Connected worker and IoT

Connected worker and IoT

Frontline workers make up the bulk of the workforce. To ensure that frontline operations run smoothly, a connected worker solution is essential. Picture this, you’re on the factory floor, construction site, or even taking orders at a drive-thru, and you need to know your run rate or you need to 86 a menu item. To accomplish that you need three things:

Forget about real-time what’s troubling is that only 23%1 of frontline workers have access to the technology that can improve their productivity.

 

Who are your connected workers?

We’re skipping the definition of connected workers and we’re going straight to who they are. Connected workers are:

As of 2023 connected worker technology adoption sits below 30% 3. To achieve predictive and prescriptive business models here are a few tips.

 

Overcoming digital literacy

Investing in a technology solution means investing in your front-line workers. Fortunately, this is something all businesses can do. Staffing up the training department or bringing in third-party training companies you’re one step closer to upskilling your workforce. To get started:

Do an in-person pulse survey with the team.

We want to get a baseline of our team’s digital literacy. Let’s meet them where they’re at and keep the questions basic and foundational. Bonus if they are incentivized to participate.

Build training modules around the results.

Even if it’s as simple as teaching someone how to turn the device on, logging into their work profiles, or navigating through the apps. Know that this isn’t a one-time learning experience for the team and there’s always room to improve the training

Pick some champions and socialize the experience.

Start small, and get some feedback to work out the kinks. It doesn’t have to be someone in a people manager role, your greatest advocates will come from your front-line workers.

Time to upskill the team(s).

Classroom training is boring, and the information barely gets absorbed. We’re not saying not to do it, but having your front-line technology champions help can improve the adoption rate.

Keep track of the technology adoption and reward your people.

As the software gets updated and the hardware gets refreshed, it’s vital to have an internal communications plan.

We’ve just helped scratch the surface by enabling your workers with technology. There’s a myriad of best practices that some of our customers use for their teams like:

 

Connected worker software meet hardware

By 2030 the need for connected worker hardware will grow by 45%2. As the adage goes, a software solution is only as good as the hardware it runs on, and the hardware is only as good as the solutions provider. An IoT strategy empowers the connected worker to advance from basic data input to utilizing the systems and tools to predict their output and to be able to adapt to any changes in demand.

Deploying the right IoT devices

We made a cheat sheet to help guide you deploy the right device based on a few scenarios.

Worker safety Wearables like the Apple Watch or smartphones
Quality Assurance Smartphones with scanners like the TC7x
Maintenance Tablets and scanners like iPads and Zebra scanners
Operations Rugged tablets like Tab Active5 or ruggedized iPad
Field workers Tablets like iPads
Engineers Tablets like iPads and Tab Active5
Drivers Consumer-grade tablets like Tab A9+

Connected worker enablement

For most businesses, enablement starts the moment the worker receives their device. For us, it starts before we procure the devices. Our lab tests every device on the market to ensure that our partners’ systems will work on them. We then deploy our 4-step process to ensure the devices work in the hands of the worker.

Connecting the worker

Stable connectivity be it on the shop floor, out at the drive-thru, at the job site, or in the remote wilderness (true story) is essential. Keeping the worker connected can be done using:

Wireless Satellite Over Wi-Fi No-internet

Deploying technology in the workplace requires a measured approach. We can help plan and deploy any IoT mobile solution across any industry nationwide. Give us a call today!

1 Deloitte
2 SNS Insider
3 LNS Research

Melton Truck Lines case study

Melton Truck Lines' migration to 1,500 kitted and provisioned tablets

Migrating an entire fleet to Geotab and need 1,500 tablets in under 6 months? With eSquared it’s possible. Melton is modernizing and migrating their fleet operations to Geotab. As a Geotab premier partner, we helped them with this endeavor. To help with the modernization efforts eSquared partnered with multiple software partners to deploy their solution correctly.

 

Melton's Challenge

Melton’s leadership team needed a newer, more responsive, and consistent software system. Geotab solved this problem for the team. Additionally, their drivers require quicker support response and resolution times to help them get back on the road quickly. Furthermore, a lot of time and energy to research solutions proved costly.

eSquared partnered with Add On System and Assured Telematics at Geotab Connect to evaluate Melton’s needs and provide a solution that works for their fleet.

