COVID-19 Changed Self-Service Across Industries

COVID-19 has been a catalyst of change in a way unseen since the Second World War. Its impact on every industry has been immediate, significant and in some cases devastating. And though many expect the economic repercussions of coronavirus to outlive the pandemic, it is the unprecedented changes we are seeing across sectors that will undoubtedly ripple beyond the pandemic – at least from my perspective.

Many of the changes that have occurred over the last year and are planned for the next 12 months were already on course to happen. COVID-19 just put the pedal to the floor. Sales channels, for example, have been rapidly shifting to prioritise online and self-service options – and not just in the retail and hospitality sectors. Nearly every organisation is rethinking how it does business right now. Contactless operation, technical innovation and rapid flexibility will mark out the companies that successfully navigate the pandemic. As Forrester says: “Companies that lead in customer experience outperform laggards by nearly 80%.”

But “customer experience” isn’t always referring to the consumer experience, as many customers in the supply chain are actually other businesses.

Therefore, the opportunities for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to deliver innovative, revenue-generating self-service solutions that encourage social distancing are not exclusive to retail, restaurants, hotels, cinemas or even public transportation. In fact, kiosks are in great demand in healthcare, manufacturing and warehousing environments right now.

KIOSKS OF GROWING IMPORTANCE TO WORKER SAFETY

In an ongoing effort to decrease face-to-face contact to protect both customers and employees, self-service kiosks have gained in importance and acceptance among those providing essential goods and services:

• Patient check-in kiosks are springing up in surgery centers and hospitals across the globe, giving people control over their own registration process, ensuring fewer data input errors are made with personal information, and providing an easy way to pay for parking at the same time, if required.

• Manufacturing and warehousing operations are finding new ways to store, clean and use handheld mobile devices that may be used by multiple workers across shifts. Innovations such as smart lockers have many benefits, such as improved productivity and better asset management, but using them to minimise the threat of cross-contamination is of particular interest right now.

• The public sector is increasingly turning to self-service kiosks to reduce costs, improve efficiency and offer better services in a contactless manner. Examples of public sector kiosk use range from library book self-service check in and out, and self-check-in at licensing facilities, to parking ticket and fine payment. Some entities are even using kiosks to distribute personal protective equipment (PPE).

• Utility companies still need to account for consumers who don’t use traditional banks and therefore need to pay with cash. Bill-pay kiosks provide a convenient, secure and easy-to-use way of doing this, whilst protecting against the spread of COVID-19.

• The transportation sector has been using self-service kiosks for years, but their use is expanding and diversifying. Recent applications include solar-powered kiosks for bike docks and electric vehicle charging kiosks.

With these new and emerging needs, the opportunities are significant for OEMs. Yet, technical innovation and a speedy response to evolving customer demands are paramount. It is possible for OEMs to rapidly deliver the perfect self-service solutions for front-line, field and back-of-house operations – complete with customisable branding options. However, as history has taught us, OEMs that develop these solutions collaboratively with other technology providers are better poised for the fast market uptake and long-term demand that defines success. Now more than ever, we must work together – with customers, partners and end users – to innovate. Each has a unique perspective that will strengthen the final solution and help ensure the desired outcome is achieved, whether that be a speedier transaction or a safer work environment.

The Future of Enterprise Operations Is Connected, Automated, and Contactless

Here’s something most business leaders will tell you privately: the technology decisions that felt urgent three years ago have become the ones separating high-performing operations from struggling ones today.

Technology stopped being a back-office conversation a long time ago. Now it sits right at the center of how operations run, how workers stay safe, and whether a business can hold itself together when conditions get rough, and conditions have been rough.

What the last few years forced on virtually every industry wasn’t just a technology upgrade. It was a fundamental rethink. How do you serve customers when your normal playbook doesn’t work? How do you protect your people when the environment keeps shifting? How do you maintain control over assets and inventory when the operation is spread thinner than ever?

For OEMs and enterprise technology providers, the honest answer is that this isn’t a temporary wave. The businesses that treated it like one have already fallen behind.

What serious organizations are putting their money into right now comes down to a few consistent priorities: operational agility, reduced workplace risk, real-time decision-making, and the ability to see what’s happening across distributed operations without waiting for someone to compile a report.

