Images replace numbers

A picture is worth a thousand words, as the saying goes. That is not just true in the physical world, images are also becoming increasingly defining in the digital world. “Images are becoming more important,” says Harrij Schmeitz, from the Fresh Information Management Center, when we asked him about the most important automation trend of 2017.

“We will be seeing more image analyses,” Harrij predicts. Images are a new ‘form’ of data. “We have got used to the lines filled with numbers in an Excel file, but images are a new source of data.” Images are already playing a large part in promotions, but they will become a new source of information more and more. The self-driving car is only possible because techniques are capable of registering and interpreting 3D images. The analysis of these kinds of images is also going to take flight.

“MRI scans have been around for a long time already, but is that technique applied elsewhere?” Harrij wonders out loud. “I think such applications are truly going to have a breakthrough.” Another example he mentions: Google can already analyse a photograph and determine the mood of the person pictured. “That makes some people nervous, but it is reality. During the sorting of tomatoes, for example, much data is already gathered in images.” When robots move through the greenhouses and among the trees in the orchards, they take pictures of the crops. “Based on those images, conclusions are drawn.”

Images are also becoming more important in trade. “In Amazon’s new supermarket, which was opened in the US, you no longer have to settle your bill. It is visually registered which products have been placed in your shopping basket.” In Milan, in the supermarket of the future, a similar development can be seen. “When you take a product from the shelf, information about the product and cultivator are immediately shown.”

“Technological developments are moving very fast. Right now, the laws of the disadvantageous lead appears to be effective in the sector,” Harrij explains. By saying that, many companies have been automated up to a certain degree. Registration systems have been applied for longer already. Because similar software is already in use, companies can still feel like they are ahead of the developments. “It is time for innovations. After the automation concerning content, it is also important that supply chain automation takes place. Many companies work with outdated systems. It means strategic decisions have to be considered by the board of directors, instead of the cost containment question by the finance department. IT should become an essential part of the company strategy. Fortunately, I gradually see that changing.”

Speed will be a crucial factor. The entire supply chain is becoming shorter and information is becoming more important, also because supermarkets place stock management with the suppliers. All of these developments have had consequences for the interpretation of positions. “I do not think the position of salesman will disappear, but the interpretation of that job will change.” Salesmen nowadays already do a different job than in the past, when they filled in order books. “Product knowledge is very important. We all know that that is lacking in certain links in the supply chain. It is essential that companies catch up with the new reality.”

The sector is changing. China is advancing, the globalisation of the market is a fact, and the assortment is getting ever-wider. Technological developments are the basis of some of these developments. For example, the assortment can be expanded considerably thanks to web shops. Web shops do not have shelves with a specific surface that should hold all of the products. “Anything can be sold online.”

That digitisation means that employees also have to handle that digitisation more often. “We have to fill the talent gap that has been created with new talent,” Harrij agrees. A call he has repeatedly made. He indicates the increasing shortage of IT workers. There were already 11,000 vacancies within that IT sector, late 2015, according to figures from the CBS. A shortage that is increasing, but this will also become apparent in the fresh produce sector. “How to get plenty of talent? And ones with a green thumb at that… That is an important issue for the sector, but also: How do we keep these people in the sector?” To find the answers to those questions, developments in IT, and how to apply them in the fresh produce sector, should be more important on a managerial level.

It is remarkable that the interest in technological developments is not just reserved for either major players or small parties in the supply chain. There is more interest in automation throughout the sector, according to Harrij. “There are opportunities for small companies to be disruptive. Those companies are used to quickly starting with new developments.”

And finally, to stop is to decline, according to Harrij. “You have to make mistakes. If you are scared to try new developments and make mistakes, you are the next V&D of the sector. When you’re not afraid to make mistakes, you can end up as the Blokker or HEMA of the sector.” Harrij uses one company that could not keep up with the developments and went bankrupt, and two companies that were doing just as badly, but managed to adapt to the new situation, as examples.

Another comparison made by Harrij, is that with the taxi sector, in which traditional taxi drivers oppose the rise of Uber. “New legislation and regulations should be drafted to protect taxi drivers. They are holding on to the old strategic model.” While in his eyes, the industry should have embraced the new services and management, so that it would have many more opportunities. “But there’s more. For example, Uber operates dynamic pricing: tariffs are higher when there’s more demand. Taxi drivers should have done something with that. The sector needs some disruption. It is usually the small companies that are capable of that.”

More information:
Fresh Information Management Center
Harrij Schmeitz