Whether in the production process, in dynamic warehousing or on retail shelves, IoT displays and digital labels are used in almost every industry and make a significant contribution to increasing process efficiency.
"The use of digital labels makes sense in almost every industry - that's how versatile this technology is," says Martin Oblak, Sales Manager at LNConsult, describing the wide range of possible applications for IoT displays (IoT, Internet of Things). The technology has become particularly well-known in the retail sector, where displays in the form of electronic shelf labels (ESL) have been used for digital price labeling for some time. This has paved the way for a variety of other applications - from dynamic room signage and pick-to-light systems to digital routing slips and containers.
Regardless of the industry or area in which IoT displays are used, one common rule always applies, as the digitalization expert emphasizes: "You always have to take a close look at the customer's processes first: Can the existing process be improved by using digital labels, or does it need to be adapted in order to fully exploit the potential of the technology?" As with all digitization projects, there is no classic scheme for the use of digital labels - especially in manufacturing companies: "We offer great standard products - be it digital labels, network technology or software. At the same time, every application is unique. That's why we develop an optimal, individual concept together with the customer in a detailed consultation. This solution is first implemented in a pilot project in a specific area. Once the pilot project has been successfully completed and everything is working as planned, the solution is gradually applied to the entire process," explains Martin Oblak.
A customized solution for every industry
A typical use case in the production environment is the replacement of the classic accompanying document with smart displays. This document, which "accompanies" the product or workpiece throughout the entire production process, contains information for employees at all production stations. As this document is often the size of several A4 pages, searching for the information required for the respective process step can often take a lot of time. This is where the "digital accompanying document" shows its strength: only the data required by the employees or machines at the respective location is displayed.
In addition to displaying the contents and the current fill level, digital labels also offer another major advantage in dynamic warehousing: the display can "draw attention" to itself by flashing the built-in LED brightly, allowing employees to find containers or chutes immediately. This function also enables simple pick-to-light applications during order picking.
There is another smart use case in the office environment, especially for meeting rooms and shared space workstations: Using calendar systems such as those from Outlook or Google, the room or workstation is reserved on the PC or smartphone. The name of the authorized person(s) is then shown on the display during the relevant period. This makes it clear who the room or shared desk is reserved for. Special digital labels also offer advantages in outdoor areas, such as large parking spaces for car dealers: Large displays with an integrated SIM card - known as NB-IoT labels - are placed behind the windshield and show the price and other information about the vehicle. This data can then be conveniently updated from the office via a conventional cell phone network - there is no need to set up a large-scale WLAN infrastructure outdoors.
Practical application opens up further potential uses
Due to the large number of different use cases, the savings effect that can be achieved through digital labels can often only be roughly estimated, summarizes Martin Oblak: "The range of applications is too wide to be able to give a concrete figure here. But what is clearly noticeable in all our projects is the increased satisfaction of the employees - because their work is made significantly easier and they enjoy the individual processes and work steps more. Tedious searching is a thing of the past - relevant information is available at the right time and in the right place. And what we also experience time and again in our projects: Once the system is up and running, the best suggestions for additional uses come from the employees who use the system on a daily basis. And there are often lots of great ideas that we hadn't even thought of. As a result, the increase in efficiency achieved by the digital labels is often much greater than we originally planned at the start of the project."
