of your campaigns.

The problem?

You’ll pay Google every time a person clicks on your result. However, PPC pays off because it puts your product right in front of qualified leads.

#2. Do Email Marketing for Your Online Store

Email campaigns are among the oldest forms of digital advertising but hold incredible value in eCommerce marketing.

What makes email marketing an excellent choice is automation. 

You can set a successful drip campaign to segment subscribers by interest or stages in the buyer’s journey and let your email do the marketing. 

Email marketing is effective for an eCommerce business in two ways.

Post-Purchase Follow Up for an eCommerce Business

A few days after delivering the product, email the buyer (who agreed to receive an email from you in the check-out process). The post-purchase follow-up presents an opportunity to:

• Gauge buyer’s interest in your product line
• Shows your client that you care beyond sales
• Express your company’s interest in customers success using your product
• Build relationships and a possibility for repeat purchases

Abandoned Shopping Cart Follow Up

Buyers abandon their shopping carts for several reasons. Emailing owners of abandoned shopping carts can help you diagnose the problem and retain the buyer. 

Suppose a website visitor abandons their shopping cart, you can send a polite email reminding them to complete the checkout process. Offer assistance, or recommend other related products to troubleshoot the shopping cart abandonment problem.

Other eCommerce marketing strategies using email include:

• Newsletter campaign
• Promotional offers
• Up-sell and cross-sell
• Customer loyalty program and re-engagement

#3. Integrate Social Media Marketing 

LinkedIn is the best social media platform to execute an eCommerce marketing plan for B2B eCommerce. Most business-to-business buyers prefer using LinkedIn more than Facebook for work purposes because:

• B2B buyer journey entails decision-making committees rather than individuals
• Customer relationship is more complex and more relationship-based
• The stakes are always high

You can use this fact to your advantage to boost your eCommerce sales. But with what marketing strategy specifically?

Create Educational Content on LinkedIn

The world today is a self-serve arena. Buyers are seeking specific information to make informed decisions.

If the content they discover and consume comes from you, they’ll most likely want to do business with you. Be the company in your market most committed to providing helpful information for free.

Nurture Potential Customers Using LinkedIn Ads

While LinkedIn Ads aren’t as eCommerce-focused as Google Shopping Ads, its secret weapon lies in its audience-targeting tool. With LinkedIn Ads, you can directly target buyers of your product and increase your online sales.

This targeting option entails:

• Job title and functions
• Specific companies and industries
• Website visitor

However, avoid direct selling at first. Instead, target to build relationships with the target audience first.

That said, Facebook is a big player in the social media world, and eCommerce businesses can’t ignore it. It’s critical, especially when creating awareness of a new product.

On the flip side, Twitter presents different eCommerce marketing channels. For instance, it allows you to:

• Find and engage with influencers
• Get noticed by prospects
• Better understand your audience
• Build brand awareness and loyalty
• Answer questions people are asking
• Show your eCommerce personality
• Show expertise

Twitter doesn’t lend itself to long reads, but quick, interactive content can make a successful eCommerce store.

#4. Execute eCommerce Advertising

Advertising is the practice of placing paid content on online or offline properties. 

Online properties entail websites, social media platforms, search engines, podcasts, newsletters, and others like instant messaging. Advertising online for eCommerce websites entails:

• Google display ads (are effective in developing awareness but ineffective for direct response campaigns because they get extremely low CTR (click-through rate) of 0.05%)
• LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook Ads (best when expanding your reach)
• Google Adwords (Excellent in presenting your online shop in front of buyers when searching the product your business offer)
• Google Shopping campaign (It’s like Google Ads but with more visual appeal. It’s the best way to present inventory to users when searching for a product on Google)

On the other hand, offline properties entail traditional media like TV spots, radio commercials, and out-of-home advertising, such as billboards and direct mail. 

The key to advertising as an eCommerce strategy is personalization. Strive to meet customer expectations with precise targeting at every stage of the marketing channel. Dig deep into your customer’s needs through data collection, then segment them depending on their needs. Above all, migrate to B2B Ecommerce platforms like Shopify Plus.

#5. Start Local Marketing 

Brick-and-mortar B2B businesses aren’t the only ones who can jump into the local market. eCommerce stores can also take a local approach to increase eCommerce revenue.

First, you need to know what local means to your business. Identify locations where you have large concentrations of customers and run promotions in that area. It might be a state, a country, or a continent. 

Then, identify the particular product the buyers consume and other spending behavior indicators. 

Next, consider local events or seasons to time the promotion appropriately.

If you have one or more warehouses in the area, you can consider the promotion of discounted, expedited, or free shipping to the customers in the vicinity. This will be easier for your eCommerce marketing agency or team to execute without extra costs.

Should You Hire an eCommerce Marketing Agency?

As your company outlines its potential growth strategy, one inevitable question arises—should you hire an agency?

There isn’t one correct answer because it’s a question of circumstances. However, hiring a digital marketing agency is an excellent choice for any company because you leverage:

• Highly specialized experience (that transform innovative ideas into commercial success through success)
• Offer a wider set of services often needed to produce results (like omnichannel marketing combining digital channels, product listing feeds, marketplaces, or offline channels)
• Process and proven track record of delivering results (from the discovery of your market position and value proposition to strategy and design)

That’s our work at Pivofy. We’ve taken dozens of eCommerce businesses to new heights. From different industries. And we’ll do it for you. 

Let’s build the future of your business together—contact us today.

Throughout 2021, the IT industry has experienced substantial growth, despite the Covid-19 pandemic hindering overall job growth in the U.S. In fact, the IT industry experienced growth every month of this year, averaging 13,000 new jobs each month. Experts say that these numbers would have been even higher if employers had been able to find sufficient qualified candidates for all the positions available. In this regard, the IT industry has remained largely the same as it was pre-pandemic: there are more jobs available than qualified candidates.

As ILBSG reported earlier, the labor shortages in the U.S. have increased pressure on employers to recruit and retain much-needed talent. Resignations in the tech space have increased by 4.5 percent, as employees continue to leave their jobs for new opportunities in this unusually favorable job market, with millions of job openings.

