Three Ways Mobility Can Help Offset Rising Fuel Prices...

If your business includes employees driving a company vehicle to make deliveries, visit customers or provide services, the rising price of fuel is prying extra dollars out of your wallet. So what are your options? Well, you could pass those extra costs onto your customers, right? Logical, yes. Popular, NO! So what if technology could help you keep fuel costs to a minimum, stay competitive and deliver additional cost savings and administrative benefits?

Mobile technology isn't just for large companies like UPS, FedEx and Schwans. There are low cost, well-designed mobile solutions targeted at small to medium sized businesses that deliver the same efficiencies and savings that the big boys enjoy. But with regard to saving fuel, how can replacing your current paper-based system with mobile technology help?  Here are three practical ways:

1. Accurate, Turn-By-Turn Driving Directions - Drivers getting lost in a gas-guzzling, V8 powered delivery van while searching for a destination is very expensive. Every mile spent driving around is costing around 50 cents!  Most mobile devices, even the low cost Android devices, contain a GPS receiver and driving directions software that can take drivers directly to their destination with NO extra roaming. Better yet, buy a solution that allows you to provide your drivers with the most efficient driving route based on where they need to go throughout the day.
   
2. Report To The Office for Assignments...Why? - With a paper-based system, drivers generally have to report to the office for their assignments and THEN hit the road. In many cases, this happens multiple times a day, putting potentially unnecessary miles on a vehicle. What if your technician could finish one job and then use their mobile device to see where they need to go next? Rather than driving back to the office, your mobile workforce could access customer information, address, directions, task lists and more right at their fingertips. Granted, there are certain situations where the driver has to pick up goods to deliver that make that trip unavoidable.  However, if your driver is providing services or can stock the truck in the morning to handle multiple deliveries, then the number of trips can be drastically reduced. Not only does that reduce your fuel costs and vehicle maintenance costs, but also saves you and your drivers valuable time.
   
3. Magically Transfer Assignments to Another Driver - In a perfect world, every delivery or job is completed on time. In the real world, stuff happens! A one hour jobs take three, road construction causes delays, and there is always the occasional accident. When it's 4 o'clock and you still have three more jobs to do, you might want to enlist in the help of a colleague whose day went a little smoother. Using your mobile device, all it takes is the tap of a button to send a job (or two if you're lucky) to another technician. No need to meet up to hand him the work order and no need to spill the details over the phone and hope it gets communicated properly. The work gets done, the customer is happy and again, fuel is saved.

So there you have it.  Three possible ways a mobile solution can help mitigate high fuel prices. Rumor has it the US will see a $6.00 per gallon (regular gas, diesel may be higher) increase in 2011!!!  What will that do to your bottom line?  If your fleet is small or uses especially fuel thirsty vehicles, the extra expenses could deliver a devastating blow.

Going mobile delivers many other benefits outside of the fuel price discussion.  We'll continue to outline them in other blog entries.  If you can't wait, please visit our website to see what going mobile can do for you.

MobileDataForce

www.mobiledataforce.com

12 Steps to a Successful Mobile Software Deployment

Companies around the globe are looking for ways to do more with less. Many recognize that their mobile workforce is being managed inefficiently and extending business process automation to mobile field workers is becoming a priority. The following 12 steps identify how you can get started automating and mobilizing these business processes.

Step 1 – Understand the ROI/Scope of the Project and Plan Ahead
What are some of the key challenges with a mobile software development project? Many companies don’t put enough thought into what they need, and what the anticipated ROI will be. Others don’t assign and schedule testing resources. Some finish the development but have no deployment strategy. Still others buy incompatible handheld PDAs before they start development and find out they don’t meet the requirements of the field user. The results of these deficiencies are project scope creep, cost overruns, missed deadlines and dissatisfied end users.

Step 2 – Build a Team and Include the Field User
Make sure the members of your team have the right roles and responsibilities to help the mobility project succeed. Mobile solutions usually tie into other corporate IT assets and business processes, therefore impact other IT departments, DBA's and other business units. In addition, at least one representative field worker should be included on the project team to provide valuable “real-world” insight.

