Adjusting during the pandemic is a 24/7 proposition. Agility is required, as are forward looking management decisions. 5G will be part of that shift, says Thomas R. Cutler, and in order to support enterprise and IoT applications effectively, a completely different approach to planning, deploying, and managing 5G will be needed.
In the same way robotics create an efficiency that limits interaction and increases accuracy, the Visual Configuration platform described below provides a gateway to safer and more efficient virtual sales interactions. The result is increasing accuracy with visual confirmation of product selection and configuration using accurate rules engines.
Reduced sales forces would have happened without COVID-19. The pandemic has accelerated the realisation that deploying sales teams to customers’ plants, stores, and distribution centres is simply impractical and disallowed.
“What you are will show in what you do.”
- Thomas A. Edison
5G opens the world to more remote locations. On a job site or customer location, salespeople with limited cell phone service would not have a strong enough signal to support complex configurations with a mobile device. The experience of purchasing online frustrated customers with long load times. With the speed of 5G, access increases rapidly and customers configure products anywhere and take on more remote work. This remote work process is mandated by companies as part of the reimagined pandemic work strategy.
Robotics illustrated the efficiency path of Visual Configuration
According to Chris Beaudin, director at ATLATL Software, “Companies that have tested and implemented robotics as part of their manufacturing and production process are more likely to see the efficacy in a Visual Configuration platform.”
Beaudin suggests that, “Due to the pandemic business disruption, many companies are learning to adapt and find strengths that are capable of flourishing in the current economy. Just as robotics providers help to ensure customers are well equipped to meet demand for parts and virtual service support in a shifting market, the Accelerator program has created a fast 12-step implementation program to parallel the onboarding of 5G technology.”
The focus of Visual Configuration with 5G dramatically enhances the omnichannel experience, augmenting a company or product story experience for digital and mobile using consumers. AR (Augmented Reality) supported Visual Configuration adds a visual context to the purchasing experience. Retailers, telecoms, and manufacturers map the 5G AR for 2020 implementation.
The 5G-based business models involving virtual reality (VR) along with AR lessens the need for large sales teams because consumers are enabled to shop using digital platforms instead of inside brick-and-mortar locations.
5G fuels Visual Commerce
5G fuels Visual Commerce and visual search efforts. Integrated visual search for a consumer at home provides consumer experiences instead of mere transactions; it offers something extra dynamic and more efficient than many other static or photographic retail depiction. 5G rapidity with Visual Commerce generates new opportunities for retailers as they embrace the latest technology and respond to changing customer demands.
Beaudin insists that 5G facilitates Visual Commerce efficiency and productivity representing an opportunity while supporting employee safety and social distancing.
The author is Thomas R. Cutler is the president and CEO of TR Cutler, Inc.
About the author
Thomas R. Cutler is the president and CEO of Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based, TR Cutler, Inc., celebrating its 21st year. Cutler is the founder of the Manufacturing Media Consortium including more than 8,000 journalists, editors, and economists writing about trends in manufacturing, industry, material handling, and process improvement. Cutler authors more than 1,000 feature articles annually regarding the manufacturing sector.
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