In Spain, about 80% of SMEs and large industrial companies are already benefiting from mobile technology to be more efficient and streamline decision-making in the factory floor. In this article we explain how we have adapted to the new market needs thanks to the MapexMobility app.
Mobile technology is an essential tool in our personal and professional lives. The use of smartphones has shot up by more than 100% in Spain in the last ten years, and we are already the Europeans who spend the most time on this device, with an average of three hours and 27 minutes a day.
On the other hand, according to the latest data published by the consulting firm Canalys, in 2020, the sale of tablets worldwide increased by 28% compared to 2019, reaching 160.6 million units, the highest figure to date.
Now, in the business arena, it’s not just the service sector that can take advantage of these tools. Below, we discuss why the use of mobile technology can also boost competitiveness and efficiency in manufacturing organizations.
What are the benefits of mobile technology in the context of Industry 4.0?
In 2020, according to the latest study published by the National Observatory of Technology and Society (ONTSI), the percentage of industrial companies in Spain that provided their workers with portable devices with Internet connection broke a new record.
According to the report, in SMEs this indicator increased to 78.1% (2.3 percentage points more than in 2019) and, in the case of micro-enterprises, it was close to 50% (2.6 percentage points more).
There are several reasons that favor the adoption of these tools in manufacturing companies. The first is that mobile technology allows employees in these companies to access reliable, real-time information in the field and thus streamline decision making.
Mobile technology is designed so that you can use it anytime and anywhere in the factory, and it gives you access to up-to-date data whenever you need it and to historical reports to analyze trends.
These are solutions that help increase productivity and operational efficiency; that foster collaboration and transparency at all levels; and that give companies a competitive advantage.
Moreover, introducing mobile applications into the factory floor is not a complex task. They are intuitive, quick to install, cross-platform, secure, available online and offline, and with an interface adapted for smartphones and tablets.
We are all familiar with mobile devices and use them very frequently because they make our lives easier. This lays the groundwork for introducing them into the industrial environment as an agile process, which does not require hours of training or extra learning.
Finally, operators can also take advantage of the features built into smartphones and tablets to streamline their tasks. The best example of this is the camera, which is very useful when scanning QR codes and performing documentation tasks. Or the notifications and alerts, which warn when a problem occurs in the factory and help shorten reaction and downtime.
MapexMobility, our commitment to mobile technology
At Mapex we are not unaware of this technological revolution and that is why we have developed MapexMobility, a mobile application for our customers to improve their production processes, now also from their smartphones and tablets.
The application is available for iOs and Android in online and offline mode, and currently incorporates the MapexMM and MapexQM modules. Thanks to them, companies can efficiently manage the maintenance of their factories and ensure the quality of production from anywhere.
MapexMM: CMMS for mobile devices
Maintenance technicians need mobility solutions that allow them to perform their routine tasks in an agile and efficient way while moving around the factory.
In order to save them time and effort, Mapex provides these operators with the MapexMM mobile application, through which they can:
- Manage all corrective and preventive maintenance work orders.
- Assign spare parts to the work orders they perform.
- Take full advantage of the native features offered by mobile devices to capture and store multimedia files during maintenance interventions, read QR and NFC codes, etc.
- Manage documentation visually.
- Receive alerts and notifications.
- Analyze data with historical data and dashboards.
MapexQM: save time in quality management
MapexQM is the second module that, for now, is available in the MapexMobility app. Our goal is to enable technicians using our platform to monitor production quality from their smartphone or tablet and, in this way, be able to:
- Access quality plans and apply corrective actions with greater agility and based on reliable data.
- Manage various types of quality controls in real time: view those that are still pending, consult the associated documentation, add comments, etc.
- Take full advantage of the native features offered by mobile devices to capture and save images, read barcodes, etc.
- Take advantage of the tool’s built-in data analysis functionality, which includes historical data and dashboards to analyze trends.
If you would like more information about our MapexMobility application and how you can incorporate the benefits of mobile technology in your industrial company, please fill out our contact form.
