From toddlers to octogenarians, it seems just about everyone can navigate the user interface (UI) of a smartphone or tablet. Don’t think so? Just look around in waiting rooms, elevators, airports — any place where people are trying to kill some time. As the degree of power and knowledge at our fingertips continues to reach new limits and pervade daily life, manufacturing professionals must be wondering what the holdup is on the shop floor, in the office, and in the field.
“There’s an app for that” isn’t exactly the slogan in manufacturing, but that’s changing quickly. Solutions providers understand that professionals require the same information available on a PC in the palm of their hand, and many are already delivering that capability. Others are accelerating and increasing investment in it. In all, 2015 should be an exciting year for mobility in manufacturing.
LNS Research's blogger Mike Roberts posts that mobile solutions are not only poised to become significantly more available in the near future, but their utility should ramp up analogously. He concludes: it’s not your in your plans to equip your staff with emerging mobile technology so they can do their job more effectively (and collaboratively), it’s time to reconsider — and to act. Start evaluating solutions, and keep in mind these seven tips.