Top 7 Tips - Using Smartphones and Tablets in Data Collection
By Jeff Lem, VP Systems and Solutions, Viascan Group
Industry observers call this ‘convergence’, I call it The Uncle Vincent Rule (see tip 3). If you’re looking at using these consumer devices in your warehouse then this list is for you:
1. Don’t rely on the camera to scan barcodes
Unless you’re doing the occasional price check, then using the camera may be OK. But for activities involving continuous scanning i.e. receiving or an inventory it’s painfully slow because the camera has to focus, take a picture of the barcode, and then interpret the picture. This is problematic and awkward from both a programming and usage viewpoint which brings me to the second tip.
2. Consider third party peripherals
For scanning you can choose Bluetooth scanners or my preference
‘sleds’ which attach to the device itself. Like the pictured Honeywell Captuvo
SL22, the iPod slides into sled which has its own battery and has a built-in 2D
imager. Going with a Bluetooth scanner
gives you the flexibility to pair with any other device but consider the
ergonomics and demands imposed by no longer having one hand free. Also because
it’s a consumer device I strongly recommend non slip covers and screen
protectors – on their own they are not designed for four foot drops to
concrete.
3. Backup units
My millionaire Uncle only wore Hush Puppies for the simple reason that they’re cheap and he could buy three pairs of his for every one of mine. The same philosophy applies here. The standard rule of thumb for rugged mobility devices is 10%, I recommend going with 15-20% spares not only because they’re cheaper but they’re more fragile, more prone to theft, and my next tip below.
4. Battery Management
You’ll note that in many devices like Apple and Samsung the units
are closed meaning you can’t get at the battery. Once the battery is dead you
must use another unit. This also changes how you view battery management and
spares. When you could separate the battery from the unit, you simply bought
spare batteries and spare devices – quantities and lifespans differed for both
so you developed different strategies for managing them. Now that they’re one,
you have to default to the one component that has the shortest life. In this
case it’s the battery, so if you’re finding on occasion the device doesn’t quite
last an entire shift, then be prepared to increase the number of available units.
5. Don’t port Windows Applications
Taking applications that relied on a keypad or a mouse pointer and bringing it into the touch screen world of gesturing and multi-touch will leave users a little frustrated. Re-design the application from the ground up to take advantage of what is native to this environment – otherwise you’ll wonder why people aren’t using your application much.
6. Design simple interfaces
As you’re re-designing the application think of the application on the device as simple input form with minimal business logic and processing. Cramming lots of rules and logic onto the application will make it unwieldy, slow and just hard to use. We made that mistake with our first iPad application in 2010; these devices are great at showing and manipulating pictures but are not great processors of big data files and extensive queries. For example a drop down list of variable data like available inventory locations may work in Windows Mobile through a Function key but in an Apple world have the app make the choice instead of giving the user a list to choose from.
“KISS” the application if you want hugs and kisses from your users!
7. Figure out a break fix strategy
Breakage happens and if you’re running a mission critical function you can’t afford to be down too long. So where do you send your spares for fixing? Often your reseller doesn’t offer any sort of service in this regard so you may find yourself on your own. So make sure you add this onto your list of questions as there are many third party organizations that will take in your devices – my word of advice is to not rely on sending them direct to back to the manufacturer. They’re not setup to help a ‘user’ with dozen devices to send in and ask yourself how long you’re willing to wait on the phone for RMA # or to book an appointment at the local Apple store.
These are in my view the most important Tips, and because I’m getting the hook from our editor, Jenny, I’ll mention three other areas quickly. Don’t cut corners on project management – this may sound like motherhood but just because the device is cheap (or relatively so) doesn’t mean you can skimp on project management; Don’t expect 100% backward compatibility – as new devices come to market every 6 or so months don’t expect your apps to run perfectly on the new versions, expect some programming work; and Encourage Employee feedback – they’re using games, and other apps on their personal smartphones and tablets so they’re exposed to some really neat features that you can put into the next version of your data collection application. Good luck and…
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Monday, August 27, 2012
Voice Technology - More Than Just Picking
Voice technology has been used with mobile technology in applications such as warehouse management, where its speech-based capabilities have eased the picking workflow tremendously. The eyes-free and hands-free advantages of this technology reduces errors that occur when a worker accidentally picks from the wrong bin, allows workers to perform tasks quickly and is very cost-effective. Vocollect Voice Solutions (a business unit of Intermec) has said that picking productivity has increased by 15-20% due to their products. Many are now even calling voice technology the next generation in material-handling for warehouse management and distribution centres. But voice technology doesn’t stop there- increasingly, it is bleeding into new areas and moving in different directions such as field services, quality assurance and healthcare.
