- Communication has always been
the foundation of supply chains,
so let's look at five categories of communication technology
that are creating enormous possibilities for supply chains.
The first is fiber optics.
Fiber optic cables are now being connected straight
into homes and offices and factories
providing a high speed physical connection
between stationary devices located all around the world.
The next four communication technologies
involve wireless communications,
which makes them really useful for mobile devices.
The first category is short range wireless technologies.
A good example of short range wireless
is radio frequency identification tags,
which can be placed onto packages
and pallets and containers.
RFID lets us track products moving through a supply chain.
Bluetooth is an example
of a short range wireless technology
that allows devices to communicate with one another.
For example, Bluetooth communications can be used
to connect an RFID scanner to a nearby computer.
The next category is wireless mesh networks.
These are wifi networks
that are spread out over a large distance
so that you can connect to the same network
as you move around.
Many hotels and restaurants and communication companies
have deployed wireless mesh networks
to make it easy for their customers to access the internet.
Some smart cities are creating wireless mesh networks
so that all of their residents have internet access.
Next is fifth generation cellular technology.
Compared to the previous cellular technology,
5G allows 10 times more devices to send 100 times more data
over the internet.
Think about how useful that could be for drones
that are doing last mile deliveries.
The final wireless technology is satellite internet.
Companies are now putting
internet telecommunication satellite right into orbit
and that will make it possible for devices
to connect to the internet from anywhere on Earth.
Each of these communications technologies is important,
but the really interesting part
is what happens when we use can them all together.
Stationary computers will be able to share information
at the speed of light
and mobile devices will be able to share information
from anywhere in the world.
The big question that we need to keep asking
is how these new communications technologies change the way
that we structure our supply chains
and the ways in which we can provide value to our customers.