Mobile technologies revolutionize almost all processes they touch upon. Manufacturing is a process relying heavily on machines, humans and their synergy. Putting mobile technologies to use in the assembly lines, on the shop-floor and in the procurements and servicing not only changes the way manufacturing industries work but gives an impetus to tight coupling between the departments as well as better collaboration between employees across the enterprise landscape.
Enterprise Mobility early adopters include the Utilities, Mining, Oil & Gas, and Field Service industries due to their widely dispersed workforce. More recently though, manufacturing companies are using Enterprise Mobility on the factory floor and are able to streamline and automate their business processes. By providing key decision makers with a real-time overview of operations, Enterprise Mobility can help manufacturers boost their productivity.
What is driving the need for Enterprise Mobility in manufacturing?
● Complex user experience – In many cases incumbent back-end systems do not provide a tailored and user-friendly interface for factory workers, resulting in systems not being used effectively.
● Point of action data access – Typically desktops and laptops can’t be carried next to the production equipment. This means relevant data like equipment repair history, instruction manuals and material availability is not available to workers where they need it most.
● Compliance and audit – Stricter compliance rules mean all actions should be logged in the central system for compliance and audit purposes. Without adoption of mobility, achieving compliance and a clear audit trail is almost impossible to achieve.
● Process efficiencies – With globalisation there is an ongoing drive to improve process efficiencies. Although organisations have implemented Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), further efficiencies can come from Enterprise Mobility.
● Attract and retain talent – Millennials are used to new technologies and they prefer a workplace where technologies are adopted.
Why is now the right time for Enterprise Mobility?
● Cost of mobile devices – With increasing competition, mobile devices can be purchased by organisations for less and less. With costs reducing and the market expanding, mobile devices can be purchased to specifically meet the needs of the organisation such as size, memory capacity, and speed. Additionally with the simple adoption of covers and cases, the lifespan of a mobile device can be significantly increased.
● Lower learning curve – As employees will use mobile devices during their day to day lives, an Enterprise Mobility Solution has a significantly lower learning curve.
● Availability and cost of plug and play solutions – Traditionally, integration with enterprise systems like SAP has been challenging. However with out of the box, pre-built solutions, costs are lowered and deployment is accelerated. Manufacturers may choose to adopt, myJobCard for SAP asset management or Inventory Manager for SAP warehouse operations.
● Occasionally connected solutions – In a warehouse or factory environment, connectivity to wifi or mobile data cannot be guaranteed. With caching technologies it is possible to provide a high-performance UI even when there is low or no data connectivity.
● Time to deploy and scale – Cloud hosted solutions help connect mobile devices with enterprise systems in a secure way. Cloud solutions also help to easily scale the solution and spread the cost.
● Enterprise mobile security – There are now numerous well-established and cost-effective solutions available to secure enterprise mobile devices such as Intune and Airwatch.
Time to move towards Enterprise Mobility
We regularly hear about new technologies like AI, Machine Learning, and IoT but the majority of manufacturers are still to adopt earlier technologies such as Enterprise Mobility. Enterprise Mobility offers a tried and tested solution that can create remarkable business efficiencies. Enterprise Mobility has the potential to become the industry standard, so manufacturers who want to be ahead of the curve, should adopt it before their competition.
Get in touch to find out how we can help you on your bespoke Enterprise Mobility journey.