Quality Assurance
While collecting and recording data, workers face a number of challenges during inspection. Voice-recognition software can be used in a variety of different fields. Inspectors need to be working in a hands-free and eyes-free environment to be able to handle items without the hassle of having to deal with a clipboard or computer. For example, public safety and security organizations are increasingly being asked to do more with fewer resources. In food processing plants, inspectors walk around the plant to collect and measure samples. They collect food samples but must use both of their hands. In order to avoid contaminating food and damaging recording equipment, they need hands-free and eyes-free technology- a need voice-technology can fulfill. Moreover, in the construction industry, voice technology can help in steel-bridge painting inspection. Engineers waste a large amount of time collecting, recording and processing data. Often, the paper work distracts the engineers from collecting quality products. Workers can hear the prompt from the computer then follow instructions from the system and speak the commands or the data to record the tested results. After data entry, the results are spoken back to the worker automatically. This method requires little training as workers do not need much computer experience and allows users to work in a wireless, mobile environment.In the automotive industry, Volkswagen prototype inspectors use a cumbersome process to record inspection information; they must fill out an extensive form and transfer the data into the online quality control and reporting system manually. This approach lost reports and led to many data transfer errors. Furthermore, entering data information added unnecessary expenses and generated reports and data analyses very slowly. With voice-technology software, workers were able to use their voice to control and insert inspection data into the software, which was then automatically captured and registered onto their Microsoft Access database application.
Field Services
Although voice-technology is expanding into numerous areas, it is less common in field services. In part, this is because field service applications involve more complex operations and therefore an extensive vocabulary in order to interpret accurately. The amount of data collected, the number of navigation functions and the dependence on the mobile worker complicate field service applications compared to warehouse management applications. However, the predominant reason for voice-technology’s slow development in field services is because existing voice capabilities in warehouse management are still dependent on server integration. In short, its slow adaptation is because of the complexity of existing voice architecture. But voice-technology has many uses to its workers and is most needed for workers whose tasks are interrupted by having to pick up a clipboard or mobile device to input or verify information. Workers use voice technologies to update repair orders while still using both hands to work on a piece of equipment, look-up directions to a site while driving or update a work-order status. Voice technologies free workers’ hands to perform tasks while helping them save time and improve accuracy. For example, the U.S Forest Service uses voice technology solutions for a mobile timber application. The use of voice technology improves worker safety because workers typically work in harsh conditions where manual data entry is difficult. End users are still reluctant to adopt voice technologies simply because they don’t understand its potential. They have grown accustomed to using the older recognition systems used in call centres or warehouse applications. Also, most end users have only been exposed to voice systems from companies for credit card billing or phone billing, who have a vast vocabulary, but only have 50 to 70% accuracy. On the other hand, business applications have a more limited vocabulary but can have 98% to 99% recognition accuracy. Although reservations are still held for field services, the advantages are unmatched. Voice applications are now deployable using mobile devices and computers used in the field.
Healthcare
The traditional process by which hospitals generate and store data into patient records is by doctors scribbling notes onto a paper patient record, which is later transcribed, filed and entered into a database. But in an environment where revenue is decreasing and costs are growing, there is a need to reorganize hospitals to be more cost-effective in information-gathering and sharing. The American Hospital Association indicates that along with increased costs, hospital revenues could decrease by as much as 20 to 30% because of the greater volume of documentation. Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech-recognition software by Nuance transcribes data as doctors dictate. This software highlights and validates medical facts, spots inconsistencies and asks follow up questions to assure accuracy- a value of upmost important in the field of healthcare. Dragon’s 90-95% accuracy in speech-recognition has doctors seeing great improvements in report turnaround (from four days to 24-48 hours), and virtually no disruption in doctors’ practices due to the use of a cassette recorder and background recognition.