Why Integrated Tracking Technologies Matter More Than Ever

Walk into a well-run warehouse or distribution center today, and the difference is physical. Less paper. Fewer people are standing around waiting for information. Fewer mistakes that require someone to go back and fix what broke downstream.

That’s what integrated tracking does at its best: it removes the gaps where things go wrong. RFID, barcode scanning, GPS monitoring, Bluetooth sensors, automated kiosks, mobile devices, cloud-based asset platforms. Each one solves a specific friction point. Together they give an operation something it genuinely can’t get from manual processes: a live, accurate picture of what’s actually happening.

Smart Warehousing and Distribution

Volume is up. Accuracy expectations are higher. Staffing is harder. Warehouses dealing with all three at once don’t have the luxury of slow processes anymore.

RFID-enabled inventory tracking, contactless scanning, wearable barcode readers, automated check-in stations, smart lockers, these aren’t experimental. They’re the infrastructure that high-performing distribution operations are running on right now.

The shift shows up in the numbers: faster processing, fewer errors, better stock accuracy, and real-time shipment visibility. But it also shows up in the day-to-day. Managers who used to spend half their morning chasing answers can now pull up a dashboard and actually see what’s going on, where inventory is, how workflows are moving, and where something’s getting stuck.

Healthcare Has No Margin for Inefficiency

A hospital managing thousands of critical assets, infusion pumps, wheelchairs, monitoring devices, medications, and lab samples, across multiple floors and shifts, is a logistics operation as much as a care environment. When that logistics layer breaks down, patient care feels it.

Real-Time Location Systems, RFID tracking, IoT environmental sensors, automated patient check-in, mobile clinical devices, these tools exist because the stakes of not having them are real. Equipment that can’t be found delays treatment. Assets that go untracked get lost or underutilized. Manual processes in high-risk areas create exposure that nobody wants.

When the operational layer runs well, staff spend less time looking for things and more time doing what they’re there to do. Patients notice that, even when they can’t articulate why.

Manufacturing’s Data Problem Is Getting Solved

The manufacturers holding their ground through supply chain chaos and shifting demand aren’t necessarily the biggest ones; they’re the ones with better visibility into their own operations.

RFID production tracking, industrial tablets, barcode automation, IoT equipment monitoring, predictive maintenance platforms, the common thread is data that arrives in time to act on it. Not after the line goes down. Not after the shipment is already late. Before.

Work-in-progress visibility, material traceability, faster production reporting, and less unplanned downtime aren’t abstract benefits. In environments where every unplanned hour carries a real cost, they’re the difference between hitting targets and explaining why you didn’t.

Logistics Can’t Run Blind Anymore

Customer expectations in logistics have moved faster than most carriers’ infrastructure has. People expect to know where their shipment is, when it’s arriving, and to hear from someone proactively if something changes. That’s a high bar to meet without real-time data.

GPS fleet tracking, proof-of-delivery systems, automated dispatch, live shipment monitoring, and mobile logistics tools are what close the gap between what customers expect and what providers can actually deliver. Route optimization, faster delay response, better communication, the operations that have this infrastructure are running a different business than those that don’t.

Disconnected Systems Are a Business Risk

Siloed data isn’t just inefficient, it’s a liability. Blind spots in operational visibility lead to slower decisions, duplicated effort, and the kind of errors that compound before anyone catches them.

What modern operations need is platforms that actually connect, ERP, WMS, asset management, mobile devices, and IoT infrastructure, all feeding the same picture. When that’s working, people across the organization stop arguing about whose numbers are right and start making decisions from the same ground truth.

HOW WE CAN HELP

There are many ways in which Zebra’s OEM technologies cut costs, improve profits and strengthen your brand. But in these unprecedented times, when speed of operational change is crucial, the biggest benefit you can enjoy by working with Zebra is speed to market. You get immediate access to a comprehensive and proven portfolio of industry-leading scan engines and devices – all of which are ready to deploy. You also get the full support of a team of innovators who concentrate on studying the market, speaking with mutual customers and discovering how technology can be best utilised in any situation, including a global pandemic, to improve customer experiences.

Contact us to discuss your OEM requirements and quickly find the right technologies for your solution.

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