Taylor: 0:04

It's absolutely critical that that equipment is available, where it needs to be performing how it needs to be, and functioning. And that's why a lot more organisations now are looking at that proactive nature.

Tom Raftery: 0:16

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, wherever you are in the world. Welcome to episode 93 of the Resilient Supply Chain Podcast. I'm your host Tom Raftery. In supply chains today downtime isn't just an inconvenience, it's a business risk. Every broken scanner, every dead battery, every idle printer can ripple through operations, slowing fulfillment, draining margins, and eroding customer trust. But what if those breakdowns could be predicted and prevented before they ever happen? That's the world we're exploring in this episode where data, ai, and smart maintenance practices are transforming resilience from a reactive scramble into a proactive advantage. To unpack this, I'm joined by two people who live at the crossroads of technology, operations, and innovation. Taylor Smith, Chief Marketing Officer for Honeywell Productivity Solutions and Services. And Elton Saunders, Senior Director of Solutions and Services at Peak Technologies. Together we talk about predictive analytics, device lifecycle management, circular design, and how companies can extend the lifespan of their assets while cutting costs and emissions. From AI driven battery monitoring to check-in checkout systems that keep devices accountable, this conversation is a reminder that resilience isn't built in crisis. It's engineered into the everyday. Taylor, Elton, welcome to the podcast. Would you like to introduce yourselves?

Taylor: 1:52

Sure. Thanks Tom. Thanks for having me. I'm Taylor Smith, Chief Marketing Officer for a division of Honeywell called Productivity Solutions and Services. Honeywell is obviously a, a large organisation. Our specific division helps bring barcoding and RFID solutions to really the, global supply chain. Finished good manufacturers to warehouse logistics organisations to retailers themselves. As I said, I'm currently leading our global marketing team, but have held global engineering development roles as well as some other smaller P&L leadership roles. So happy to be here, Tom. Thanks.

Tom Raftery: 2:30

Super. Super. Thank you and Elton.

Elton Saunders: 2:33

Yeah. Hi Tom. Thanks for having me. Elton Saunders, Senior Director of Solutions and Services at Peak Technologies. Peak is a global integrator of all kinds of digital supply chain tools, mobile computers, thermal printers, RFID, machine Vision. So I work mainly in supporting our professional services group, ensuring that we've got all the right talent to go out and actually integrate the, products that we sell.

Tom Raftery: 3:01

Nice, nice, nice. And the kind of theme that we're talking about today on the show is around building resilience through the, the likes of proactive maintenance, circular lifecycle management, automation, et cetera, things like that. So let's kick off with Taylor. Taylor, obviously downtime used to be a nuisance, but now it's a, it's a real business risk. So from your perspective, what's driving the urgency around proactive maintenance today?

Taylor: 3:30

Yeah, from a, from a proactive maintenance, it, it is really all about the uptime that you mentioned, Tom, but the urgency really stems all the way back to the, the customer and what we all expect as consumers as far as next day delivery. I mean, you travel around the world and now it's even 15 minute delivery. I was in Dubai a couple weeks ago, and there's a number of organisations that are providing 15 minute delivery which a little excessive for me. But

Tom Raftery: 3:58

Yeah.

Taylor: 3:59

if those expectations are what consumers are driving and now what organisations have to deliver, the equipment that they're using, whether it's full blown automation, whether it's the kind of mobile computers or scanners that, that our organisation sells, it's absolutely critical that that equipment is available, where it needs to be performing how it needs to be, and functioning, and that's why a lot more organisations now are looking at that proactive nature.

Tom Raftery: 4:26

Okay, and Elton does that match what you are seeing or are pain points shifting?

Elton Saunders: 4:33

No, absolutely. You know, it's, for us, it's really looking at different types of management tools, mobile device management for the handheld computers even for the printers now, really. It's a tool that allows people to kind of get the, the most value outta the product and, and really the most lifespan, right? So it's, it's really kind of a proactive management, from the very beginning when you, when you purchase the product and then, you know, get all the right security patches in there over the lifespan, and get as much life out of the product as you can.

Tom Raftery: 5:04

Okay. And for both of you, what do you think are the biggest blind spots companies still have around device health?