The Dragon system can also create an electronic patient record. These records help improve overall patient care because of the reports’ legibility and better completed records (through prompting , accuracy and point-of-contact reporting). Most of all, Dragon provides quick access to patient data throughout the hospital and to outside providers (such as referring physicians, who receive patients’ records more quickly).
Hospitals are seeing a dramatic increase in patient care and cost effectiveness as they implement these voice technologies. The real-time software eases doctors’ daily operations and improves hospital organization. Nuance and IBM are now looking to commercialize the Watson computer system (made famous on Jeopardy for defeating human champions) to help medical professionals diagnose complicated medical issues as well as suggest appropriate treatments. To say the least, voice technology is moving in many new and exciting directions that will be continue to grow for times to come.
Voice technology is expanding at a rapid rate and is being seen at all levels of the workplace. Even the public’s awareness of the potential of voice technology is seen with Apple’s Siri or Samsung’s voice commands. This popular feature allows users to control the phone with their voice as well as conduct Google Searches. It will be very interesting to see what new and exciting opportunities voice technologies can bring to businesses and it is something that we will definitely see expanding in the coming years.
Posted By: Jeff Lem @ 5:23:42 PMTop
Friday, July 20, 2012
Motorola Solutions Acquires Psion- What It Really Means
About four months ago we announced the merger of qdata with Viascan which, in our view, created a game-changing reseller and systems integrator. While we’re channel partners on the reselling side of the industry, the same is also happening on the manufacturing/OEM side.
Just last month, Motorola announced the acquisition of Psion in a $200m US deal that will close at the end of this year. While one can debate whether Motorola overpaid or got a good deal (I believe they got a good deal), the real questions are Why and What Next?
The Why
The immediate motivation is the opportunity to take out a competitor who wasn’t going away fast enough and to keep Psion away from the clutches of Honeywell (who have purchased HandHeld Products and LXE in the last 3 years). However the real reason why I believe Motorola bought Psion is because of the glut of ruggedized mobile products that depress prices and create price wars in almost every major deal.
While the mobile space in general is booming, it’s also encroaching upon our traditional applications in transportation, field service, courier, retail, and warehousing. It’s now commonplace to see smartphones and consumer tablets being considered and used over more expensive ruggedized mobile products.
This is a testament to the great designs and innovations that have taken place in the consumer mobile space over recent years. While I have no doubt that the business software written for the ruggedized mobile computers (mostly Windows-based) is superior in features and robustness, the ruggedized hardware they run on fail to capture the imagination of the end user. That, at least for the moment, belongs to Apple and Samsung.
This is what’s driving the consolidation of our industry. In other words, our products fail to excite. Customers, while business-based, want to extend their iPhone or Galaxy experience into the workplace.
What’s Next
In the short term our only response is to extol the virtue of ruggedized products- buying something that can take multiple drops to concrete and still keep working makes it less expensive in the long run. However we’ll continue to lose market share to our smaller and more nimble counterparts until our industry starts innovating again.
By the end of next year, we’ll be down to
two major producers of ruggedized mobile computers: Motorola and Honeywell. Once that happens, margins will improve and these
two companies will start seriously investing in R&D. And hopefully, shortly thereafter we'll see innovative products developed specifically for the workplace instead of having to take consumer-based technologies and adapting them for use in our space.
I anticipate a wave of new products to start coming out in late 2013. They may look Apple-like but they will be developed specifically for the ruggedized world. I’m seeing some early signs of this with smaller manufacturers like Trimble who have produced a beautiful ruggedized Android-based PDA that offers an eye-popping touch screen display.
So don’t give up on our industry because the best is yet to come.
Scanners On!
Jeff
Posted By: Jeff Lem @ 11:03:09 AM
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Monday, June 18, 2012
Retail's Changing Landscape
"There is only one boss: the
customer, and he (or she) can fire everyone in the company from the chairman
and down, simply by spending their money somewhere else."
- Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart
As smartphones and improved technology continue to become an integral aspect of consumers’ lives, the landscape of retail in Canada has changed immensely. Smartphones have caused retailers to shift to location-based marketing so that consumers can receive marketing messages tailored to them based on their location. Brick and mortar stores are being reduced to ‘showrooms’ as consumers turn to online retailers to make their purchases. Last week, PWC’s 2012 Retail Executive Forum highlighted such obstacles and offered innovative approaches on how retailers could adapt their strategies.
However, the most important shift the conference addressed resides in retailers’ mindset. Retailers are currently more concerned with how they can get new revenue sources and get closer to their customers rather than cutting costs. Therefore the most important question that retailers are struggling with today is: How can brick and mortar stores retain their customer base?
The answer: By embodying something their customers value. Though this answer seems simple enough, it is vital to maintaining key customers’ loyalty. Thus, loyalty with customers is not created from the goods they purchase but from retailers' ability to identify what their customers are passionate about. For example, Lululemon values community whereas Wal-Mart values low prices. Most stores are hiring people who already know and use their products. When these employees are out in the field, they can use their personal experiences with the products to give advice to customers on products best suited for them. This creates a personable experience for customers and demonstrates that retailers understand their customers’ interests.
Therefore, what creates a great customer experience?
- Your accessibility to your customers
- How well you support your customers
- The quality of your offering. Look appealing to your community and provide a sense of belonging and loyalty to your customers.
Under the new Viascan-qdata merger, we know that our customers value convenience and it is something we intently embody. In our new Toronto location, our building will become a one-stop shop for services, support and purchasing. Our manufacturing facility will double as a showroom for the products we sell so customers will be able to see our products in action. Viascan-qdata will also deliver convenience through our services: a 24/7 line, a help desk, bilingual staff in services and support, on-time delivery and speedy responsiveness. We are also accessible all across Canada as we have coast-to-coast offices. As such, in order to maximize customer experience, Viascan-qdata is committed to bringing convenience to their customers in all areas of operation so that they focus on what they do best.
Scanners On!
Jeff Lem
Posted By: Jeff Lem @ 3:35:30 PM
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Monday, June 11, 2012
Qdata Earns Motorola's Empower Circle Award
One of qdata's greatest accomplishments this year was being named a winner of Motorola's 2011 Empower Circle Awards. Motorola Solutions, a market leader in industry solutions, has been granting this prestigious honour to their top 100 Channel Partners worldwide for the past two years. It recognizes companies for their outstanding performances in distribution and channel partnership.
Being one of only two Canadian recipients, I am truly proud of qdata’s performance in achieving year over year sales growth. This competitive qualification is not just about sales volume, but about sales growth throughout the year.
Motorola is our industry leader and their investment in R&D (research and development) enables our industry to stay relevant in light of all the competition from consumer grade devices such as tablets and smartphones. This R&D gives us a hardware platform from which we design and build our supporting software and services.
As a key partner for over 15 years, qdata has been able to provide cutting-edge solutions tailored for business’ needs in today’s fast-paced environment. Our close collaborations with Motorola have allowed us to wholly commit to providing customers with customized services. World-class training for our reps and working with a company like Motorola has forced qdata to adopt the best business practices in sales management, accounting, and forecasting.
All Empower Circle honorees were invited to Lisbon, Portugal where every winner and region worldwide was represented. This event recognized our great achievements and allowed us to network and share our best business practices.
The most exciting part about this honour is that we now join an elite group of companies that are considered the best in our space. This re-confirms qdata’s position as a market leader and shows our customers that they’re dealing with one of the best in the industry. Most importantly, it is a reflection of our people – their skill and passion for what they do and the commitment they bring to every customer engagement.
Scanners On!
