MobileDataforce, Mobile Work Orders & the 2008 Olympics

MobileDataforce has a customer in the Netherlands called Janssen-Fritsen. They are supplying all gymnastics equipment for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing next year. This is their fifth Olympic order. They are a market leader and expert in the field of equipment and materials for sports education, gymnastics and sports centers. Most of their products are developed in-house and supported by their professional services team.

The company has 25 field workers that register and work with large quantities of information related to the installation and condition of the equipment. Until recently, all of this information was managed with paper forms. They have now mobilized these paper processes using MobileDataforce's PointSync Mobility Platform to improve service efficiency and to significantly reduce the reporting time.

MobileDataforce is Selected to Provide Mobile Field Services Solutions for Hospital Equipment

MobileDataforce is working on a mobile solution for a biomedical equipment company that provides field repair and maintenance services to over 200 hospitals. The mobile field services provided are:

• Breakdown repairs and preventative maintenance on all biomedical equipment
• Safety and performance testing of all biomedical equipment
• Loan equipment to minimise inconvenience
• Acceptance testing of all new biomedical equipment
• Training and education on equipment operation and maintenance

Our mobile application will integrate with their pre-existing CMMS (computerized maintenance management system) to provide mobile handheld PDA applications for their service technicians.

Getting Paid for Field Services Work - Mobile Handheld PDA Solutions

I had the opportunity recently to spend time with one of our mobile software customers. They are developing a new business and dedicating a lot of time to thinking through their business processes. As he shared this experience, it occurred to me that my client is not getting paid for the work he does, but on the documentation of the work he does. I realize these two items go hand-in-hand, but you don't automatically receive payment for work, unless there is adequate data that documents the work.

I again saw this phenomena in play when a large customer would not pay their bill until I properly registered as a vendor, got approved as a vendor, and filled out a series of forms before they would even consider paying me. Again, it was the data that released the funds, not the work.

The importance of getting accurate, complete and timely data from the point-of-work to the bill paying department of your customer is crucial to your success. Many small companies don't recognize this upfront. They assume doing a good job in the field will equate to good collections and a good bank account. Wouldn't that be nice.

Reality is that many small companies fumble around with this process trying to keep stacks of loose forms and paper that are floating around in the cab of their delivery or service truck organized long enough to carry them into the office and pile them on the admin's desk. The admin looks at the stack of dusty and mud stained forms with eyes that leave you watching your back.

The good news is that mobile handheld PDA phones with mobile software applications can now be cost effectively integrated directly with your accounting/work order management system.

Chase Wasden, our webmaster and graphics guru, has recently prepared and published a nice flash demo to demonstrate this process here.

The purpose of these mobile software applications is to ensure that accurate and complete data, that documents the work you have performed, gets into the hands of your paying customers as soon as possible, with as little administrative work and expense as possible. We call that "mobile business process optimization." If you would like to learn more about optimizing your field services using mobile handheld devices and mobile software applications please contact us or visit our website.

Hospitals and Mobile Data Collection on Handheld Computers

My wife and I spent Saturday evening visiting a friend in the hospital here in Boise. While in the hospital I quickly became distracted by the nurse. Not the nurse specifically, but by the handheld computer she was carrying around. She was doing the following:

1. Scanning a bar code on the wrist band of the patient
2. Scanning a bar code on the applied medicine
3. Capturing the date and time stamp on the handheld computer
4. Synchronizing the data to an enterprise software application
5. The collected data activates business rules
6. The business rules prompt the user with questions
7. The system alerts user if there is a problem with the treatment or treatment schedule
8. Ask for response to alert

This was a fascinating example of a handheld computer and a mobile data collection system that is integrated with an enterprise database. These same 8 steps can be implemented with many different assets. Let's consider a large piece of manufacturing equipment and a plant maintenance technician:

1. Scan a bar code on the side of the equipment
2. Scan a maintenance service bar code to designate the service you are performing
3. Capture date and time stamp on the handheld computer
4. Synchronize the data with your Asset Tracking or CMMS system
5. The collected data activates business rules
6. The system's business rules prompt you with questions about the service
7. The system sends you service alerts based upon stored data
8. You respond to the alert and verify you read it

These 2 data collection systems work the same from a mobile data collection technology perspective, but serve 2 completely different industries.

MobileDataforce develops mobile software applications that help companies improve their field services operations.