Posts

Showing posts with the label Data Collection

Chasing Future Meaning

Image
The massive volume of new data surrounding us is growing at an extraordinary rate.  This data plus its meaning and the the value it offers will inform the winners and losers of tomorrow. It's not that individual bits of data have such great value on their own, rather it's the combinations of data from different sources, and their combined meaning that is golden.  The challenge of course is finding and combining all the data sources and their meanings into something really useful, and trusted.   Often we can find data, but we don't know its accuracy, source or trustworthiness.  We also don't often have a lot of time to find, combine and refine the data sources and their combined meaning.  We need blockchain like processes that can include the source of data, its meaning and how it can be combined with other sources to reveal new insights.

Reality is Required

Image
If you have spent any time working on IT projects you will have heard the statement, "The solution is only as good as the data." It's true.  If you lack enough good data to generate an accurate output, stop and find it before moving forward.  I remember having so many good ideas for process improvement when I worked in IT.  Almost all of them, however, were shut down with the words, “We don’t have good data for that.” Truth is important.  If your data does not reflect reality – digital solutions won’t work.  Many technology projects fail when they move from the whiteboard to reality because they were designed on a notional view of the world, rather than on the state of things as they actually exist.   Understanding what reality is can often be helped by developing a digital twin.  A digital twin is created by integrating sensors into a thing or series of things for the purpose of capturing enough good data to clearly depict reality.  Sensor-supported digital twins fill in

Data Collection and the Modern Battlefields of Business

Image
Dr. John Snow's Map In 1854 Cholera broke out in the Soho neighborhood of London.  Hundreds of people were struck down and died within days.  No one, at the time understood where the disease came from, how to treat it or how it was transmitted. A local physician, Dr. John Snow spent every possible moment of his day studying the victims and data in an attempt to understand the disease.  His biggest challenge was a lack of data.  He had only the list of the dead and a blank map of the neighborhood.  What he needed was more data.  This was solved when he met the local priest, Henry Whitehouse.  Whitehouse had recorded the time of death, and the location where all the families lived and died.  When these sources of data where combined, and then overlaid on a map, visual patterns emerged which ultimately led the two to see the common denominator for all the victims was drinking contaminated water from the Broad Street water pump. The pump handle was removed, people stopped drin

Digital Transformation, 3D Laser Scanning of Assets, Mobile Devices and Field Services

Image
It this short video I share more on the merging of the physical world with the digital and how that is impacting industries, markets and businesses in many different areas.  Learn about 3D Laser Scanning to create digital representations of physical objects to improve field services and asset management.  Enjoy! Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFKfsE28Lms&feature=share&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw ************************************************************* Kevin Benedict Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation Cognizant View my profile on LinkedIn Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Browse the Mobile Solution Directory Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility ***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with

Mobility ROI Weekly - Week of August 1, 2011

Image
This weekly ROI (return on investment) report includes ROIs that I come across in my weekly enterprise mobility and mobile data collection research.  My goal is to create an archive of mobility ROIs that we can all use when we are called upon for them.  I hope you find this useful. John Deer Factory Uses Wi-Fi Sensors to Increase Efficiency John Deer has increased productivity in a factory in Illinois by employing Wi-Fi enabled sensors that track the progress of materials along the production line.  The sensors are specifically designed to help notify welders throughout the manufacturing stages when materials are running low.  The reported ROIs are: The company has seen a 40 percent increase in efficiency in welding due to improvements in material replenishment and fewer delays caused by waiting for materials in its welding areas. The system has reduced the amount of time to assemble an average row-crop planter vehicle by 5 percent Provides awareness for the number of materials

Different Mobile Application GUI Designs - Mobile Epiphany

Image
I am beginning to see more and more mobile applications that use photos and maps as GUIs (graphical user interfaces).  In the world of mobile augmented reality, the photo can be the main menu of the mobile application. The image on the right is from an application called TouchInspect by Mobile Epiphany.  The founder of Mobile Epiphany , Glenn Kletzky, has many years of in depth experience in the electronic games industry and takes a unique and graphically rich approach to many of the GUIs in his mobile data collection applications. This is a very interesting approach to GUIs.  It is not just a text based menu system, but images that can quickly paint a thousand words.  Glenn describes his GUI design as a finger-touch-based interface that is trainable within an hour. *************************************************** Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst Phone +1 208-991-4410 Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join SAP Enterprise Mobili

Mobile Expert Interview Series - Jane and Keelin Glendon of HotButtons

I had the pleasure of interviewing two mobile experts this week, Jane Glendon and her daughter Keelin Glendon. Jane founded her mobile software application company, HotButton Solutions, http://www.hotbuttonsolutions.com/index.html , in Calgary, Alberta in 2000. HotButton Solutions focuses on mobile field data collection applications for the oil and gas industry. The focus is deep, as in deep mud and snow. Jane and Keelin have a lot of great stories to tell about selling and supporting mobile applications in the wilderness. I learned that moose gather on the roads to lick the salt, bears like to scratch their backs on oil well heads and a rugged handheld computer screen only survives 4 whacks with a hammer and nail to break. I also learned that northern Canadian oil workers have been known to express their dislike for new technologies by throwing ruggedized handheld computers into a moving compressor fan (it still worked), and that clever oil workers customize mobile applications to kee

