JP Mishra, Country Manager India at Newland AIDC, sheds light on the company’s two-decade journey, emphasizing its commitment to India’s “Make in India” initiative. The interview covers Newland AIDC’s role in addressing challenges and driving the adoption of auto-identification and data capture (AIDC) technologies in India’s evolving business landscape.
Read the full interview here:
TimesTech: Can you briefly highlight Newland AIDC’s journey and key milestones in adapting to global changes in workforce automation and data capture over the past 20 years?
Mr Mishra: Newland AIDC was founded in 1999 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Newland Digital Technology, with over 20 years of R&D in data capturing & enterprise mobility, Newland AIDC has become one of the leading companies in automatic identification and data capture industry. Newland AIDC empowers workforce in retail store floors, warehouse & distribution centres, manufacturing facilities and other industries to transform business with full data visibility and accuracy. Newland AIDC has a global foot print, offices in 300+ countries, 6000+ employees worldwide.
Newland AIDC’s existing & upcoming product portfolio comprises of Barcode scanners (corded & cordless, Industrial Scanner and Desktop Scanner), Enterprise Mobile Terminals, RFID solutions, next generation of Wearable devices, Fixed RFID, Vision Camera & Desktop Barcode Label printer and Portable Bluetooth Label printer.
TimesTech: What prompted Newland AIDC’s decision to manufacture in India under the Make in India initiative, and how does the company plan to contribute locally?
Mr Mishra: Looking at Govt’s major focus on infrastructure projects and push for semiconductor industry to bolster the global supply chain was the initial trigger that prompted our decision to do soon. Newland AIDC sees 2024 as a promising and exciting chapter with it is gearing up to start its manufacturing of its new product catalogues with limited local SKUs under Govt. “Make in India” initiative.
We will be initially assembling few models of Handheld scanners & Mobile Computers locally, with a focus to strengthen Indian retail, Supply chain, Logistics, Manufacturing and support Government focus on infrastructure.
TimesTech: How does Newland AIDC plan to drive the adoption of auto-identification and data capture technologies in India as the industry grows?
Mr Mishra: Automatic Identification & data capture or AIDC is technique of capturing and converting data into a digital file, consisting of Images, audio and other digital data which could be easily fed into the computer without the need of any human intervention. Some of the mostly commonly used AIDC tools are the likes of Barcodes, 1D/2D, QR Codes, RFID tags & biometric systems etc.
With the rapid boom of e-commerce and the rapid increase in digitization & growing automation across industries is the key catalyst for the growth of the AIDC segment. The primarily role is to bolster the rate of efficiency and accuracy and revolutionize workflow management and play a vital role in streamlining inventory management and aid in making a robust supply chain management.
The further growth can also be attributed to various factors, such as an increased automation need, and greater adoption of innovative technologies. We foresee a limitless potential and massive opportunity of AIDC specially to manage inventory, delivery, assets, security and documents in retail, e-commerce, manufacturing, healthcare, transport & logistics, government etc.
TimesTech: In collaboration with major logistics players in India, how does Newland AIDC tackle challenges in the early stages of AIDC adoption in supply chain management?
Mr Mishra: While we see limitless potential in Indian market for AIDC Technologies, as it offers massive opportunity to manage inventory, delivery, assets, security and documents in retail, e-commerce, manufacturing, healthcare, transport & logistics, government.
But with limitless potential seen in AIDC, also comes its fair share of challenges to be combated. The primary challenges seen in AIDC segment predominately includes the need of standardization, data security concerns, integration with existing systems, and ensuring cost-effectiveness for widespread adoption as the use of innovative AIDC tools like fixed RFID, vision camera and industrial scanners could be at expensive affair. Poor inventory and supply chain management.
Presently, the rising need for supply chain management in numerous industries is catalysing the demand for identification and data capture technologies, such as barcodes, RFID tags, and QR codes to provide real-time tracking and tracing. This, in confluence with rapid digitization and the growing automation across industries, represents one of the key factors positively influencing the market across the globe.
Apart from this, the introduction of advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), in AIDC solutions to process, manage, store, and share data without human intervention and improve performance to provide more value to customers. In line with this, the increasing utilization of AIDC for accurate capturing of data and enhanced operational efficiency are fuelling the market growth.
One of the key opportunities lies in the increasing demand for assets tracking solutions for various industries. Technology advancement, innovation in AIDC & its adoption by the enterprise will also play a key factor in creating a disruption in the Indian market.
Also the aftermath of the pandemic left us with the shortage of global chip issue leading to material shortage & delays in delivery. While with a vast experience of 20+ years in R&D, Newland AIDC was well prepared and being the one of the leading manufacturers of chips & were able to fulfil the material on time which strengthened its relationship with its customer & building their trust.
TimesTech: Could you briefly outline how Newland AIDC’s barcode scanners and RFID solutions cater to evolving business needs in supply chain and inventory management?
Mr Mishra: As cited above, the rising need for supply chain management in numerous industries is only catalysing the demand for identification and data capture technologies, such as barcodes, RFID tags, and QR codes to provide real-time tracking and tracing.
The key AIDC tools such as Barcodes, QR codes, RFIDs allows businesses to make better informed decisions, particularly with respect to traceability and visibility of products, assets, which is a significant part of the supply chain cycle. AIDC tools also aids with inventory management and further helps with reduction of waste & shrinkage and further ensuring better regulatory compliance requirements.
With an aim to be an industry leader in the AIDC segment, Newland AIDC puts a key focus on continuously upgrading our AIDC tools including Barcodes and RFID solution with integrated ERP solutions and working closely to achieve the highest degree of real-time accuracy and efficiency by optimizing the automation of its data capture capabilities which not helped with enhancing data accuracy, but also streamlining the overall coordination within the organization to bolster workforce automation.
Also with leveraging modern innovative solutions, Newland AIDC will continue to help organizations further bolster the operational efficiency and build a responsive supply chain in the process
TimesTech: As Country Manager, what strategies has Newland AIDC employed since entering the Indian market in 2019, and what unique challenges and opportunities have you encountered?
Mr Mishra: During pandemic, the retail sector specially ecommerce & quick commerce along with transportation and logistics sector saw huge jump in consumer demand leading to pressure on supply chain, Newland AIDC as a new entrant in India market was able to help the customers, leading to the beginning of its growth story. There was a global Chip shortage issue along with supply chain crises, leading to material shortage & delays in delivery. The same was not applicable for Newland AIDC as we are one of the leading manufacturers of chips & were able to fulfil the material on time which strengthened our relationship with our customer & building their trust. Also, as we opened our own service support centres across 3 major metros in India further helped us to deliver quality service to our end customer in India, reducing customer operations downtimes, which helped us meet strict service & delivery TAT.
