Why a Proof of Concept makes the Project Decision much easier

Thomas Heijnen,
Sales und Marketing Management RFID Konsortium

Do you know this? During some phone calls, you really feel for the person you’re talking to. That’s how I felt again last week when a logistics manager complained to me about “his everyday suffering”. Let’s call him Karl for privacy reasons. Karl’s boss was fed up with customer complaints, too many shipping errors, too many late deliveries, too few people, too many returns, exploding costs and so on… “Everyone knows we have to tackle the process. But how are we supposed to realistically estimate the effort involved and implement the necessary changes during ongoing operations?” he said in frustration. “How about a small PoC?” I asked him.

I briefly outlined to Karl how a PoC, the abbreviation for proof-of-concept, can be used to “blow off steam”, reassure everyone, create a clear roadmap and give management a secure feeling for feasibility and return on investment. Karl pricked up his ears. It makes sense to know before the project starts: How can we transform the current bumpy process into a smooth one? And by “smooth” I mean: digitized, automated and, above all, error-free! Once the decision-makers have agreed on this goal, they consider which technology is best suited to achieving it.

“We’ve already done lots of test runs like this,” I explained to Karl. “And we always create a big ‘wow’ effect. We start with test set-ups and simulations based on the most important assumptions and risks. We test various scenarios to determine whether the concept works under the planned conditions and is resilient in practice. We bring along various RFID tags and transponders, as well as RFID readers, of course, and evaluate which hardware infrastructure leads to the goal. Experience has shown that such a PoC leads to a transfer of RFID know-how within the team. Further automation potential is often identified in the process.

“We’re all familiar with barcodes… and we also have almost 4 million items in stock. That could be critical,” Karl interjected. I reassured him: “Don’t worry, we also have extensive barcode expertise and know how to optimally combine both technologies – barcode and RFID. This combination has proven to be particularly effective in many projects. We also take care to keep costs down. That’s exactly what the PoC is supposed to show.”

“Until 30.09.2025 only half as much as usual”, I wanted to inspire Karl for our current 50% discount promotion from LogiMAT. But such a feasibility analysis is also worthwhile at the regular price. After all, if the project is subsequently implemented, the costs will be fully offset. After all, the important preliminary work has already been done. The PoC results analysis with the documentation is the basis for the project calculation. “But what will make the decision easier for your boss is our return-on-investment analysis, which is part of the PoC. We will give you a clear idea of when the costs for the project will be amortized.” Alongside the objective and the technical and economic feasibility, this is the most important key figure. Karl agreed with me. And then he invited me to present this “PoC thing” to his boss. “Sure,” I said, “let’s meet at your loading ramp. Where it’s currently so bumpy.”