Trends Tracking

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Written by Administrator June 10, 2009

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Trends to watch for

When you field dozens of phone calls and get hundreds of emails from "e" everything firms pitching their "revolutionary solutions" it's tough not to be cynical about the next big thing. But great ideas are out there.

Last July, we were just putting the finishing touches on our first-ever Internet for Industry report when the wind started escaping from the tattered sails of the Internet economy. In our July 2000 issue, we did our best to promote the idea that the Internet was a transformational technology that manufacturers had to adopt, adapt and integrate into their daily business systems. I read that report over again, and fully expected to wince and groan about our faulty predictions. But in all honesty, I wouldn't change much. Our forecasts and analysis had one basic thrust: where is the value for the end-user?

We used the same standard this year to figure out which of the remaining dot.com firms and business models have what it takes to survive in the aftermath of the dot.com massacre that has seen as many as 100,000 jobs cut from the Internet economy since December 2000.

But even with the doom and gloom, there are plenty of voices reminding manufacturers that opportunities exist. "The era of Å’eyeballs, IPOs and billionaires' is over," says Jerry Jasinowski, president of the National Association of Manufacturers. "But there's gold among the ruins for manufacturers smart enough to take advantage of all the new infrastructure and applications that the dot-bombs left behind."
Internet analyst firm IDG predicts e-business spending to have a $5.3 trillion dollar impact on the world economy by 2005. "It's certainly not the end of the Internet economy," says Gigi Wang, IDG's senior vice president of communications and Internet research.
The firms we expect to still be standing will be those that continue to recognize the simple business fact that it's not enough to provide a service that has never been provided before â€¹ they must do something of value that someone's willing to pay for. The firms that provide value-added goods and services to manufacturers will see steady and even spectacular success.

Once these firms shift their focus from pleasing investors to pleasing their client base, the second B2B boom will start again. In some cases, it's already started, and these are just some of the forces and factors at play:

• More products and Web-based services will emerge that collect information to support real-time decision making systems that can have a significant impact on outcomes. When company managers can directly benefit from timely access to information, they will be willing to pay for it.

• Online procurement systems will improve and grow more popular as they help manufacturers find better suppliers, negotiate volume discounts and reduce the number of times an order is handled.

• Manufacturers will continue to lead in their use of the Internet to conduct their business. Statistics Canada's most recent report on electronic commerce and technology in Canada in 2000 found that, measured by value, e-commerce sales were highest in manufacturing, followed by wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing and retail trade. Manufacturers sold $1.3 billion worth of goods and services over the Internet, which represents 0.2 percent of their operating revenue. Most of the e-commerce sales came from transportation equipment manufacturers.

• Going mobile will be the rage, as wireless devices free up people within the manufacturing plants. This means, you'll have to have at least a basic familiarity with protocols and technologies like Bluetooth, 3G, 802.11b, WAP, i-MODE, SMS and access devices like personal digital assistants (PDAs) and pocket PCs.

• More established firms will get both feet into e-commerce. "The young dot.coms were not restricted by any bricks and mortars and had the potential to niche you and capture lots of eyeballs out there," says Rod Michael, director of customer e-business solutions for Rockwell Automation in a recent interview. "I think the old manufacturers have figured out that its more than just a Web front-end and some flash. It's really about integrating all of your data and digitizing what you are doing."

• You will continue to hear lots about the benefits of Collaborative Product Commerce (CPC) which analysts predict will be a growth area. This includes digitizing documents, new methods of quickly passing product design information and changes throughout an organization and its supply chain.

• Machine-to-machine Internet devices will continue to be built into machines and systems and will gather and collect a host of information.

• In five years, the "e" will disappear from the front of the term "e-manufacturing" as there will no longer be anything new or mystical about the term electronic. It will simply be the business norm.

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