Technology plays a crucial role in any organisation in the advancement of service processes and due to its rapidly evolving nature, companies timeously and continuously remain open and respond to industry changes, upgrades and environmental demands.
Technology is purchased to be implemented long term therefore the question remains at the heart of an organisation – rugged devices or consumer devices?
Zetes, a global organisation that has been providing supply chain solutions to the industry for over 30 years, has worked with both rugged devices and more recently with consumer devices, such as smart phones and iPads.
“We all understand that consumer versus mobile devices is not comparing apples with apples, as both technologies and their related platforms have developed out of very different needs, budgets and most important, functionalities, ” says Karin Parker, executive head of Sales and Marketing at Zetes SA.
“The choice whether to use rugged devices versus consumer devices depends on the company’s work demands, environment, use of devices, treatment and production needs. With all these pressing factors the total cost of ownership (TCO) comes into play as it determines the way forward,” adds Parker.
Total cost of ownership
When considering which mobile computing device a company needs to invest in, few factors have to be considered, first of which is TCO.
“In our experience in the deployment of rugged mobile devices over the last 30 years, clients usually ‘sweat their assets’ over five to seven years, which sometimes extends to 10 years,” comments Parker. “The costs will depend on the users’ profile and environment, functionality, security and data privacy, failure rates of your mobile devices and software platforms, to name a few.”
Rugged devices are made to be resilient and durable as they are handled by many users. The more users per device the more likely it will get dropped and damaged. For that reason rugged devices are built to withstand various environmental conditions.
Consumer devices are specifically designed for a single user; therefore they are not designed for resilience and as a result, cost less. Despite lower purchase prices, these devices run into issues such as high device failures, high maintenance fees or high accessories’ costs, which inevitably increase the costs of owning such a device.
By understanding the work environment and user requirements, supply chains can select devices that will provide the most reliable performance, longest lifecycles and superior return on investment (ROI).
Return on investment
Depending on their jobs, handheld device users lose productivity each time the device fails, not counting the time IT or other support staff spends troubleshooting the device.
Mobile workers who experience some downtime will probably have to miss at least one of their sales or service calls that day. Productivity loss – not device purchase price – is by far the largest component of the total cost of ownership for smart phones and other handheld devices. If you want to ‘sweat your assets’ as regards investing in mobile devices, then consider the upfront cost of your mobile device versus the lifecycle of the device.
Furthermore Parker says that rugged devices are more expensive than consumer devices, but the latter has a short lifecycle compared to the 5 – 7 years of a rugged device. Training on the device and the use of applications and systems is time consuming and expensive. There is a cost associated if you need to retrain staff every year compared to every 5 – 7 years.
Success of device
Traditionally cost, size and weight have been the leading smart phone selection criteria, but they are not the most important for emerging enterprise deployments. To maximise value from such deployments, it is essential to match the device to the worker’s needs. To ensure the success of your mobile enterprise deployment, factors such as device ruggedness, reliability (minimal downtime), integrated functionality, software compatibility, cost of ownership, device support and ease of use should be evaluated.
With innovations and technologies mushrooming rapidly, it is not surprising that managing mobile applications in the supply chain has become so demanding. Devices and operating systems change and every instance of change puts a strain on IT departments and management.
Ensuring the compatibility and longevity of a mobile system has traditionally required continuous investment in time-consuming and costly development, deployment and IT infrastructure. To address this Zetes launched the MCL Mobility Platform, a unique Mobile Enterprise Application Platform (MEAP) dedicated to supply chain process execution, to provide its customers with all the advantages of mobility, with none of the associated complexity.
The MCL Mobility Platform combines two features that create unrivalled synergy for its supply chain customers. Firstly, it is dedicated to supply chain process execution; and secondly, it manages the entire mobile infrastructure, application and device lifecycle – enabling a ‘build once, deploy to many’ approach.
“From a value chain solution provider’s point of view, we find the move towards convergence between the two sides extremely exciting, as competitiveness and pressure always drives standards of excellence, reduces costs and make us all examine closely our own needs in the supply chain. Ultimately it’s about making an informed and educated choice – and it might not be one or the other, it could be a combination of both depending on the application and functionality required,” concludes Parker.
