However, with the recent downturn in world economies, many companies are now looking for means to stretch their finances without compromising the quality of their output. One of the solutions they were able to come up with is referred to as mass customization.
Simply put, mass customization is the personalization of different products and services for individual customers at a mass production price. This allows companies to create products that cater to the needs and wants of people, which, in turn, greatly benefit customers by enabling them to have products that they deem necessary for their activities. By knowing what people want and need, companies are able to provide such products without shelling out excessive money during the process of production.
Mass customization also plays a significant role in the development of software applications for different devices, ranging from Smartphones to Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Over 35% of people have applications installed in their phones. Moreover, the total mobile applications market is expected to be worth $25 billion by 2015 (up from about $6.8 billion in 2010) according to a MarketsandMarkets research report. Thus, the presence of the application culture is truly evident.
Since different applications are being developed to address particular needs of users, mass customizing them makes it easier for end-users to easily access and enjoy the benefits of specific applications. For instance, a person can simply install an application for task & file management, or shopping list creation to make his or her daily task easier.
Of course, in order for mass customized applications to become vendible for a longer time, they have to continuously evolve to complement the changing needs of consumers. The introduction of Plug-and-Play (PnP) technology – an operating system that enables users to plug a device into a computer and have the computer recognize that a certain device is there – makes this possible.
While different software applications have already benefited from the use of PnP technology, vehicle tracking is also beginning to take advantage of its powerful capabilities. Basically, companies who do not want to experience vehicle-and-worker downtime – usually encountered in the manual installation of vehicle tracking – can simply use PnP technology to streamline their vehicle tracking installation.
A vehicle fleet tracking software and hardware fitted with PnP technology allows the immediate use of the vehicle tracking device. Once plugged in, the device instantly connects to the main computer and is ready to use. It cancels the time needed to go through different steps of manual installation to enable the device. With this innovation, companies can use the supposed vehicle-and-worker downtime to address other concerns. Apart from its convenience, having PnP technology-enabled vehicle tracking device saves companies money since there is no need to hire installation professionals.
Generally, with the mass customization of PnP technology, the costs of vehicle tracking is greatly reduced and increased productivity can be attained quicker.
For further reading, check out how vehicle tracking can help businesses.