Elton Saunders: 5:13

Yeah, so I think one of them that we're seeing more and more, and it sounds kind of obvious, but it's, it's battery management. I mean, it, it's, you kind of take it for granted, you know, but it really can cause issues with performance and then just cycling those out, making sure that you get rid of them in a responsible way. Peak Honeywell, all, all of us have tools to help this process, right? So we've got a tool called Peak Mobile Insights that can do a lot of, you know battery management statistics and help you see which batteries you need to get rid of.

Tom Raftery: 5:44

Okay, and is that the same for yourself, Taylor?

Taylor: 5:46

Yeah, so we have a tool, a Honeywell that we call Operational Intelligence that Peak which I can give a little bit of context for those on the call, so Peak is one of Honeywell's leading global resellers and integrators. So Peak is actually a customer to Honeywell to help them bring our solutions to the end customers in market. And so our solution Operational Intelligence, which helps monitor Honeywell specific tools a lot of the time Peak and other organisations will integrate our capabilities into their more cross platform tool to be able to manage other vendors and, and other agnostic hardware. So yes, we, we absolutely see that we have some of our own tracking tools. And specifically as you look at device availability, there's quite a few things. Elton hit on one of 'em. Battery, very important. The other is actually the, the software ecosystem that a lot of customers now are, are really focusing on, do I have the right version of Android operating system loaded? Do I have the right applications and applications versions loaded? Am I staying current for cybersecurity practices? Very important in a resilient state 'cause. I mean, you can read in the news just about every week some company that's gotten impacted by a, a cybersecurity issue which could take you down. So all of those we help really track and manage. And, and one very simple one that we're trying to, to manage is actually just the human factor. Devices go missing. If, they're missing, and they're not available for the next shift coming in, it makes it hard for them to do their job or to do it at the level they need to, to meet those delivery standards that we talked about. So one of the key areas that we're really focusing on is, is how to prevent that, not purposeful theft. It's very hard to dissuade that, but the, the accidental. A lot of the times customers or users of our devices may leave them on a, on a shelf somewhere accidentally or, or put them in their locker and then they call in sick for a day or two. So we are coming up and building tools into that operational intelligence platform that help drive greater traceability, accountability and check-in checkout is one of the features that we call it to, to really help make sure that the products are there and available.

Tom Raftery: 8:03

And do you find then that leaders at your client companies maybe struggle to invest in prevention rather than fixing things after the fact?

Taylor: 8:13

Yeah, I mean, a buy, yes buying insurance is, is always a little bit more difficult to justify than when, when it's to fix it. But I think most of the organisations that Elton and I deal with are, are multi-generational technology deployment now, like I, I'd say probably close to 15, 20 years is kind of standard state for using these mobile computers and heavily for 10 years. So they've been using it for two or three generations. And many of those executives or decision makers now understand and recognise the small things, or things that seem small, as Elton said, battery management, that can be extremely disruptive. And lots of customers now identify that, whether it's building it into their request to say, I want a proactive battery replacement throughout the life cycle, or I want to make sure, and I'll invest in this tool to monitor real time the health of a battery to know when to replace it. I don't know about you, Elton, but I, I'm seeing a lot more willingness to invest in these solutions upfront because they've frankly been bitten in the past.

Elton Saunders: 9:26

Y Yeah, that's right. I mean, one thing, Taylor, that you mentioned that's really important is just like the being able to update the devices over time. Right. Because that's really what's gonna drive nowadays, I think that we see more devices that, when they, when they reach their end of life, they're probably still a functional device. It's the security concerns. We can't, we can't upgrade, you know, Android anymore on that device, or, you know, there's no more security patches because it's just too old. So that kind of creates kinda this interesting thing where you know, you, we might still have a, a, a product that's. Functional, but really not secure. If I could tell my my customers anything, it's, it's really start thinking about the whole end of life. Like when they buy a product, how many years am I gonna use this for? Is this a three year device or is this a seven year device? And really ensure that they understand how to manage it throughout the entire process. And of course, you know, we'll obviously help them with that, with all the tools that we have and the expertise. But it's it's just something I think that people need to consider, especially when you look at like the larger the device, the, the larger sort of impact it has, just like the environmental impact to make the device is much more than it is to use the device for its entire lifetime. Right. So it really makes a lot of sense to just to try to maximise the overall lifespan. Honeywell does a great job with different types of service contracts, right? So, a customer can buy a device and for a certain number of years have complete confidence that that device can be repaired and returned to service. Things like that. It's just, there's a lot of little pieces to the puzzle, but when you put them all in place, you really get a, a much better return on your overall investment.