As the IT industry continues to experience high demand for available workers, recruiting and retaining foreign talent will be crucial for many businesses. The H-1B program, which is the most popular visa for bringing highly skilled workers to the U.S., is a great option for many facing labor shortages. However, the complexities of the H-1B program require careful planning and execution. Retaining H-1B employees once you have brought them to the U.S. can be an even bigger challenge.

ILBSG is here to help you build an effective strategy for attracting, hiring, and retaining foreign talent. This article explains what you need to know in order to effectively utilize the H-1B program and improve employee retention overall.

How to Attract Talent

Before you can file an H-1B visa and begin the process of sponsoring an employee, you must first attract and recruit the talent you need. As the IT industry is experiencing significant labor shortages, recruiting talent will mean taking steps to set your company apart from others. This means your company will need to offer a competitive salary, competitive benefits (which must be the same as the benefits offered to your U.S. employees), as well as opportunities for continued growth at your company. While standard benefits include health insurance, paid leave, and retirement benefits such as a 401k, other benefits are increasingly important to employees. Many employees prioritize the flexibility to work from home and additional vacation time when deciding which position is the right fit. This is particularly true for foreign employees who will have to travel overseas to visit family.

For many foreign workers, the uncertainty over their immigration status is also a major deciding factor. When making an offer of employment to a foreign worker, you will want to explain the H-1B immigration process clearly, so they understand each step and what to expect. As an employer, if you are knowledgeable about the H-1B program, prospective employees will feel more confident being sponsored by your company. To that end, we advise working with an experienced immigration attorney, who can explain the process for you and give you the tools you need to effectively reassure employees their immigration process will be seamless.
Finally, your company should be transparent about the possibility of green card sponsorship, as this could give you a competitive edge in recruiting talent from the start. While a coveted H-1B visa is attractive for foreign workers, the opportunity for permanent residency in the U.S. is the end goal for most foreign employees, so this can be an invaluable tool for attracting the best and brightest talent.

How to Hire Talent

Since the IT industry has been especially impacted by widespread labor shortages, employers should plan ahead in order to utilize the H-1B program in the coming year. While the H-1B program is an excellent tool for bringing foreign talent to the U.S., it is a complex, time-sensitive process. As such, it requires careful advance planning and execution.

The next H-1B cap will occur in March 2022. As in the years past, there will be a 3-week registration period immediately followed by a selection period. A recent court decision has ensured that the next H-1B cap will again be a lottery, which is good news for those hoping to file. In the future, we could see the H-1B program move to a wage-based system favoring the highest wages, but for now, the lottery system remains in place. Since a lottery system is luck of the draw, ILBSG recommends employers hoping to secure H-1B visas for foreign workers in the upcoming cap strategize early to maximize their chances.

The more candidates you register in the H-1B cap, the higher likelihood you have that some will be selected in the lottery. If you have positions you need to fill at your company, you should register sufficient candidates to fill those spots, keeping in mind that only about 28% of the candidates registered will be selected. For FY 2022, 308,613 candidates were registered for the 85,000 spots available. Understanding the selection rate will allow you to register sufficient candidates to ensure your staffing needs are met.
In order to register sufficient candidates to fill your open positions, you will want to begin the recruitment process early. This means posting the positions ahead of time and completing careful screening to ensure the candidates are adequately qualified, well in advance of the registration period in March. If you wait too long to start recruiting, the registration period may close. If you weren’t able to register sufficient candidates before the period closes, you may have few to no candidates selected. Avoid this scenario completely by planning ahead.

How to Retain Talent

Once you have successfully registered candidates in the H-1B lottery and filed the H-1B petitions for the candidates selected, the emphasis should shift to employee retention. Once a foreign employee is in the U.S. and holds H-1B status, they can easily pursue new opportunities and transfer their H-1B status to a new employer. Since an H-1B transfer petition allows the employee to move to the new employer as soon as it’s filed, many H-1B employees will take advantage of the favorable job market and pursue better opportunities if they arise. The key is to ensure your H-1B employees want to stay at your company. Employee retention is critical for all businesses, but particularly when it comes to foreign talent since you have already invested time and money into their immigration process.

In order to ensure your employees stay at your company, there should be a strong emphasis on employee development and career advancement. Employees want to stay at companies where they can grow. This not only means opportunities for promotions and higher salaries but also investment in your employees’ professional development. Particularly in the IT sector where technology is constantly changing, providing employees access to additional training and certifications to keep their skillsets up to date can set your company apart.

Employees are motivated by the opportunity for long-term growth and career stability. If you have a foreign worker employed on an H-1B visa who you wish to retain long term, we advise sponsoring them for a green card earlier than later. In general, employees are likely to leave their existing positions for higher salaries. But foreign workers are also motivated by their immigration status, so this is an important benefit to consider. If another employer will sponsor them, they are more likely to leave, particularly since without green card sponsorship, a foreign employee is on a set timeline before they have to return to their home country. The labor certification process can be lengthy, so it is important to start this process early in order to ensure the employee has an I-140 approval before they reach the six-year limit on H-1B. This is one of the only ways they will be able to extend their H-1B status beyond the sixth year. Since this is something every foreign worker will be thinking about, your company should be thinking about it too. If you have already invested years in an employee, take the necessary steps to guarantee their immigration status and retain them long-term.

How to Maintain a Compliant H-1B Program at Your Company

Finally, companies who want to utilize the H-1B program and hire foreign talent should be prepared to take the necessary steps to ensure complete immigration compliance. H-1B employees want to work at a reputable company with an excellent immigration track record. This means diligently following all rules and regulations, ensuring careful recordkeeping, and becoming knowledgeable about all H-1B program requirements. If a company has a reputation of complex Requests for Evidence (RFEs), H-1B denials, or scrutiny from USCIS or the Department of Labor, foreign workers will not want to risk their immigration status to join.