Step 3 – Select the Right Mobile Solution and Advisers
Performing successful data synchronization from mobile computing devices can be a challenging and complex task. There are many variables that can determine the success of a mobile development project. Make sure you have experienced mobility experts to advise you and select a proven mobile middleware solution as the foundation for your solution.

Step 4 – Know Your Target Users and Their Environment
During the planning and scoping phase of your mobile project, take the time to experience the working environment of your field workers and observe the business processes in action. Focus on how the information is collected and exchanged between the office and the mobile workers. These observations can significantly impact the design, development and deployment of a successful project! Evaluate the physical environment of the work. How do moist, cold and dirty environments impact the mobile devices? How does low light or bright sunlight affect visibility of the screen? Can workers read the small text on the PDA screen, or does the text need to be larger?

Step 5 – Decide Who will Develop the Mobile Solution
Do you have an IT department with software developers that are available for a new development project? Do they have experience developing custom mobile software solutions? Are they knowledgeable with mobile data synchronization issues? Will they be able to dedicate the time to finishing the application in the necessary time frame? Do you have the risk tolerance for letting an inexperienced internal development team attempt the project, or is the ROI sufficient to justify contracting with mobility experts to develop the custom application?

Step 6 – Do You Start with a Mobile Software Platform or Build from Scratch?
Do you start developing your mobile software project with a blank computer screen, or do you start with a template app and build functionality to it? Again, your success is heavily reliant on your expertise in custom mobile application design and development. If you have experience developing mobile software applications, then using a packaged application is less important. If you don’t have experience and are working with a limited budget and time frame, then it is crucial that you select a mobile application development solution to expedite the project.

Step 7 – Understand How to Re-Engineer Business Processes for Mobility
Mobile solutions can provide bar code scanning, digital images, GPS, RFID, data synchronization, enterprise database queries, integration with inventory, scheduling, work order, accounting and many other enterprise software applications. How will these capabilities change the way the field user works?  Most mobile applications are are subset of what's used in the office.  Be thoughtful in not extending too much of your business process to the mobile device.

Step 8 – Build in Phases
Most successful projects involve a series of phased implementations. Each phase can be developed, tested and implemented in an orderly manner. Once a phase is deployed and proven, additional phases can be layered on top that include more features and added complexity. Remember, the more data requirements that you add the more data you must synchronize, and the longer each synchronization session will take. Only synchronize data that your remote users require in the field. Be aware that most mobile devices don’t have the same CPU power or memory as a PC/laptop, so understand the performance of your application on mobile devices before designing the solution.

Step 9 – Evaluate Your Hardware and Connectivity Needs
The term “mobile devices” can have many different interpretations. Today, laptops, tablets, ruggedized handheld devices and Smartphones are all identified with this term. When determining the best mobile device for your project, you'll want to consider screen size, data storage, security, physical working environment, expandability and battery performance. If you plan to read RFID tags or scan barcodes, additional research should be done to make sure the device can, or can be upgraded to perform the task.

How do you connect your mobile device to your enterprise database applications? You have many options including cradle, cellular, WiFi and satellite in remote locations. The method(s) you choose will be affected by how often your mobile workers need to send/receive data. How much data will be transmitted and will they always have connectivity. Study each option, your working environment and consult your mobility partner to make the best selections.

Step 10 – Deploy, Evaluate and Improve
Once you have completed the first phase of your mobile solution and you are ready to deploy in the real world, roll out your solution to a group of trusted and motivated field users. Define a specific period of time to evaluate the solution, document the results and identify any required changes and improvements. The result of this evaluation should be an improved mobile solution that is ready for a wider deployment.

Step 11 – Set and Enforce Hardware and Security Policies
Mobile devices are small computers with the ability to store sensitive corporate data, communicate this data over the Internet and even catch viruses. You must clearly communicate how mobile devices are to be used and for what purpose. Establish and publish guidelines for using mobile devices.

Step 12 – Provide Full Support for Mobile Users
Mobile devices are guaranteed to break. What is your plan for keeping a mobile worker productive and communicating business critical information when their mobile device ceases to function or gets misplaced? These are inevitable issues that are best planned for in advance. Have a plan and a documented back up process.

For more information on MobileDataforce's PointSync Mobility Platform please visit our website, email us or call us at USA 208-384-1200.