Tom Raftery: 11:29

Okay. And is there more of a focus now on designing devices for end of life, for repairability and reuse and recyclability at end of, of working life?

Taylor: 11:41

Yes. I mean, I, I would say very simply, put if, we go all the way back to the manufacturing state of Honeywell in this case, we play an important part in the, the resilient supply chain in two fronts. First, where we're manufacturing, right. Rewind three, four years ago we were heavily China based manufacturing. Now with some of the, tariffs and other importation rates really across the world. And, and knowing that you may be centralised there. We've expanded that manufacturing footprint to make our own supply chain resilient, to make sure we can deliver products to our customers. But additionally then it's, it's how we make the products and some of our solutions where we can, we've actually tried to eliminate the battery. You heard from Elton that it's highly disruptive. On our mobile computers, you still need a battery given the size and compute power. On some of our Bluetooth barcode scanners that you may see in more simplistic barcode scanning use cases, we've completely eliminated the battery, gone to a big super capacitor, which essentially gives the product infinite life. You don't have all the environmental waste of creating a lithium ion battery or of disposing that. And really help some of that sustainability nature as well. So yeah, I mean we're, we're really looking at it all the way back in the design of manufacturing as well.

Tom Raftery: 13:06

Okay. And how is predictive or proactive maintenance, how is that changing how organisations think about their mobile devices and printers on the warehouse floor?

Elton Saunders: 13:17

Well, I, I think I, I think it's a, like, still a conversation that we have to have with people because I, I don't know that, I mean, preventative maintenance has been a theme. You know, if you think about like thermal printers in, in different supply chain applications, that's been a, a theme there for, you know, 20 years. I don't know that it always has the same, people are thinking about it the same way when it comes to the mobile computers, right? Because it, it either works or it doesn't. It's, you know, it's, it's, it's broken or it's not, know, you got a cracked egress window on the, you know, where the, where the, where the scan engine is, things like that, right? So but I think where you gotta kinda shift that conversation a little bit isn't from just whether it's broken or not, that's part of it, right? That's where, you know, like the service contracts and things like that where you wanna make sure that you're gonna get the, the maximum lifespan. So have the, you know, have the maintenance contract. But I think when you buy a device, again, it goes back to a lot of like the software that I'm running, and what does the software lifecycle look like? What does that roadmap look like? And in two or three years, am I gonna be okay on a particular version of Android for this piece of software? You know, large, large companies that maybe say create their own software for their internal supply chain applications, they've got kind of a, a leg up because they, they're, they can be very nimble, you know, so our, our largest customers they, they really can kind of maximise the life of that, product. But at some point the product becomes, you know, end of sale and they'll be like an end of support after that for, you know, a number of years typically. And that's where, you know, Honeywell does a great job providing us with, security patches and things like that. But there's a point when it's no, there's no more security patches. Right. So it's customers need just to be aware and just be, you know, we, we can kind of help educate, but they, they should be asking those questions.

Taylor: 14:59

Yeah, and I, and I think Elton hit on a good point regarding like fixed printers. We really need to, when you think about proactive, like preventative maintenance service plans. For a larger fixed asset that is difficult to ship back and forth, because of shipping costs. I think that's where customers are much more open and, and the ROI makes sense to seek out a company like Peak to provide onsite preventative maintenance services. When it's a smaller product, then it becomes more where they want the tools to do it themselves because it tends to be more software based as Elton said, or, or when to swap a battery. And you don't need to send any of us Honeywell or Peak to swap a battery, but it's, the process that becomes very challenging. These are high turnover industries, right? So you imagine many of the warehouses or retailers in the supply chain, could be 50 to a hundred percent turnover in a year. So now you think of an employee coming in. And they've never used this mobile device before. They don't know where to get a new battery. What do I do with the old battery? So even though we're starting to provide the tools digitally to help know when to update the software or when to replace the battery, it's really now helping take to the next level of how can those tools help instruct and guide someone through the process that that may not know what to do to replace a battery, replace a printer print head update the software appropriately.

Tom Raftery: 16:32

And do these organisations have access to the data from these devices? And if so, is there anything that particularly surprises them to discover once they start getting that data?