Working with an experienced immigration attorney is critical to success in utilizing the H-1B program. A knowledgeable attorney can ensure you are in complete compliance, assist you in recordkeeping, perform internal audits of your documentation, as well as assist you with responding to any inquiry from USCIS. As immigration laws and policies frequently change, the importance of an experienced immigration attorney cannot be understated.

If you have questions about the H-1B program, hiring and retaining foreign talent, or the upcoming H-1B lottery, please reach out to an ILBSG attorney today. We are here to help you get the right advice.

Originally published here!

When you first heard about radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and its ability to automatically account for thousands of assets in mere seconds – without a single barcode scan – it was probably music to your ears, right? Then someone mentioned that RFID and metal don’t always mesh, and your tune changed?

Well, Kelly Breneisen and I are here to get you jumping and jiving again.

In this episode of That Supplies Show, we set the record straight on the relationship between RFID readers and metal and what you can do to make a strong, lasting connection. That’s right, it is possible to track metal assets with RFID. In fact, it’s recommended. You just need to make sure (like everything else) that you select the right RFID tags/labels and printers.

Why printers, you ask?

You’ll have to tune in for that answer, along with more tips on how to become an RFID rockstar in this heavy metal world:

Listen to the podcast here!

The hit single “Superstition,” the best-selling book “A Brief History of Time,” and the lightbulb all have at least one thing in common – they were created by people with disabilities. (Thank you, Stevie Wonder, Stephen Hawking and Thomas Edison!)

They aren’t the only ones making an incredible impact on our lives, though. And there are plenty of people who could be rock stars (or inventors, educators and problem-solvers) if we just gave them a chance. That’s why we’re taking active steps to increase diversity within our workforce, including a focus on people with disabilities. We need their talents, unique ideas, specialized skill sets, and enthusiasm to help extend the edge of possibilities – for our customers, our partners, and the world.

Yet, myths, misconceptions, unconscious bias and fear can often lead to poor decisions, particularly when it comes to hiring. That’s why Zebra employees are also volunteering their time with non-profit organizations serving the disabled community. Members of Zebra’s new Inclusion Network for people with disabilities and their allies, Zebras of All Abilities (ZoAA), is working to combat these harmful ways of thinking with education, resources, teambuilding and community-based initiatives.

Here are just a few ways we’re educating ourselves and others about what we can do to better support those with disabilities who want to share and celebrate their strengths:

CZECH REPUBLIC

Veronika Hybaskova, a senior manager on Zebra’s talent acquisition team, began asking herself why she didn’t see many people with disabilities applying to work at our Brno, Czech Republic office. With 15% of the global population experiencing some form of disability, surely there should be a more diverse pool of applicants, she thought. Veronika sought to educate herself and her teammates on how they could foster a more inclusive environment.

Zebras in our Brno office have volunteered with non-profit organizations that provide resources and support for people with disabilities for a few years now. With these relationships already established, Veronika felt it was time to take the next step in more actively listening and learning from this community to make an impact in her own office.

Last year, the Brno team began working with AGAPO, a non-profit organization that connects employers and people with disabilities and offers consultation services for work arrangements. The relationship has already helped place and support an individual with disabilities in the Brno office.

While recruitment is underway, volunteering hasn’t taken a backseat. This past June, nearly 20 Zebra employees based in Brno volunteered their time to support the Emil Open. The annual event, also called the Summer European Youth Games for the Disabled, is an international social gathering hosting more than 750 young people with disabilities and their allies from 14 countries. Zebra volunteers set up a booth at the games to share what it’s like to work at Zebra and to learn from attendees about the needs of their community.

Also participating in the games and cheered on by Zebra employees were members of Liga Vozíčkářů (Wheelchair League), an organization with a mission of helping people with disabilities strengthen their skills to achieve independence. Zebras in Brno have worked with Liga Vozíčkářů on both philanthropy and volunteer opportunities since 2020.

UNITED STATES

National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) is held each October to “commemorate the many and varied contributions of people with disabilities to America’s workplaces and economy.” While NDEAM is limited to October, Zebra employees recognize the work ethic and contributions of people with disabilities all year long.

This past August, members of the Zebras of All Abilities (ZoAA) inclusion network traveled from across the United States to gather in Rockford, Illinois and participate in the Tough Mudder. A 10-mile course where participants can test their physical and mental abilities while working together as a team to overcome obstacles without the pressure of competition, the Tough Mudder represents inclusion in its truest form. The group came together to work through the obstacles, relying on everyone’s unique skillsets to complete the course – no Zebra left behind.

The team also raised funds for four non-profit organizations that help improve the lives of people with disabilities and have placed full-time employees in Zebra’s Buffalo Grove, Illinois and Bentonville, Arkansas repair facilities. Zebra matched the donations to double the impact of the team’s efforts.

One of those organizations is Pathfinder, Inc., based in Rogers, Arkansas. Pathfinder, Inc. is responsible for introducing Zebra to the talented Larry Bobbitt, who has worked in our repair depot since November 2020.

Larry was born with scoliosis of the spine and a malformed right forearm. While his physical disability presents a unique set of challenges, Larry doesn’t allow it to stop him from much, let alone the Tough Mudder – which he has already signed up to participate in next year!

BRAZIL

Nanismo Brasil is a charity in Brazil that advocates for the rights of people with dwarfism by fighting prejudice and educating communities on how to foster an inclusive societal culture.

Last month, a nutritionist and personal trainer who are partners of Nanismo Brasil hosted a webinar for more than 60 attendees from Zebra and its own organization.

The educational session was offered to help attendees understand the importance of nutrition and exercise in maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle. Attendees were presented with a challenge: walk for the duration of the meeting, counting your steps as you go. At the end of the meeting, attendees who participated were entered into a raffle and received prizes.

Zebra originally began working with Nanismo Brasil during Zebra’s inaugural Global Week of Service in 2020. Latin America-based Zebras were introduced to the organization by Mariana Souza Silva, a senior advisor on Zebra’s marketing team, whose mother had dwarfism. After Mariana’s mother passed away, Mariana sought to honor her memory by continuing to advocate for people with dwarfism with Nanismo Brasil.

