Most companies want to solve a specific supply chain problem, like manual tracking that cries out to be automated. Or they're looking for the competitive advantage that higher productivity from their field force can give them. Or they may need better visibility. In Tremitiere's opinion, they can get better performance management out of their supply chain, their assets and their employees with the proper mobile-technology investment.

Such solutions can be relatively cheap to get up and running, and less costly to maintain. From a speed perspective, they can be operative fairly quickly, usually a month or less.

Usability is key to this type of initiative. "You need to get the user involved in the process, early and often," he says. "You train them early and continue to train them as the solution evolves. Then you will have a successful solution. If people who have to use it every day like it, it will work. If they don't, they will ensure that it fails."

With proper implementation, Tremitiere says, you can see ROI in under six months.

He says he's seeing adoption of this technology across a wide range of industries, not least of which are logistics service providers. "They have been at the forefront." And, of course, major users are those companies who rely on 3PLs.

Tremitiere warns that not all mobile-solutions providers are alike. "Do they have solution-delivery experience? Have they deployed the type of solution I'm looking for before? And references are key."

It's also important for the user to be agnostic in terms of device and carrier. "If you're locked into a particular device or carrier, that's an issue. Future-proofing is important. You need a partner than is flexible and can grow as your business grows."

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