Taylor: 16:45

The short answer is yes. If they're buying any of the tools that Elton or I have spoke with, the organisations have complete access to the data. Sometimes that's good. Sometimes that's bad, right? Sometimes it's overwhelming for them, and that's where they will enlist someone like Peak to provide a full managed service around that to analyse and, view the data themselves. But the short answer is yes, it is available. And I'll give one point of maybe what's new or maybe not new, but what it's insightful that people have seen. in going back to the battery side of things. Historically, organisations have just really swapped batteries at a set time. Okay, three years into a device lifecycle, let's swap the batteries because it's, it's supposed to have degraded. And think of all of us,

Tom Raftery: 17:37

Hmm.

Taylor: 17:37

Whatever Samsung or iPhone you've been using, after two or three years, it has nowhere near the battery life when you walked out the first door. I usually can't make it through half a day of conference calls. Same thing with our devices, but our batteries are removable so you can swap them. And I think with these newer tools, what these organisations are seeing is based off the usage profile, if I have 5,000 devices across my network, I may only need to replace a thousand 'cause these other 4,000 are actually quite healthy based off of however they've been used. And so that insight helps lower their costs, helps be very targeted with the replacement and deployment.

Tom Raftery: 18:14

Okay, Elton.

Elton Saunders: 18:15

Yeah, I think we're kind of at a point where very soon we'll have much better predictive analytics. Like right now, you know, for example, we know that say like a, a print head on a printer, depending on the type of media that's running through there, it might last for, you know, a million linear inches or, or 3 million linear inches, right? We can do some things now with like management tools where I can take a group of printers and when they've hit a certain threshold, I can move 'em into another group. You just consider like a virtual group, you know, on a, on a dashboard, and then let somebody, you know, work through that group and replace print heads. Things like that. So it's, we're real close. And, and, and I'm sure you know, maybe, maybe Taylor's something you can speak about a little bit, like operational intelligence. Like we're we, when we get to a point where the data that we're collecting really provides some better predictive, like, I think we're, we're so close, we're getting there. We, we, Taylor made a great comment with the batteries. I mean, to know like which ones really do need to be replaced and which ones don't, you know, great cost savings, great, you know, good environmental impact there. And I think that's kinda like the next step. And, and again, I think it's, the data's there. Customers can, you know, get access to it in different ways. And, and we do, you know, for like Taylor mentioned, when we do like different types of. You know, managed mobility you know, MSP type applications for our customers, we do try to leverage that data. You know, we can look at for example, when a, a software update gets pushed out, did anything change? Are we seeing like more reboots in the environment? So it's getting to a point where there's a, there's a vast amount of data there. I think automating it into different, you know, we, we can gain insights'cause if, if we, if we kind of know historical things, but we're right on the verge of where I think it becomes much more predictive.

Tom Raftery: 19:57

Okay. And the fact that you're saying there's a whole slew of data there, I'm guessing then that this is where AI starts to kick in, or is AI still just a buzzword in this area?

Taylor: 20:11

Well, I can speak for the Honeywell side. It, it's absolutely starting to kick in. And so I'm gonna have to go back to the engineering team. Elton, on your recommendation for predictive printhead failure. We're not quite there yet, but

Elton Saunders: 20:24

I know.

Taylor: 20:25

using AI, we are actually getting very close and we'll expect to have something in our Operational Intelligence platform probably in Q1 of next year that will have predictive failure for battery life and not, not catastrophic failure, but predictive in the sense that, okay, you've been using a set of products in your organisation for a period of time. We've been tracking your usage profile. We understand what is the typical battery drain based off of the number of picks you're making in a warehouse and the scans and all this or that and the other. And now we can, using AI kind of predict, will this battery last a shift based off of historical usage profile And to that point as Elton mentioned, yes, we're, pretty excited and confident that, again, probably in the coming months we'll be able to have a new feature that can predict kind of 30 days out that this specific battery is no longer gonna be fit for purpose if your goal is to make it last a full shift. So AI is a, a big opportunity there. Some other areas as well that I'll, I can jump back to, but I don't know, Elton, if you had any thoughts on this first.