It is empowering to see Zebra Nation express allyship and serve as advocates for people of all abilities, yet our work is never truly done. We will continue to open our hearts – and career opportunities – to those who have a lot to offer.

If you would like to learn more about how Zebra is working to recruit people with disabilities, or if you would like to support any of our ongoing Inclusion & Diversity efforts, please check out these related blog posts.

Originally published here!

I wrote previously about the growing trials of micro fulfillment centers (MFC) and some of the varying technologies contained therein. Now, I’d like to dig a little deeper and provide my perspective around when the solution makes sense from an economic point of view. (I’m sure you’d appreciate that too, considering the business case that must be built to secure budget these days.)

MFCs, though wildly popular, are still maturing from a design standpoint. 

There are basic shuttle-based systems that use 1D shuttles to retrieve items from a fixed infrastructure resembling a honeycomb of sorts. However, the potential downside of having each item or SKU in a fixed or designated location is you need to devote space for maximum velocity. 

Another flavor involves ultra-high-density storage, in which robots or shuttles move about a single structure – sometimes referred to as a hive – and retrieve the items from totes. This approach requires some “digging,” but also allows for deployment in very tight spaces, which makes the MFC concept viable for retailers that want to make the best use of limited, or perhaps underutilized, square footage.

Yet another potential approach involves mobile automated storage and retrieval systems, often referred to as AS/RS. This MFC design allows direct access to all storage locations (i.e., less “digging”) and is almost entirely vertical in most cases.  

Which is best (barring any physical footprint limitations)?

There are numerous cost-benefit calculations that can be used to determine whether such a solution makes sense for you. However, you must be careful as to which factors you take into account. Looking at it strictly from a technology / IT standpoint will likely result in a poor decision, as there are so many other considerations:

• Labor – Most retailers are finding it extremely difficult to find labor at the moment, and this trend shows no sign of abating – driving labor costs higher. Therefore, even if you can get labor, the cost of that labor is increasing at a dizzying pace. 

• Customer service – Acquiring a new customer is a very costly proposition, as you know, and losing that customer due to constant mis-picks, late orders and inconsistent quality makes the return on investment (ROI) around technology far more appealing. 
• The reduced need for shelf space – There are many categories that have increasingly gone direct to consumer (DTC) or undergone SKU rationalization largely as a result of pandemic-driven supply chain disruptions. Does it make sense to reallocate that space to fulfillment?
• Location (and namely, proximity): Incorporating an e-commerce fulfillment center into – or adjacent to – an existing store footprint allows for much faster deployments of an MFC, with the ROI being achieved much faster than possible with a new distribution center (DC) or other standalone facility. From a supply chain perspective, delivery routing doesn’t need to change at all – simply allocate some product for the MFC and the rest for the store floor. 

As you can see, the ROI calculation for an MFC is far more complicated than a simple technology investment. This is truly a solution that impacts many metrics – some of which are very clear cut, such as the cost to fill each order, and some less so, such as customer satisfaction or net promoter score (NPS). All have a direct effect on margins.

HOW DOES IT ALL ADD UP (FOR YOU)?

In some cases, a store’s volume may simply not make sense for such a solution. However, if you have a number of stores in a limited geography, the best approach may be utilizing one MFC for two or three nearby stores. Implemented properly, an MFC can:

• increase customer satisfaction.
• reduce the need for picking, allowing store staff to focus on customers standing right in front of them who, to your benefit, opted to get what they need in store versus relying solely on curbside services.
• reduce the cost of fulfillment more broadly by allowing you to spread costs across multiple stores. 

It’s important to call out that your ROI is very dependent on how many hours you keep the facility running. If the volume only calls for the MFC to run 6-8 hours a day, then your ROI will be significantly less than if you can keep it humming for closer to 24 hours. 

Still, another factor to consider here is the need to pull e-commerce fulfillment activities away from third parties that have been essentially managing your brand’s relationship with the customer. While it will be hard to quantify the ROI of this change, know it will directly – and positively – impact customer loyalty. You’ll have more control over the customer experience. Therefore, it should certainly be part of the broader ROI analysis and ranked fairly high given the current opportunity to lure shoppers away from your competition as people start to return to pre-pandemic routines. 

So, as you can easily see, the viability of MFC solutions from an investment standpoint is still as much of a variable as other emerging technologies. But one thing is for certain: in many cases, automation will (and should) rise higher on the priority list as labor becomes more of a challenge. 

If you’d like help assessing the viability of an MFC in your store or want to learn more about the role that Zebra’s automation, mobility and scanning solutions are playing in MFCs around the world, don’t hesitate to contact me or other retail team members.

Originally published here!

Commercial airlines have long been a staple in long-distance shipping, with half of air-shipped cargo transported in the bellies of passenger planes. And they’ve done a great job of rebalancing passenger volumes as needed to maintain stable capacity in the cargo hold, even when fuel costs would rise. However, the pandemic has changed the economics, and many airlines are cancelling flights on undersold international routes. Though it should be good news for air freight carriers like yourself given the opportunity to take on that revenue, we all know these grounded passenger planes haven’t been the stroke of luck you needed – at least not yet.

With air shipping capacity cut in half overnight, the burden flows on you to maintain on-time deliveries for double the package volume – especially now that container ships are being logjammed for weeks, unable to get to ports, and there’s no other way to get goods across bodies of water.

Except you probably don’t have any more capacity than you did a year ago, right?

This is a tough position to be in. You’re in the business of moving goods fast. It’s your entire value proposition. So, if more customers start turning to you hoping you’ll be their salvation from this global shipping crisis and you start turning them away because you can’t accommodate any more packages for weeks or months out, you could set yourself back years from a financial perspective.

You could add capacity by adding planes and pilots, but that costs money you may not have right now. And with fuel prices doubling earlier this year, and labor wages rising, you may find it hard to justify the expense of fleet expansion even if you have the financial resources. It’s quite a predicament. But one that you can get out of, perhaps easier than you think.

