"Mobile devices continue to fuel consumer demand for increased transparency; more convenience; and quick, easy opportunities to be social. Expect continued emphasis on technology and social media as trend-savvy, authenticity-minded Millennials start having families of their own, along with a call for healthy, convenient foods from the growing influencer segment known as IndieWomen, according to “Supermarket Guru” Phil Lempert’s top consumer trends for 2014."
I always pay attention to articles that examine the sentiments and drivers for consumer behavior. First of all, it shows macro trends that will eventually ripple into the conservative world of industrial automation: #mobility, #cloud, #big data, #social all started with the consumer market, and made their way into industrial offerings. Sometimes, these trends need a push--like Microsoft's Azure program, which supports commercial offerings to further their platform, or partnerships leading to products such as SmartGlance to address cloud, mobility AND big data--a trifecta as it were.
Millenials are an important aspect of industry, for they will be the next generation of knowledge workers, and they have different drivers and motivations for both learning and interacting with the world. I've heard the term "digital natives" and that certainly applies to them. Invensys, as a provider of advanced learning systems, actively captures and proliferates methods that address the Millenials' proclivity towards e-learning, digitally-based knowledge capture and management.
The call for healthy food ripples to our food and beverage customers building new capacity, plants, and lines to address different packaging, formulations, and supply chains, which of course industry responds with enhanced products for reporting, visibility, automation, and control. It's a continuous cycle and an important one to recognize that we are always in a mode of continuous improvement and movement.
No comments:
Post a Comment