Location Based Services and Mobile Device Customization

Many SMEs (small to medium sized enterprises) that use smartphones such as iPhones would benefit from the ability to add business information, alerts, tags and advice to a specific location on a map. Large enterprises can achieve these features by investing in business analytics, GIS solutions, route optimization applications, mobile data collection solutions and integrate them all with CRMs , but these enterprise solutions are often cost prohibitive for SMEs . They need these features all on a simple mobile application that is either connected to a web service or independent on the device. Let's consider a few scenarios: A taxi driver has found a very good place to pick-up riders. He/she wants to mark this location on a map and include other relevant information such as day of week, time of day and the reason this is a good location. A house painting contractor driving through a neighborhood notices that it has a large number of houses that may need painting in the near fut

The Downside of Mobile Applications

I had the fortunate opportunity to meet a classmate for coffee this week. I had not seen him for over a decade. He serves as a traffic cop and uses a TDS Recon mobile handheld computer in the course of his work writing tickets. During our conversation we discussed the rugged laptop he had mounted in his unmarked police cruiser. He said it had many of their police forms and documents on it, but that the mobile software was not able to keep up with the required edits and changes needed on the forms. As a result, they had stopped using it for much of their documentation. This discussion highlighted the need for a mobile workflow application that is a separate layer from the data layer. The field data collection requirements should be very simple to edit and not impact the field user. If the mobile application requires a complete update to edit data fields, then it risks early obsolescence or as in my earlier example it will simply not be used. - Kevin Benedict, Mobile Strategies Consul

Geospatially Aware Mobile Inspection Applications for Military and Commercial Use

Image
I have spent many years working with mobile application development tools. Each of the vendors I have known speak about the simplicity and speed of using their tools to develop and implement mobile applications. It is, for the most part, marketing speak. Developing a mobile application is as simple as the database schema of the business application in which it will be integrated. If it is a simple data collection form that can be integrated with a simple spreadsheet or database, then it is fairly easy and will usually take days or a few weeks to develop. However, if the user wants a mobile version of their ERP , then I hope they have a few months and a significant budget. The point is, most mobile applications that synchronize with back-office enterprise database applications are not easy and simple and this is a problem for companies that need to inspect a wide variety of things. I have witnessed over and over the challenges an inspection company has with mobile applications that run

Mobile Applications and Location Based Systems for Supply Chain and Inventory Management

In an article I published recently about grocery stores using LBS (location based services) on mobile devices and Smart phones, I proposed there were additional areas that large enterprises could benefit from real-time data collection, B2B integrations, business intelligence and location based services. Let's take a look at a couple of additional scenarios: 14 trucks are delivering perishable products on routes Truck #7 has a customer that has an unexpectedly high demand for a product Truck #7, using a mobile handheld computer, requests additional inventory from the SAP ERP (enterprise resource planning) software in the central office. The SAP ERP reports inventory levels on all 14 trucks based upon the real-time synchronization of data with each of the handheld barcode scanners of the trucks It is determined that truck #9 has excess inventory of the needed perishable product The GPS service in the handheld computer used by truck 9 identifies it's position and a meeting loca

Mobile Data Collection on Handheld PDAs Drives Rational Decisions

The title of this article is a mouth full, but it is true. We have customers using mobile data collection technologies on handheld PDAs for the following purposes: Surveying AIDS victims, using mobile handheld computers, in various African countries to learn about habits, practices, cultural norms and other lifestyle issues. This information is synchronized back to a central research databases so analyst can learn how best to educate people on how to prevent the spread of AIDS. Real field data is critical for developing the most effective educational programs. Customer surveys included with Work Orders/Service Tickets. Once work is completed at a customer's location, the service technician hands the customer a mobile survey form on the handheld. The customer has the opportunity to rate the service in several different areas. This information is immediately synchronized to the office database and the manager can review the customer's responses. This is an effective way of scalin

Handheld PDAs - More than Data Collection Devices

Image
When some people think about replacing paper forms with handheld PDAs or smartphones - they are only thinking about collecting data and sending it wirelessly back to the office. However, simply collecting, storing and moving data would be a missuse of a powerful handheld PDA or rugged handheld. A computer should compute . By that I mean - a handheld computer should analyze the data collected and take action based upon the data. Here is an example: Your house is on fire. You can take out a handheld PDA and enter data that says, "my house is on fire," and store it as the house collaspes around you, or you can program your handheld PDA to automatically call 911, turn on the sprinklers, call your work to report you will be in late, order new carpets and cancel the evening poker game, and provide a damage estimate. OK - so that is a silly example but the point is a handheld computer can analyze the data you enter, and be programmed to take action. Handheld computers should do the

Pipeline Construction & Inspection and Handheld Computers

Image
We are working with a large civil engineering firm on a 500 mile pipeline construction project. The engineering firm is using the PointSync Mobility Platform to develop mobile software to do environmental impact data collection in the field. If there is a negative environmental impact, then remedial plans and efforts must be implemented. They first collect data on a location using a mobile handheld PDA before the pipeline is installed, and later conduct follow-up data collection using rugged handhelds once the pipeline has been constructed to monitor the impact on the environment. This is a custom inspection software application developed specifically for handheld PDAs.