Elton Saunders: 21:36

No, I, I agree. I kind see it the same. we're just like right on the edge, like the I, and maybe it has so to do with just the data sets being large enough, you know, to, to really have the predictive data. I, I've, I've kind of thought that for a few years that maybe that's what's, 'cos you know, we actually have to capture all this data. And that, that's a, that's a, big effort right there. But those systems seem to be in place now, right? So whether, again, whether it's something like an operational intelligence or we're, you know, collecting data via the, the mobile device management software, it's there and it's, it's just right on the cusp of, I think, really allowing AI to start to find you know, again, more of those predictive, actions that we can then, utilise.

Taylor: 22:17

One other specific area that, again, where. I'll call it beta right now. So it's a little bit more than an idea, proof of concept, but we have used AI for what we call anomaly detection in Operational Intelligence. So detect anomalies when across your population of a thousand devices is any specific device or is the whole set of devices maybe rebooting more often, or applications crashing or dropping network connectivity from your access points, or is the battery draining faster? And we focused on those areas because those four that I just mentioned are kind of the most common troublesome points when new software is pushed out. And typically, so now we use AI to detect those anomalies. Automatically start capturing log files of the device and then using standard AI tools like that microsoft is now used in, in their development environment to analyse the the log files and the crash codes to point back to specific software packages that may have been causing disruption and that's all done automatically in and days, whereas I'm sure you're familiar with the delta, like that could take weeks or months in the past as far as pushing out a piece of software, waiting for people to call in and say it's not working, sending people on site to get log files. People manually going through those and it's, you're able to condense that down so much now with AI.

Elton Saunders: 23:52

Think about even just all the network data when something like that's not working right, doing like network traces. Being able to bring all of that information back to the, the, all the data from the device itself. It, it's, it's really, I think again, on the cusp of something really incredible just to find errors quicker and, and just, you know, be able to deal with them so much faster than in the past.

Tom Raftery: 24:15

It feels a bit like minority report for maintenance catching breakdowns before they happen, right?

Elton Saunders: 24:21

That's right.

Tom Raftery: 24:22

Elton, once equipment reaches end of life, how are companies approaching things like trade-ins, refurbishment, or reuse?

Elton Saunders: 24:30

Yeah, that's a, that's a great question. I, I think, again, it's, it's all about having that, that plan and kind of knowing when you're, you know, when you're ready to start to move on to a new device. You know, working with, with Peak, working with Honeywell, looking at different like trade in or buyback options. ensuring that the devices get disposed of properly all of that can kind of work together. And really, you know, customers can use that to their advantage to bring in their next generation devices, right? So you know, we have, you know, customers approach this in a variety of ways. Some don't think about it at all until they've got, you know, a couple pallets of old devices that they need to get rid of. Others, you know, look at it like, Hey, this is, basically money in the bank. I know there's value with these old devices. And so, you know, there's always different types of options. Again, trade in programs, things like that. So we, we just really try to, you know, guide the customers to the right program.

Tom Raftery: 25:24

Okay. And how do you deal with the likes of data security or compliance when devices are reused?

Elton Saunders: 25:30

Yeah. So I mean, there is a whole process, right, of ensuring the device has been wiped properly before, you know, getting rid of it. And it, it, it just very much depends on kind of the, where, how it's flowing, but if we take devices back in, you know, we've got internal processes to deal with that and ensure that everything gets wiped properly. We try to work with partners on the disposal side that have good track records with proper disposal. But you're, you're absolutely right. It's just ensuring that things get, you know, wiped properly.

Tom Raftery: 25:59

So let's fast forward to what's coming next. We've got the like of automation, RFID, machine vision, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Taylor, there's a real shift towards automation. How do you see these technologies changing operations over the next few years?

Taylor: 26:16

Yeah, I mean, look, automation's gonna be critical for, for many organisations just because of the the labor pool. You can all look at different population statistics across countries around the world, and many of them are, are in decline and there's gonna be labor shortages. And so with that, automation's gonna take hold. As far as a device side, we still believe that there's going to be a, a large play for devices and, and manual operations for the foreseeable future. Particularly in that mid-market and, and downstream market as really automation is being invested at the, the large tier one organisations. But the process shift is really gonna be the you may have heard the term cobots instead of robots, it's gonna be that collaboration with employees and whatever automation or robotic systems are in place. And so as you look at let's just stick with the mobile computer for now. That mobile computer may have to give different types of instructions or guidelines or may also need to dual purpose to help figure out how to troubleshoot and maintain and repair the, the robot that's outta site or the automation that's outta site. And so that's really how we're thinking about it, is how can that device really be the go-to device for any employee, whether they're doing a traditional manual picking process. Or now are they doing a more highly sophisticated technical support troubleshooting of automation that's there as well?