Let me explain…

CLEAR VISIBILITY STARTING AT THE LOADING STATION

My team and I spoke with several carriers earlier this year that were still shipping a lot of air. Unit load devices (ULDs) were not being effectively utilized, with space going unused. Now, some are working with us to enhance utilization so they can load more packages onto each plane and manage higher shipping volumes without having to add flights or expand their fleets.

They’ve been implementing the Zebra SmartPack™ Container solution at their air cargo hubs and sorting centers to help workers better stack packages into each ULD. Similar to the Zebra SmartPack Trailer solution used at warehouses and cross-docks, SmartPack Container uses 3D sensing technology to gauge load efficiency and construction quality. The data provided helps decision-makers better adapt the organization’s overall ULD strategy to current conditions. For example, they may decide to increase the use of smaller ULDs at certain hubs rather than bigger ones for several months, reevaluating requirements on an annual or biannual bases. It also gives logistics managers and supervisors a line of sight into container utilization, enabling them to coach teams on how to adjust their individual “build” strategies on a near-real time basis so more packages can fit in each container. Less air is shipped, and more revenue is generated with each ULD.

In fact, we recently helped one major carrier achieve 5% more fullness on average in its ULDs at an air cargo hub in Europe. And it wasn’t a one-time gain. It has proven sustainable through the continued use of SmartPack Container.

For years, logistics supervisors were relying on package volumes from the carrier’s warehouse management system (WMS) to estimate fullness of the ULDs, the number one key performance indicator (KPI) for its hubs. The problem is that this information could take a week to generate in the system, and it wasn’t 100% accurate or complete when it arrived. Because it was pure package volume data, the reports didn’t offer insights into how each ULD was actually utilized. So, supervisors didn’t know how to improve load construction or workflows each day – much less in near-real time – to increase ULD utilization.

So, the carrier wanted to test the SmartPack Container solution to see if it could help. For four weeks, we trained a load team at the air cargo hub on how to use the system. Supervisors were able to learn how to adjust certain processes to achieve better utilization. They were also able to advise their employees when something was not being done optimally so they could act before the load was closed.

Just as importantly, supervisors and other stakeholders were able to review the loads that didn’t meet certain KPIs so they could transfer and apply lessons learned to others within the organization.

As a result, load construction improved, and the customer managed to increase the efficiency of its loading processes to a level that was sustainable over time, reaching KPI values that were not previously possible. In fact, the switch from reactive to real-time analytics was huge, as it enhanced the very metric the customer set to define success during the SmartPack evaluation trial.

If you find that hard to believe, I completely understand. You’re probably getting KPIs from your main hub once a week – and a week too late – right?

That’s a big reason why we created SmartPack in the first place. Transporters and logistics companies need a way to see and act on load-related data as soon as it’s captured in a homogenous way across all levels of the organization. So, we designed the system to flow data to senior managers, supervisors and other decision-makers daily and, in some cases, in real time.

In this particular air cargo hub deployment (and many others we’ve worked on lately), SmartPack enabled key stakeholders to see when performance was trending in the wrong direction. They would alert the senior manager who, in turn, spoke with supervisors about making immediate changes. The next day, performance would usually go up. SmartPack-informed change management had taken root.

“Okay. But was the performance gain sustainable long term?” you’re probably wondering.

Absolutely – and we proved it.

When the SmartPack-trained load team went on a one-week vacation, the carrier assessed the replacement crew to see how it performed without the system monitoring and guiding its actions. Its loads were suboptimal, and freight processing levels actually degraded back to historical lows. 

Then, when the SmartPack-trained team returned from vacation, the performance was restored since they continued using the SmartPack insights to inform load strategies. 

The takeaway?

Once the carrier was able to see load utilization on a daily basis rather than on a week delay, it was able to make strategic and tactical changes to its operations to achieve – and sustain – its load KPI. Real-time (and even next day) insights gave them the performance lift needed to process more freight without needing more flights and fuel.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU AND THE FUTURE OF AIR CARGO

I personally think air freight could be on the same path as e-commerce.

Prior to the pandemic, online and mobile shopping were on a growth trajectory. But use was typically reserved for those who appreciated the convenience. Then shutdowns and social distancing happened, and people were forced to use those channels. Then they realized they liked them…a lot. They didn’t even mind paying a little bit extra for delivery or curbside pickup if needed. Now, the majority of people are shopping online as an everyday practice.

From a shipping perspective, people may have reserved the air option for time-sensitive situations – when they were trying to get perishable goods or a gift to someone hundreds or thousands of miles away in a day’s time. But now that it seems to be the only reliable way to get anything to anyone on time, especially when shipping overseas, it’s likely that planes will be the preferred way for packages to travel for the foreseeable future.

This is true of supply chain cargo as well.

It costs $6,000 USD more to ship a container across the ocean from Asia to Europe than it did in April. Tack on an extra 20% (at least) for those going to the western U.S. coast. In fact, I read the other day the average shipping rate is now at $20,000 per container and climbing. That’s nearly 500% higher than a year ago.

I realize already industry-high air freight rates have doubled in the last year, making the ocean still appear to be the best option for long-haul shipping – at least on paper. But vessels are only operating on schedule 35% of the time right now and port-to-port transit times have more than doubled in 12 months. Fireworks vendors in the U.S. literally didn’t have fireworks for New Year’s Eve and Fourth of July – the only time of year they can operate their businesses. And they’re not the only ones tired of telling customers there will be weeks or months-long delivery delays. I know we’re frustrated at Zebra. Who wants to let customers down? Or explain to shareholders that product launches will be delayed several quarters because they can’t get inventory to distribution centers, much less customer doorsteps?