Hospitals and Data Collection on Handheld PDAs

Image
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 PDA she was carrying around. She was doing the following: Scanning a bar code on the wrist band of the patient Scanning a bar code on the applied medicine Capturing the date and time stamp on the handheld computer Synchronizing the data to an enterprise software application The collected data activates business rules The business rules prompt the user with questions The system alerts user if there is a problem with the treatment or treatment schedule Ask for response to alert This was a fascinating example of a handheld PDA 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: Scan a bar code on the si

Barnes & Noble's and Handheld PDAs - Symbol PDT 3140

Image
I have a habit. It is a habit that my family has learned to live with. I must confess. I can not pass by a person working with a handheld PDA without stopping to ask them what they are doing. My family has learned to just keep on walking as if they don't know me. Yesterday, I was walking through Barnes & Noble (a book store) when I spotted an employee working with a Symbol PDT 3140. I first introduced myself and said my interest in her was purely professional (I've got to work on that line). I told her I worked at MobileDataforce and we deliver all kinds of mobile software solutions for use on Symbol handheld computers, and was interested in how she was using it. "Are you using it for inventory tracking?" I asked. "No, I am looking up where each book on my cart is to be placed on the shelf," she answered. She was not using the handheld PDA and mobile software purely as an inventory database, but the software on it was telling her how to do her job the

What Don't I Know About Mobile Software Solutions & Deployments?

Image
This is always a difficult question. How can you know what you don't know. Well I guess the answer is you find someone who has been there and done that and learn from them. This blog article is a good starting point. It identifies 51 questions the helpdesk team will want to have answered before large mobile software deployments. Let me highlight a few of the questions you will want to have answered: Do you anticipate only needing one specific mobile software application, or many mobile applications over time? Can you start with a mobile software platform that supports all of your mobile needs, or will each mobile application be a separate IT project and use different technologies and infrastructures? Do you know your exact solution and data requirements in advance, or do you anticipate needing to edit and adjust your mobile application as you learn from your field experiences and users? This will impact both design and schedules. Do you have an in-house software development capabi

Mobile Inspection Software and Handheld PDAs in City Government

Image
MobileDataforce has worked with a lot of municipal governments on mobilizing inspections using isnpection software designed for handheld PDAs. Here is a list of the departments in a typical city that conduct regular inspections: City Engineering City Land Use City Forestry City Historic Development City "Right-of-Way" City Traffic Engineers City Building Inspectors City Fire Marshall City Electrical Inspectors City Mechanical Inspectors City Plumbing Inspectors Many of these departments may have multiple inspections they must perform. In the Fire Marshall department alone they have quite the selection: Fire Alarm Cooking Equipment Wall Rating Wall Penetrations Above Ceiling Exit and Emergency Lights Sprinklers Panic Hardware Standpipe Emergency Extinguishers Many more... These departments and their associated inspections represent a lot of field data collection activities and internal office data entry. It is easy to see why MobileDataforce provides a lot of mobile inspecti

Toilets and Mobile Handheld PDAs

Image
This is a first - MobileDataforce is developing an inspection software solution for inspecting toilets using handheld PDAs. Our team in Newcastle, England is working on a project called WaterSmart. This application is for Water Utility companies to use to help homeowners conserve water and save money. This is how it works: Inspectors swarm into a homeowner's bathrooms and start flushing their toilets, using their showers and filling their bath tubs. They measure outputs, water pressure, and the overall water use of a house. They use handheld PDA applications to collect all of this data and synchronize it back to headquarters The data collected results in recommendations for the installation of water conservation equipment in the home, which kicks-off a work order process The work order is dispatched to a service technician that travels out to the home and installs things like; balloons in the toilet to reduce the water in the tank, shower heads that reduce water volume to a dribbl

Ruggedized Digital Cameras and Windows CE

Image
Two Technologies has an interesting product strategy with their Jett-Eye handheld PDA. They have in effect created a ruggedized digital camera in the form of a handheld PDA. Their product marketing emphasizes the camera features as its most distinctive component. Take digital color pictures in the field. Capture data on the go. Seamlessly connect with the office. Simultaneously increase field service productivity, improve customer service, and turbo charge your profits—all while improving your customer relationships. This complex scenario is now made simple with the JETT•eye. It was designed to make all of this possible at an affordable price point. Rugged True-Camera-System- 5.17 MP color CMOS Sensor (4MP processed) • Camera System scans bar codes and processes digital images with auto-focus and illumination One no longer must settle for a 1.3 megapixel camera in a handheld PDA. We at MobileDataforce get requirements weekly from companies asking for digital image integration within