Recent developments in mobile technology means that organisations can now equip their blue collar workers with mobile devices in an effective and efficient manner – providing a whole new paradigm in the use of mobile technology. Julie Purves, Managing Director of B2M Solutions outlines the new opportunities and explains how organisations can achieve a return on investment from this expanded mobile enterprise.
The use of mobile technology amongst blue-collar workers is set to increase rapidly over the next five years. According to the analyst firm IDC, the mobile worker population will to grow from 650 million worldwide to 850 million in 2009. And a 2005 survey, conducted by Quocirca Research, reveals that the fastest uptake in mobile data applications is amongst blue-collar workers as businesses look to mobilise key systems across service management, inventory and logistics functions that ultimately allow workers to spend more time out in the field.
This is the first time organisations have moved away from the original realm of computing which is typically in the white-collar office environment and the warehouse. Now, an organisation’s workers who are out on the road will be able to work using the very latest mobile technology.
Understanding User Needs
However, to manage this new population of mobile workers needs a new way of thinking. This starts with having a clear understanding of the specific needs and preferences of these users. Their mindset is likely to be totally focused on a specialised role - such as ensuring the timely delivery of a parcel, providing a professional service to a customer or optimising stock levels at a retail outlet. Typically, this group of people rarely encourage changes to the way they work and they often have little time for or no understanding of complex handheld computers.
To ensure acceptance, these blue-collar workers need to have total confidence in their mobile device and regard it as just a “black box” – as they would any other tool they use. The devices must be very easy to use and the user must have full confidence that it will do the job i.e. provide them with the information they need and deliver accurate reports back to their organisation consistently, without the fear of data loss or corruption.
Central Mobile Management
We are now at a point where an IT team can manage huge numbers of mobile devices from a central point. And it’s this central management function that is the key to a successful large-scale mobile operation.
With this high level of remote support, the mobile worker in the field is assured that their device will be kept up-to-date automatically and that they needn’t worry about “tecchie issues” such as “system crashes” or batteries failing. If a problem does occur, they can contact their help desk and have the device up and running in the fastest possible time with little or no downtime.
From this overview position, usability problems can also be detected and managed automatically. With full diagnostics and detailed information on how someone is using a mobile application, issues can be identified easily and then fixed – with for example, suitable training, or input into future application enhancements if appropriate. This automatic feedback from the device ensures the operations managers can see immediately if a user is having difficulties. Without this assistance such problems would go unnoticed, as the users are very unlikely to report the issues themselves.
Process Improvements
Once a mobile operation is running successfully, the focus must then turn to maximising the return on the investment. The most exciting opportunity from the field of blue-collar workers can be found from improved working processes. By having a detailed view of the mobile operation, an organisation can map the processes and in turn, make some dramatic improvements.
In a blue-collar environment, the processes are typically not complex. They consist of a number of repeated tasks. Through an application monitoring capability via the mobile device, it is now possible to get feedback on these processes as they take place. Once equipped with this information, it is then possible to make adjustments to the processes to increase efficiency and reduce the time to undertake tasks. This presents a massive opportunity.
Let’s take a real world example. A company that maintains equipment has provided their engineers with mobile devices and a mobile application which is quite complicated to use. So rather than complete the Spares Order Form on the device, their engineers prefer to call in to the company’s administration department and ask them to input an order direct to the system, perhaps incorporating an error. If the central operations team were monitoring the application as it is being used in the field, they could recognise that the Spares Ordering Process was not being used by the engineers and could then provide the relevant training or adapt the system to one that the engineers could use.
This is just a simple example since mobile applications are becoming far more diverse with the possibility of several applications existing on one device and handling different parts of the Business Process. This is when there will be a far greater need to monitor activity across these applications and provide further opportunities for process improvements.
The use of mobile technology amongst mobile blue-collar workers will be a major development for a wide range of businesses. And once a mobile enterprise is successfully up and running, the priority can move to maximising the return on the investment. The ability to make improvements to a company processes in a highly measured way will ensure financial returns can be delivered via the mobile enterprise.