Every business is trying to stay afloat right now (no pun intended), and the continued reliance on maritime channels is sinking many. So, they’re starting to see air cargo carriers as a stop-loss measure. The cost of shipping might still be higher, but what’s the alternative? A higher sales loss rate? Possibly. That’s precisely why some companies are moving their distribution centers (DC) closer to air cargo hubs. They are now making air a standard component of their transportation strategies. Being closer to airports with larger cargo fleets makes it easier to secure the space needed to get shipments out on time. It also reduces the lead time needed to get goods from the DC to the air cargo hub and reduces the risk of trucking or rail delays.

That leaves you with both an opportunity and a challenge.

Air cargo volume recently hit a four-year high, and industry analysts expect this growth to be sustained. As do I. Even if ocean and ground shipping networks were to expand and port processing speeds were to pick up to pre-pandemic levels – which some say won’t happen until at least 2023 – more shipping capacity is going to be needed. We’re on a long-term growth trajectory for e-commerce and commerce overall. The last 18 months proved that.

And even as demand drops back down a bit, there’s always a reason why air freight carriers need to improve ULD utilization. For example, regulatory mandates around carbon emissions will require you to pay close attention to fleet utilization in the coming years. If you can increase ULD utilization, perhaps you can deliver the same volume of goods with fewer flights. Worker safety is also an ongoing concern – and another regulatory focal point. SmartPack Container can help you train load teams on how to better utilize ULDs without risking injury, and more strategically planning each load can help reduce overexertion.

Something else we’re looking at right now with a few carriers is how this same technology can be used to improve the building of pallet ULDs, which are commonly referred to as cookie sheets. It’s not hard to stack packages in a perfect square. But it’s almost impossible for any human to eyeball the imaginary five-sided “envelope” that dictates how to stack the freight on the cookie sheet depending on where the cookie sheet is going to be located inside the aircraft. As a result, it’s hard to get each cookie sheet to fit perfectly in the nooks and crannies of the plane’s belly. And that, as you know, means you’re shipping air – air that could be filled by revenue-generating cargo.

I know I sound like a broken record, but “air” is ironically not something that works in favor of air freight carriers – at least not inside the hull.

THE ROUTE FORWARD

You have a rare opportunity right now to gain a competitive edge in the shipping economy and generate revenue that could make it more feasible to scale your fleet. All you have to do is create more capacity within your existing resources. Simple enough, right?

Actually, it is.

The process of digitalizing and automating your load workflow doesn’t have to be complicated. Zebra Customer Success Managers can lead you through each step of the journey. They’ll help you scope, plan, design, execute, and review the implementation – and refine as your operational scope changes. They’ll even help you train your team on how to use the system as they did for the carrier in Europe and assist with change management – which is mission critical.

As you go through this process to capture load data, validate performance proof points, and drive greater adoption throughout your organization, you’re going to start to build new load management capabilities. As they start to take root, you must do everything you can to manage the changes that will subsequently occur, especially as you start to reach the “nirvana” stage, which is accessibility to automation. If you can be proactive about change management, then those new operational capabilities will enable you to facilitate more consistent decision making and achieve trusted, sustainable outcomes that will reverberate far beyond the loading station. Demand forecasting will become second nature (and accurate), and there will be new mechanisms in place to improve inventory performance across multiple supply chain touchpoints. Of course, delivery and returns operations can be optimized if you have an idea of what is leaving or arriving in each ULD.

So, don’t wait until your load utilization levels drop below a recoverable threshold to investigate the source of the (revenue) leak. Though it might not be the biggest issue you have to contend with today, it could open up a floodgate of issues if left unchecked too long. Plus, plugging even little leaks can save you a lot of money. The SmartPack trial we just completed at the European air cargo hub was proof of that.

If you have a few minutes right now, or perhaps this week, I recommend you read my last blog post to learn more about how the SmartPack “system of intelligence” works from both a back-end perspective and in terms of the user experience:

Think You Know the Best Way to Load a Truck or Container? Let’s Put Your Theory to the Test.

I didn’t get too technical, but I did go more in depth about how the machine learning and prescriptive analytics work behind the scenes to assess the 3D sensor and camera data and help you both see and understand what’s happening in the ULD. That last part is important. Any camera can give you a line of sight inside the ULD. And you can track ULD utilization today. (That’s probably why you’re reading this, right? You’re trying to figure out how to improve utilization?)

Well, the whole point of SmartPack Container – which we actually developed in collaboration with a major global shipper – is to show you why ULDs aren’t being fully utilized. That’s the information that will help you:

• increase capacity without adding planes or round trips.
• ensure planes leave (and arrive) on time.
• comply with regulatory mandates.
• take advantage of growth opportunities with greater ease.

Originally published here!

For U.S. employers who had H-1B petitions denied for market research analyst roles, another chance at filing is now available. The result of a class action lawsuit, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will reconsider H-1B applications for the analyst roles.

The class action lawsuit was filed by a group of four U.S. employers who claimed the USCIS inaccurately interpreted market research analysts as excluded from the “specialty occupation” category. H-1B visas are granted to workers who have highly specialized knowledge through education, a bachelor’s degree or higher, in a specific specialty. The Occupational Outlook Handbook, from the Department of Labor, is the source of interpretation for qualifying roles under the USCIS.

The lawsuit asked for relief for themselves and other U.S. employers whose petitions would have otherwise been approved if the interpretation of the role was accurate at the time of adjudication.

U.S. employers must establish that they are a class member of the MadKudu lawsuit in order for their filings to be re-adjudicated. USCIS will then reconsider the previously denied H-1B petition for the market research analyst roles if there is time left in the validity period of the certified Labor Condition Application (LCA) for the original denied petition.

Re-adjudication of past filings, adjudicating pending and future filings for the market research analyst role will be under the upcoming guidance. The definition of “specialty occupation” and other related criteria will be used to determine whether an individual’s role qualifies for the market research analyst role.

USCIS created a 180-day period to file to request the reopening of a past filing. The start date is October 28, 2021. ILBSG recommends filing as soon as possible in order to avoid the risk that the LCA will expire prior to the request being processed.