Jeff
Posted By: Jeff Lem @ 3:39:45 PMTop
Friday, May 11, 2012
Why Size Doesn't Always Matter: The 2012 Supply Chain Canada Conference
"Bigger is better” is one the best known adages in the English language. However, I would have to argue that bigger is not always better, especially when it comes to trade shows. Trade shows provide businesses with an excellent opportunity for networking and for gaining visibility. Sure, bigger trade shows do have a higher turnout rate, but sometimes the smaller trade shows are better targeted. At the end of the day, it is about the quality of these relationships rather than the quantity. This past week, qdata attended the Supply Chain Canada Conference in Mississauga, Ont. The Supply Chain & Logistics Canada and the Canadian Industrial Transportation Association jointly host this conference. This two-day event allowed businesses to learn from peers in the supply chain and logistics industry via keynote speakers, sessions and exhibitions. Although we have participated in this trade show in the past, this year’s was much more successful. Qdata’s booth mainly featured Intermec products. Like every trade show, our predominant goal was to gain prospects. It was quite difficult to accomplish this goal last year as most of the conference’s events were organized away from the booths. This year, events happened right on the floor of the trade show. As a result, there was a significant increase in booth traffic and customer interest. There was a very upbeat atmosphere on the floor during these two days. It is evident that people are genuinely optimistic about the economy and they are interested in talking business. The Supply Chain Canada Conference hosts a dynamic and business-focused tradeshow that is very important for qdata. Despite the event’s small size, it attracts vital businesses and people in the supply chain industry. It is a place where interaction between manufacturers, distributors and service providers is possible and strongly encouraged. In 2011, attendance jumped to 406 from 250-300 previously, of which 47% were C-level senior managers. We look forward to attending this event again in the future as we watch and experience its growth and improvements. Scanners On! Jeff Lem
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Friday, February 10, 2012
Top 10 Tech Trends for 2012
I’ve dusted off my crystal ball and the Gods of AIDC have shown me the top ten trends for 2012. Enjoy but more importantly take advantage of these emerging trends to take your businesses to the next level.
BYOD Policy. Bring your own device will continue to grow despite IT management’s protests and concerns over security and the cost of supporting a diverse mobile population. However these concerns are trumped by the need to attract Gen Y workers many of whom will not consider a job offer unless they're allowed to bring their cherished iPhone or Android device to work. Resistance is futile so start crafting your BYOD policy!
QR Code. Retailers are going to fight back with shelf level QR codes in an effort to persuade consumers to stay in the store and buy their product. Scan the QR code and you’ll get reviews, product comparisons and even discounts.
Wireless Infrastructure. Many large enterprise companies will be upgrading their wireless networks to 802.11n. Benefits include greater range and higher transmission rates however the big driver is centralized management. IT can now manage the entire wireless network from their workstation as opposed to plugging into individual access points installed in the ceiling.
MDM – mobile device mgmt. As the number of mobile devices grow in the worksplace so will the demand for mobile device management which will deploy applications, apply security settings and monitor the device itself.
Real Time Business Intelligence. Real time transactions will be translated into real time intelligence, giving managers an unprecedented view of the warehouse and/or manufacturing floor. Right now a shipping transaction has to be first closed before your current BI systems tells you about a customer shipment. With Real Time BI, you’ll know it as soon as one of products for that order is scanned onto the truck.
Smartphones Wars. RIM, Goggle, and Apple will continue to raise the ante with new improved features, and lower prices. Little wonder that we’re seeing more of these devices outfitted with an Otterbox replacing traditional ruggedized mobile devices.
Kiosks and Self Serve. The drive to learn more about consumers and their buying habits you’ll see more kiosks installed in stores. Long used to provide pricing information, this new generation of kiosks will check a price, check on your deli order, ask you to participate in a survey, and offer you a discount if you participate in a survey.
Managed Services. IT departments are understaffed and overwhelmed by demand for their services which range from help desk to project rollouts. This leaves little time for their fleet of mobile devices which often drive mission critical functions. Little wonder that these overworked departments are looking to outsource the management and maintenance of these mobile devices.
Cloud Computing. Want to do a quickie inventory count? Simply open up a browser on your mobile device and start scanning. We’ll continue to see more applications move into the Cloud making it a super convenient and cost effective choice for companies of all sizes to deploy barcoding systems.
Tablets. Last year Motorola released ET1, the industry’s first ruggedized Android based tablet. This year we’ll see a sub $500 Tablet computer with integrated barcode scanners, cameras, and more but don’t expect it from one of the major barcode OEMs.