Tom Raftery: 27:51

Elton, anything to add there?

Elton Saunders: 27:53

Yeah, no, I think that's, I think that's right on. you know, we, we look at automation. We know that there's more RFID machine vision applications all the time, and, you know, what, what effect does that have on how many, like mobile devices are in the field? And I, I don't think that's shifting yet, but I, I bet it's certainly having an impact on the types of devices. And again, this goes back to customers looking at the entire life cycle. You know, do I need an extremely rugged device for an application or where automation starts to take effect? And like, like Taylor said, you know, the, the idea that, kind of the cobot idea, maybe there's another tool that's doing a lot of the manual scanning for me, maybe machine vision's doing all the scanning. I need a smaller device that fits in my pocket that I can look at dashboards or being notified if something's not working right. So it, it may shift the type of device over time, but I think right now, it, it's, we're still a few years out from that. I, I think at some point it happens, right? Maybe there are, I don't know if it's gonna be less mobile computers or just maybe different form factors. Yeah, at some point I think RFID and machine Vision start to, you know, eliminate some of, you know, more of the manual process, right.

Taylor: 29:01

And, and different capabilities in the mobile devices as well, right? So if we look at RFID and Machine Vision, many of those require fixed infrastructure. Whether it's expensive or not, or has ROI or not, that's for each customer in each use case. But, It tends to be fixed infrastructure, a fixed portal for an RFID system, or a mounted camera somewhere. The great thing about mobile computers is they're with you wherever they are, and now you can start augmenting those mobile computers with RFID reading, given some technology progress that Qualcomm has had with the recent chip set, or you've seen greater camera performance on the mobile computers than what was one or two generations ago to be able to do some of this machine vision on the fly. Because if you're in a part of a warehouse where there is no RFID reader coverage or no camera coverage, you're still able to either read an RFID tag or perform certain machine vision inspection, use case detection using that mobile device as well.

Elton Saunders: 30:08

That's a great point, Taylor. It really, if you think about the, the mobile computer, it's not really a, you know, or RFID infrastructure, but you've got an RFID reader in the mobile computer, or, you know, use the camera for analyzing images. Yeah, it really, that that's a, that's a really great point because it's, it's, it's, it's complimentary and it'll probably keep being complimentary for a very long time.

Tom Raftery: 30:33

And what new resilience challenges does automation bring? You got cyber, complexity, maintenance of the machines themselves, something else entirely. All of the above.

Taylor: 30:47

I am gonna give a benefit before to give myself time to think about the challenge, but I think one of the key benefits is the fact that it's automated. One of the biggest challenges in a supply chain being resilient is relying on the worker. Did they actually scan all the packages that came in from that truck that day? Did they scan put it into the right shelf location? Whereas if you're now getting that from a, what we call a passive RFID scan where pallet's coming through and the fixed RFID sensors just read everything regardless of what the employee is doing because it has to pass through that receiving door. That eliminates a lot of potential inaccuracies and errors in the system, therefore kind making that supply chain more resilient. Resilient being against the, the human error. So that's kind of one of the major benefits of these kind of newer. Again, more passive systems where it's a fixed camera or fixed RFID reader where intelligence is just kind of happening by the wayside. But as far as challenges, it, it's absolutely what you said. There's just more infrastructure to maintain, particularly from a cyber standpoint. But particularly on the camera side, I'd say you start getting into some of the challenges over privacy, and what you do to obscure people's faces or data and video retention and that, that's just something that organisations need to be aware of.

Elton Saunders: 32:18

Hmm. Yeah, I think, you know, building kind of resiliency into the application. So one of the we've got a, a tool called Peak Analytics, which basically will take images from a scan tunnel, can be, you know, any manufacturer scan tunnel. One of the models that's, that's built into that, that our customers really appreciate is if there starts to get like dust on the on the window of the, of the camera. We can, we can see that and notify them that they need a, a per preventative maintenance visit or you know, somebody to go out and actually clean the, the lenses, right? So little things like that, I mean, it's the data's there. So I think a lot of times with the, these types of automation applications, it's, what can I infer from, again, the image or something about how things are operating and then, make some decisions based on some of that data we're collecting there.