To qualify as a class member, U.S. employers must meet the below criteria;

• The H-1B petition or the market research analyst role was filed with USCIS between January 1, 2019, through October 19, 2021.
• The petition was denied by USCIS due to the market research analyst OOH misinterpretation.
• The H-1B petition would otherwise have been approved if not for the OOH misinterpretation.

This lawsuit, filed by just four U.S. employers, benefits all qualifying organizations who faced the same issue, regardless of their involvement in the original lawsuit.

ILBSG continues to monitor ongoing legal actions that can affect companies and individuals. If you have a question about your H-1B filings, contact us. We work with you to ensure you get the right advice.

Originally published here!

Your workers are geared up and ready to go. They have their mobile computers powered up and paired with ring scanners, headsets, head-mounted displays, and all the other technology tools they need to have a productive day. And you’ve shored up the Wi-Fi network so they can stay connected. Yet, somehow, their productivity is still lower than you’d like and complaints of Bluetooth® connectivity issues are higher than they should be.

What gives?

If I had to guess, I would say the noise in your factory, warehouse, distribution center or store is more disruptive than you might have realized. I’m not just talking about ambient noise, either.

“MASKING” THE ISSUE

Like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth connections are very sensitive to electrically noisy environments, such as manufacturing, warehousing, retail, logistics, and healthcare. With so many industrial machines, sensors, beacons, and other radio frequency (RF) technologies used today, signal interference is common. However, we don’t hear industry leaders really talk about, much less address, concerns regarding wireless reliability in the context of Bluetooth connectivity. The conversation typically centers on Wi-Fi.

Well, that changes today.

At Zebra, we know that if one of your worker’s Bluetooth-paired devices disconnect for even a few seconds, barcode data captured via the ring scanner might not make it to the host mobile computer and into your inventory management system. Or a picker using an augmented reality app on the head-mounted display may not receive vital instructions on where to go or what to grab next. So, we’ve found a way for you to disable specific Bluetooth communication channels that are more susceptible to noise and interference so you can increase Bluetooth connection stability, data throughput and overall performance.

It’s called Bluetooth Channel Masking.

I’m sure you have a lot of questions, so let me see if I can address the three I anticipate you’ll ask first:

1.  What specific signal challenges can Bluetooth Channel Masking help with?

If you have devices that are failing to pair, audio hiccups, and recurring dropped connections, Bluetooth Channel Masking should be employed. If problems still persist after you’ve properly configured this capability, I recommend you reach out to your technical support staff to diagnose and correct the issue. It may be an incorrect setting or something that doesn’t have to do with Bluetooth technology at all.

2. How can I configure the Bluetooth channel I would like to mask?

Zebra offers StageNow, which can be used to provision the Bluetooth channel to be masked. You may also use your mobile device management (MDM) or enterprise mobility management (EMM) solution to deploy the Bluetooth channel mask using Zebra’s OEMConfig powered by Mx.

3. I have several Bluetooth devices. Can I use Bluetooth Channel Masking for all of them?

Bluetooth Channel Masking is available and configurable on Zebra Android™ mobile devices and can be used with a Bluetooth device that is paired and connected to a Zebra Android mobile device using Bluetooth Low Energy technology. 

I know my answers – and the solution itself – might seem a little too simple. But you have enough complexity in your life. My job, and our job here at Zebra, is to make your job easier and help minimize complexities.

So, I hope you’ve found this Bluetooth Channel Masking tip helpful. And I am confident your workers will appreciate you taking the time to read this post and apply this simple change to their Android devices. No one likes dropped calls or delayed data transmissions.

Originally published here!

If you’ve heard a lot of different opinions about what makes a tablet or laptop a 2-in-1 computing device, know you’re not alone. In my 20+ years in the mobile computing industry, I’ve heard every point of view there is. Some say it’s a laptop with a foldaway keyboard. Others argue it’s a tablet with a detachable keyboard. A few people have even claimed 2-in-1s shouldn’t be considered laptops or tablets – that they’re in a category of their own. (Convertibles, perhaps?)

It’s hard to say who’s right or wrong. But I will say this: 2-in-1s aren’t what they were even five years ago – at least not in the enterprise mobile computing space.

DETACHING FROM THE PAST

There are millions of people around the world who don’t work in a traditional office setting and probably never will. Yet, they all need a full office setup to do their jobs. I’m not talking about those who shifted into a remote work status due to the pandemic, either. I’m talking about engineers, first responders and emergency personnel, investigators, insurance adjustors, utility technicians, residential and commercial service providers, military personnel, and others out in the field every day helping to build, protect, maintain, serve and restore our communities.

They need the same access to operational information as any other worker in their respective organizations – perhaps even more urgently. Therefore, they need a way to stay digitally connected to critical infrastructure systems and each other no matter how physically distanced they are from the office or their colleagues. Situational awareness is a mainstay of their jobs. That’s why public safety and utility crews were among the first to test and use rugged tablets over 20 years ago. They needed a computing solution that mimicked the desktop experience but was truly mobile.

Though rugged laptops became wildly popular among mobile workers who spent a lot of time driving from one site to the next, most were too bulky and heavy to ever remove from the vehicle dock. To be honest, it’s still that way today despite the advancements made to slim down devices. So, field-based workers are heading out to job sites empty handed – and laptops are sitting unused in vehicles for hours on end. And at the end of the day, they spend hours trying to write and submit reports and close out work orders – hoping they remembered everything correctly and realizing there was probably information they forgot to capture when clearing a scene, interviewing a witness, installing a piece of equipment, or inspecting a building.

I know. It’s hard to believe, right? We live in the digital age. People should be able to be access, capture and/or share information on the spot, no matter what.

That’s why I’m calling on you to abandon the notion that all mobile workers need laptops. They don’t. In fact, many are going to be disadvantaged by laptops. And I know you care about productivity, especially right now.

The workload seems to be doubling by the day, doesn’t it? More calls, patients, and service requests are coming in. More infrastructure, homes and buildings need to be constructed, inspected, and repaired. And more planes, trains and automobiles need to be manufactured, maintained and operated. Don’t get me started on the ebb and flow of energy demands or the depths crews must go to extract natural resources. I haven’t met one person who isn’t feeling the pressure right now to do more each day…without making mistakes along the way.