Here’s to Scanners On in 2012!
Jeff
Posted By: Jeff Lem @ 12:00:20 AM
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Monday, October 31, 2011
The Annual Count - Taking Stock
“If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?” - Reduction by up to one half the amount of time needed to perform the count through the elimination of manual data entry as bar code scanners pick up part numbers, serial numbers and lot numbers
The person who said this was John Wooden, the greatest basketball coach in NCAA history, and for him it was all about execution. When it comes to your annual inventory count you really can't afford to do it wrong.
The annual inventory count is a mandatory ritual for companies not using a real time perpetual warehouse management system (WMS). It helps purge the year’s warehouse transgressions such as putting product in the wrong place, not recording what you did, and picking the wrong stuff. However many approach this critical function with just pen and paper and a lot of elbow grease.
Is there a better way?
In short yes, you don’t have to buy a full blown warehouse management system to automate this task. Several of our clients only started with our inventory count module. In fact clients who went this way told me that the inventory count feature paid for the rest of their WMS implementation. And it doesn’t take long to implement; typical time is about a month however we did one earlier this year in less than a week.
What are the Savings?
One of clients a prominent mid-west food manufacturer and distributor has inventory valued at $50 million. Annually they were writing off $100,000 to $300,000. Starting with our inventory solution they worked up to weekly counts. Within a year they reduced their annual losses by 80% and the key was simply knowing where everything was. This also meant not having to sell an extra $5 million to recoup this lost inventory which is also how much one rep sells per year – or in other words a FREE SALESREP!
Other benefits included:
- Labor savings on inventory count a reduction by one third
- Switch to ABC counts thus changing the frequency based on the category for example count the A’s monthly, B’s quarterly, and C’s yearly
- Reduced count time means fewer lost shipping days
- Able to performing more counts because it’s now more convenient, faster, and easier
- Reduce buffer stock by 10%
It’s never too late to do the right thing and in this case never been as easy. It’ll likely rank as one of the best things you’ll do in the warehouse in 2012.
Scanners On!
Jeff
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Monday, August 22, 2011
ConnectNOW
I’m very excited to announce our third annual ConnectNOW 2011 Customer Conference at Niagara Falls, Ontario Sept 28-30.
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Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Happy Birthday IBM
On June 16, IBM officially turned 100 years old.
This is quite a remarkable feat by any standard and warrants recognition despite being a competitor.
They started corporate life in 1911 as a manufacturer of punch cards, commercial scales, and clocks. From there they invented the mainframe (1964), magnetic stripes (1969), floppy disks (1971), Lasik surgery (1980), and their most recent achievement Watson, the supercomputer that beat all the top Jeopardy champions. However the one innovation that makes me especially grateful and made my industry possible is the UPC barcode (1973).
This only tells part of the story, the one part of their story that inspires me is how they evolved from being a hard goods innovator and manufacturer to also being a software and services company. From the 50’s to the 70’s when hardware ruled the roost, software was typically given away. But in the 80’s and 90’s that started to change when it became evident that software such as Linux, XML, and Java became the means of allowing IBM to break down its internal silos and ensure portability of it’s hardware products into new markets.
Today, software represents $22.5 billion or roughly 22% of its total annual sales. But as they say in the Ginzu knife commercial but ‘that’s not all’. Over the last decade IBM embraced services with the notable acquisition of Price Waterhouse Coopers in 2002 and as a result services now form the foundation of all of IBM’s offerings be it software or hardware and is very much the centerpiece of their Smarter Planet initiative.
So why is this so important to me?
It serves up a valuable lesson that some things are truly timeless and one only need look at IBM to be reminded about what it takes to survive and be successful in technology – the most dynamic of all industry sectors.
Customers want solutions to their challenges and don’t care whether it takes the form of hardware and/or software (although increasingly today it’s more about software). And most of all customers want service from a partner that stands behind their work and can show them how to best use the solution for maximum gain.
Congrats IBM and on an amazing 100 years! Thanks in large part to your innovations we have Scanners On!
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