Tom Raftery: 33:09

For people listening, if you could each give one piece of advice to supply chain leaders who are trying to make their operations more resilient and sustainable, what would it be? Maybe Taylor, you go first.

Taylor: 33:24

Yeah, I gotta think through that one. Elton, do you have one off the top of your head?

Elton Saunders: 33:28

Yeah, I would just say, you know, think about the, the end goal and the overall life cycle of, of what you're purchasing and, and what you're trying to do. You know, and with mobile computing, you plan out how long you plan on using that device. And, and, you know, let us work with you to put a plan together to really maximise that entire lifespan. And, you know, the whole, the whole management process. People, they, they, think, oh, this is just a, this is, this is so core to my business. It's just a, a, a scanner, you know? And then, but really you got software running on there that needs to be updated and patched. Again, we're getting so close with some of the predictive analytics that we can certainly at, at least take the data now and, and, you know, kind of help you make better decisions about when to, you know, again, replace batteries or, if something's not working right, we can be, you know, proactive there. So I think it's just kinda, working with the partner to just get the most out of that whole lifecycle of the product. And then at the end of it, you know, if it's, whether it's three years or, or seven years. We'll work with you to, you know, are there trade-in programs available? Are there, can we make sure that you get rid of these devices in a, a safe fashion? And, I don't know, just really want to, we wanna partner with people throughout that whole process.'cause there's tons of opportunity to, just improve, you know, and, and really get just a long life outta their purchase.

Taylor: 34:51

Yeah. Now that I had a little time to think here I mean, I guess my advice would be just going back to that kind of age old, it, it's people, it's process, it's technology. So as you're looking at making your operations more resilient, it's one thing to have a great piece of equipment, but you need to make sure you have the processes around making sure it is there and available. Making sure that you have the right people and and supervisors and managers that are holding people accountable or, or utilising some of the digital and software tools that Elton and I shared about today to manage their population of IT equipment or, or assets that, their employees are using. And its not enough to have any one of those. It's really how you bring all three in concert to really make sure that you can drive a, a resilient organisation.

Tom Raftery: 35:42

Great. We're coming towards the end of the podcast now, folks. Is there any question that I didn't ask that you wish I had or any aspect of this we haven't touched on that you feel it's important for people to be aware of?

Taylor: 35:57

I

Elton Saunders: 35:57

That's a tough question. We covered a lot of ground,

Taylor: 35:59

yeah.

Elton Saunders: 36:00

so I,

Taylor: 36:01

Nothing's jumping out at me

Elton Saunders: 36:02

I think we're,

Tom Raftery: 36:04

Okay. Great. So then a final question. If people would like to know more about yourselves or any of the things we discussed on the podcast today, where would you have me direct them? Taylor, you go first.

Taylor: 36:16

Yeah, you can reach me on LinkedIn or I'm also happy to take direct emails to my work address, which is Taylor dot Smith@honeywell.com.

Tom Raftery: 36:28

Excellent. And Elton.

Elton Saunders: 36:30

Yes. Peak technology, so that's gonna be peak tech.com. And I'm active on LinkedIn Elton Saunders. I, there's not a lot of eltons, so it's easy to find me.

Tom Raftery: 36:42

Okay, great. Super folks, that's been really interesting. Thanks a million for coming on the podcast today.

Taylor: 36:47

Great. Thanks for having us.

Elton Saunders: 36:49

Yeah. Thanks for having us, Tom. Really appreciate it.

Tom Raftery: 36:52

Okay. Thanks everyone for listening to this episode of the Resilient Supply Chain Podcast with me, Tom Raftery. Every week, thousands of senior supply chain and sustainability leaders tune in to learn what's next in resilience, innovation, and transformation. If your organisation wants to reach this influential global audience, the people shaping the future of supply chains, consider partnering with the show. Sponsorship isn't just brand visibility, it's thought leadership, credibility, and direct engagement with the decision makers driving change. To explore how we can spotlight your story or your solutions, connect with me on LinkedIn or drop me an email at Tom at tom Raftery dot com. Let's collaborate to build smarter, more resilient, more sustainable supply chains together. Thanks for tuning in, and I'll catch you all in the next episode.