Can you imagine how much harder their jobs must be if they are having to make do with a device that’s not well suited for their jobs?

My suspicion is that once you walk a day in their shoes, you’ll see they really need two different form factors to maintain a smooth workflow between their homes, vehicles, the field, customer homes, and other job sites. They need one that can be used in hand while walking and working and one that can be setup like a laptop in the vehicle or on a desk. That doesn’t mean they need two devices, though.

They just need one, large screen rugged 2-in-1 tablet with a keyboard that can be folded in for a “close and go” laptop solution or completely detached when they need a true tablet to move about quickly. And they need a computer they can dock and undock – from the vehicle, desktop, forklift, or other mount – in one second, with one hand.

STAYING CONNECTED TO TODAY’S MOBILE WORKFORCE TRENDS

The value of a rugged 2-in-1 tablet goes beyond its physical flexibility. The size of the global utility industry’s field-based workforce has doubled in recent years, and mobile workers will soon make up 60% of the total U.S. workforce. If these employees are to do their jobs effectively, they must have the right device form factor for all their workspaces and the right device features for all workflows.  This is the notion of “workforce transformation.”  More digital-based work is happening in the field, which means more content creation and content consumption is happening.  The 2-in-1 form factor is the logical device to enable.

For example, we know a laptop-like device is important for many front-line workers. But laptops don’t always have multiple USB ports, much less HDMI-in, True Serial or RJ-45 input/output (I/O) – not even the convertible ones marketed for business use. Yet, in customer surveys Zebra recently conducted, critical field service workers, firefighters, emergency medical services (EMS) technicians and utility professionals all agreed a single USB port is not sufficient. There are multiple ancillary devices and accessories they must connect to during the day, including printers and testing/diagnostic equipment. They need their “office” – business applications, data, collaboration tools – centralized on one device, and that requires I/O. It also means that built-in barcode scanners, Common Access Card (CAC) reader and antenna pass-throughs are must-have features. But it’s rare to find a laptop with one of these, much less all three. That’s because most laptops aren’t made for intense field use…or manufacturing applications…or public safety.

Rugged 2-in-1 tablets, on the other hand, are made exclusively for these types of mobile workers. So, they offer all the above capabilities and more: push-to-talk communications and collaboration tools, super-bright (800 nit) screens, and universal docks (that offer up to 9 extra I/O ports). These features, though not necessarily important to consumers, are mission-critical to professionals. They are what enable front-line workers to stay productive everywhere they go and transition from one place or task to the next without having to transfer data from one device to another.

Imagine a police officer called to the scene of an accident. With a rugged 2-in-1 in hand, they can run driver’s licenses, validate insurance and registrations, take pictures of the vehicles, document statements, get signatures from those involved, and submit reports right on the spot – without having to return to the patrol vehicle once. If they get called to another incident while clearing this scene, they can use the tablet to respond to dispatch, report their location, get debriefed and even coordinate with other responding agencies while en route. And with advanced 4G/5G cellular technology, officers out in the field remain connected to other team members and the critical information they need, no matter where they are called to assist.

Utility linemen can also bring their 2-in-1 tablets with them to calls to help guide and expedite actions. They can access GIS maps, scan barcodes (if available) to retrieve asset history and model information, pull up instruction manuals, report work order status and even call remote specialists for help if needed. They can call in remote expert help, take pictures of the repair or install, and even hang the tablet securely in the bucket lift when they need to free up their hands. If they only want to bring the tablet into the field – perhaps to control a pipeline inspection drone or run a quick diagnostic check of a node – they can detach the keyboard and leave it in the vehicle. When ready to submit a report or return the tablet to the vehicle dock, they can just reattach the keyboard.

At the same time, manufacturing or delivery team members who need to frequently capture videos or photos for proof of condition, delivery or service will tell you they don’t want to lug around a laptop all day long – or have to work across two devices, such as a handheld and laptop. So, a rugged 2-in-1 tablet that can instantly convert between a mobile and laptop-like form factor is highly valuable. Plus, some of the latest rugged 2-in-1 tablets come with Wi-Fi 6E connectivity, which is beneficial when the tablets are being used to control or communicate with robots or run augmented reality apps.

So, if you’re giving your mobile workers laptops because the clamshell design has always been the common (or perhaps most cost-effective) choice for mobile workers, remember these aren’t workers who occasionally have to go offsite for customer meetings in a coffee shop or board room. And a laptop isn’t cost effective if it breaks often because it’s used by someone who climbs ladders, crawls in small spaces to inspect electrical wiring, or otherwise works in areas not so friendly to electronic devices.

Okay, I’ll admit, rugged laptops could technically be an option considering they tend to have similar feature sets to rugged 2-in-1 tablets. But have you held a rugged laptop lately? Or tried to lift it out of a vehicle mount? Even though many models have dropped a few pounds over the years, there’s a reason why many workers are still leaving them in vehicles all day long – and why more than half of 2-in-1 detachable tablets will probably be mounted in vehicles in the next few years.

Laptops aren’t well suited for field-based workers, except for when they’re sitting in a parked truck or car or only in the field for a fraction of their shifts.

THE TAKEAWAY

If it’s time to replace your mobile workers’ laptops – or you’re just tired of hearing them say “I’ll send that report in when I get back to the office” – then start looking at your rugged 2-in-1 tablet options. Don’t waste any more time or money buying or managing laptops that aren’t really keeping them productive and connected. They check all the boxes for those who need a large screen and handheld mobile computer feature sets, along with some specialized toolsets. And they offer a truly handheld and desktop form factor in one device.

Plus, some newer rugged 2-in-1 tablets have friction hinge keyboards that give workers a laptop-like experience. So, people may not even notice they don’t have a real laptop until they need a tablet. Then they’ll notice a huge difference. They’ll finally be able to get work done from their “office,” wherever that may be today.

Originally published here!