Loftware, the global market leader for barcode labeling software, announced its acquisition of UK-based PRISYM ID in January. With this, the company further extends its position in the life sciences vertical, which has always been a key area of focus. PRISYM ID offers label management solutions for clinical trials, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. Learn more

On December 22, Optoro, Inc. announced a $25 million strategic investment led by Zebra Technologies. Also participating in the funding round were Volta Circle, eBay, and UPS. This investment comes as returns processes become a top-of-mind issue for retailers, brands, and 3PLs. Shifting consumer behaviors like the migration toward e-Commerce and the rise of bracketing have pushed returns volumes to new heights. Learn more

Today, B2M Solutions, a global enterprise mobile software company, announced an expansion of its partnership with Peak Technologies, a leading provider of end-to-end supply chain solutions, system integration, and managed services for enterprise mobility. With this partnership expansion, Peak Technologies will bundle B2M’s Elemez software suite as part of Peak Mobile Insights, the company’s managed service offering for enterprise customers. Learn more

In-person CES returned after a two-year hiatus…albeit with a bit of a whimper. Attendance was estimated by CES as “up to 75,000” although it felt closer to 50K on Day 1. Exhibitors numbered 2,200, a sharp drop from over 4,400 in 2020 and lacking several blue-chip vendors that pulled out in the 11th hour amid the current Omicron surge. Attendee safety was front and center with the CTA (the show’s organizer) tasked with the virtually impossible job of creating and enforcing safety protocols. With the backdrop of COVID-19 omni-present, health tech predictably took center stage at CES 2022. This extended to the big stage with Abbott CEO delivering one of the event’s keynote addresses. Learn more

Current labor shortages are forcing organizations to compete for labor like never before. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the United States labor participation rate was 61.8% in November. While this is the highest rate seen since March 2020, it is still far below levels observed leading up to March 2020 which hovered consistently around 63%. This labor shortage is not unique to the United States, nor is it expected to abate anytime soon. These constraints are affecting transportation and logistics organizations in particular, especially given that while workers were leaving the labor force in droves, delivery fleets were forced to expand to accommodate the tremendous increase in e-Commerce volume demand. Learn more

Electric vehicles (EV) and adjacent technologies have been gaining interest as the climate crisis worsens and alternatives to fossil fuels are explored. Increasing government support for the shift towards EVs adds to the confidence that automakers already have making the push towards all-electric or majority-electric product portfolios. Tesla is the dominant EV manufacturer at the moment, accounting for just over 21% of the fully electric vehicle market segment. Other companies such as Volkswagen, Hyundai, Volvo, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar Land Rover, and Ford are also making strides to carve a space of the EV market out for themselves.Learn more

Claroty made a pair of significant announcements on Wednesday, sharing news of a new $400 million round of Series E funding, while also disclosing an agreement to acquire Medigate, an IoT security company serving the healthcare industry. This round of funding―which brought Claroty’s total to $635 million―was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Schneider Electric, and SoftBank, among others; financial terms of the Medigate acquisition were not disclosed.Learn more

On November 2, 2021, Digi International announced that it had acquired Ventus Holdings, a managed network-as-a-service provider, in a cash deal for $347M. The price tag, by far Digi’s largest acquisition ever, raised some VDC analyst eyebrows, as it exceeded Digi’s total annual revenue of $279M for FY2020. Only time will tell if the purchase price was a good value for Digi, but VDC sees a range of synergies between the companies that will undoubtedly be of benefit to Digi. Learn more

Federated Wireless, the premier provider of CBRS spectrum sharing services, has announced the release of the company’s new Spectrum Exchange service. This service is aimed to supplement CBRS General Authorized Access (GAA) availability by enabling Priority Access License (PAL) holders to lease out their unused spectrum to non-PAL holders. Through an automated portal, similar to Airbnb, enterprises with PALs can publish pricing, terms, and location options, as well as conduct transactions with non-PAL holding potential lessees, all without direct engagement with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Learn more

e-Commerce delivery and curbside checkout are supported by 89.7% and 79.3% of large retailers respectively, but curbside checkout in particular has had the most significant jump in adoption by businesses over the last year or so as a direct response to the disruption caused by COVID-19. Learn more

The growth in IoT device connections will rapidly accelerate over the next five years and will push OEMs and solution providers into unfamiliar wireless domains. While established wireless communications such as 3G and Wi-Fi support many IoT workloads today, others such as LTE-M, NB-IoT and 5G are gaining ground and will be critical technologies through the next five years.Learn more

On Thursday, September 23rd, VDC’s Richa Gupta will co-present a webinar with Loftware’s VP of Global Product Management, Josh Roffman, where they will discuss the importance of barcode labeling accuracy and consistency to manage growing supply chain complexities and enable error-free traceability. Learn more

VDC Research recently published a comprehensive report as part of a custom thought leadership engagement for Newcastle Systems, a leading mobile powered workstation vendor. Learn more

Within the mounted forklift computer market, traditional purpose-built computers are facing significant pressure from the emergence of rugged tablets that can function as mounted computers. Learn more

On June 17th, 2021 Brady Corporation, a global leader in safety, identification, and compliance solutions announced that it has acquired The Code Corporation for $173 Million. Learn more