 

Our solution

1,500 6 36%
Kitted and provisioned
Tab Active3		 Months
On-time deployment		 Saved on devices, mounts,
 and MDM

eSquared connected and worked closely with partners to correctly deploy Melton’s tablet solution, alleviating the stress of shopping around and individually approaching vendors. Additionally, eSquared helped Melton further identify other apps they required.

 

Complete device management solution

Leveraging our close relationship with Samsung we were able to secure Tab Active3s for Melton’s tablet solution.

 

MDM deployment

Utilizing SOTI, eSquared built Melton’s fully custom MDM environment from the ground up, helping Melton save on hiring additional resources. Deploying SOTI helped lock down their drivers’ devices and made it easy for Melton to manage their fleet.

 

Adding value for Melton Truck Lines

Melton’s leadership team strategically elected to have eSquared expertly support their new systems and devices. This includes device kitting, provisioning, RMAs, SOTI, and a 24/7 help desk for their drivers. eSquared continues to support Melton Truck Lines. Need a similar solution? Get a free consultation.

What is MDM and why do you need it in 2024?

What is MDM?

MDM or Mobile Device Management is software that acts as the gatekeeper for any mobile device be it a tablet, phone, or laptop. It helps manage the device from an app/control/security perspective enabling IT teams to administer the device to perform: 

Why you need MDM

The frontline workforce now operates in the cloud, which means every device can potentially be a failure point or a security breach. While you, our audience may be savvy in technology, the majority of the people doing the work are not. Having an open system without MDM is open to abuse be it through malware, suspicious URLs, theft, installing non-productive apps, robocalls, phishing attempts, etc. 

You need to keep an eye on your workforce, for productivity purposes, or simply to track if a vehicle/asset is en route for delivery at any given time or to meet packing/inventory quotas.

For safety and compliance purposes. MDMs have become extremely accurate with indoor telemetry. If you’re looking to improve the safety culture in the warehouse while improving productivity, an MDM can help. If your fleet needs to comply with DoT-mandated rest periods MDM can help track driver rest breaks aside from ELD.

Your IT team is in another state or country. Not every warehouse or retail store will have an IT team, when something goes wrong your IT team needs a way to fix devices remotely without adding downtime to the workforce or physically flying to your location. This is doubly important for fleets.

You need the device to work from a certain time and at a certain location only. This is common for last-mile fleets or secure areas of the business facility.

Want to deploy an MDM?

To deploy a mobile device management solution you need two things, an MDM server and an agent. Typically, most MDM servers are cloud/SaaS-based, in some circumstances an in-house server is used. The agent resides in the device itself, think of it like a security guard for the device. This is done via device enrollment.

With MDM, IT teams can manage thousands of devices in one go. Be it: 

What devices work with MDM?

Any smart mobile device can work with an MDM solution from phones to laptops that’s capable of connecting to the internet. Most businesses prefer to work with Android Enterprise-certified devices or iOS. While these devices carry a much higher premium than consumer-grade devices, they are more secure, protect data, have better encryption, and secure boot.  

Which brings us to the topic of BYOD. While BYOD is a cost-effective way for companies to save money, it’s not always the most secure. BYOD devices often aren’t Android Enterprise-certified, meaning you are loading MDM into a personal profile vs having a separate work and personal profile.

Unrelated to profiles but often gets overlooked are: 

Can an MDM be my mobile threat defense?

No, they can't prevent a cyber security attack but they cannot stop one. MDM does not detect malware, suspicious files/URLs, or other breaches. They do not come with threat analysis technology. A separate mobile threat defense is needed to overcome threats.

Several providers in the market offer single-glass pane experience. Most claim to work for any device or OS, but this is not always the case. Jamf works best on iOS devices like iPads, iPhones, and Macbooks, MS Intune works best on Windows OS, SOTI for Android. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution as you are always trading something out be it zero-touch enrollment or security. 

With a saturated market of MDM providers, how do you pick the right one? We can help, our lab tests a variety of MDM on devices and apps our customers deploy. Talk to us today to learn what works best for your business.