BlueStar South & East Africa Manager, Caswell Mthembu, and David Forster discuss the top challenges facing businesses in the autoID space, including project financing and supply chain constraints. They also highlight the increasing importance of AI, IoT, and mobile computing in driving business growth.
Caswell Mthembu, Business Development Manager at BlueStar South & East Africa, highlighted the two most significant challenges faced by respondents in the past year: a lack of projects (32%) and financing for customer projects (31%). Mthembu emphasized that many Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) struggle to secure funding for large-scale projects, and BlueStar's ability to bridge this gap has been crucial in enabling customers to access growth-driving deals and projects.
David Forster clarified that BlueStar doesn't engage in third-party financing but collaborates with local credit providers to ensure customers have sufficient credit to meet their needs. Forster addressed the concern regarding the lack of projects in the autoID space. He pointed out that the global economic downturn last year prompted many users in key sectors like manufacturing, transportation, and logistics to extend the lifespan of their devices. Fortunately, Zebra devices, which BlueStar represents, can operate for up to five years beyond their end-of-sale cycle, allowing users to prolong their equipment's usability. Looking ahead to 2025, Forster anticipates significant changes in global supply chain legislation concerning autoID solutions. He believes there will be increased emphasis on product origins, creating a demand for BlueStar's technology due to its inherent traceability of components. Respondents identified the top three impediments to business growth in 2025 as a lack of financial support for projects (42%), supply chain restrictions (23%), and insufficient software solutions (14%). Forster acknowledged that supply chain restrictions are a global issue and emphasized that the recent political shifts in North America could influence this. However, he stressed that BlueStar's centralized warehouse for the EMEA region ensures customers won't face limitations due to stock availability. Mthembu added that having local counterparts who manage BlueStar's stock should alleviate supply chain issues for SMEs. He underscored BlueStar's strategy of offering comprehensive solutions tailored to each customer's needs by combining hardware with software solutions.Over the past year, respondents reported that mobile computing (49%) emerged as the technology driving the most business, followed by IoT (24%), scanning (14%), and RFID (6%). For 2025, the technologies predicted to lead business growth include IoT (36%), mobile computing (27%), RFID (17%), and scanning (14%). Mthembu explained that mobile computing has become the gateway to data, fueling advancements in the AI space where data can be manipulated. Forster affirmed that BlueStar specializes in autoID point-of-sale and retail technologies and possesses expertise in all the aforementioned areas: IoT, mobile computing, RFID, and scanning.Looking at potential revenue drivers for 2025, the verticals expected to lead include retail and hospitality (21%), field services/utilities (21%), and education (18%). While Mthembu agrees that retail will be a significant revenue generator, he expressed a desire to see healthcare (which garnered 9% in the survey) ranked higher. He believes providing frontline workers with essential data access is crucial and highlighted the substantial innovation occurring in the healthcare sector, which will drive growth.The top five priorities for customers during 2024 were reliability (60%), integration (51%), performance (51%), security (44%), and support and services (40%). Mthembu believes ease of use surpasses all these factors, emphasizing that customers seek interactive and user-friendly technology. Forster concurred that reliability ranking first is commendable, stating that the autoID devices they supply are robust and purpose-built. He expressed surprise that security ranked fourth, highlighting that users may not fully understand the potential access these devices have to their backend systems. He stressed the importance of securing mobile computers and scanners that connect to people's systems to the same level as any other system within the business.Artificial intelligence (AI) was identified by most respondents as the technology that significantly impacted their business in 2024. Mthembu explained that AI is a driving force behind all the discussed technologies, from mobile computing to RFID and IoT, creating a seamless interconnected world. Forster elaborated that AI data modules are being integrated into autoID devices, leveraging AI to extract data from the device and align it with the business's strategic objectives. BlueStar is currently conducting internal AI training to fully equip its team to deliver this capability to its customers
AUTOID BLUE STAR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AI IOT MOBILE COMPUTING RFID SUPPLY CHAIN CUSTOMER FINANCING MARKET TRENDS TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS RETAIL HOSPITALITY FIELD SERVICES UTILITIES EDUCATION
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