Has Mobile Technology Arrived?  Only If you Want Better Technology at a Tenth of the Price

Caught a review from our pals at ZDNet  – they were comparing military grade protection cases for IPads – I kind of liked the Griffin Survivor.  You can click on a link to see videos and protection specs, which meet US Department of Defense Standard 810F – Military Grade.  And this is where it hit me – military grade protection is almost strong enough to survive food and beverage manufacturing environments (I’m kidding – of course it’s rough enough provided you don’t overtly abuse it – but that’s another blog).

Here’s the point. I’ve been helping a developer bring a mobile app to market – it’s designed to allow food and beverage manufacturers to record cleaning and sanitation efforts real time – which has huge application in a FDA regulated environment.  The thing is, this mobile app lets you use any – and I mean any mobile device, smartphone, tablet, laptop, iPad or whatever to get the job done. But when you tell a factory manager you’re turning the cleaning guys loose in the plant with a new tablet – all they can think of is, “One quick blast in the wrong direction from the power sprayer and that tablet is toast – and how am I going to explain that to finance?” A valid point.

Chris, the official wife of your humble correspondent spends most of her waking hours with her nose buried in a iPad mini – and I have to admit, it’s a pretty neat device – small enough to fit in a large pocket with a large enough screen to do just about anything – especially with these new mobile apps – a perfect solution.

Also, you can get iPad mini’s new for around $300. And throw on the $59 Griffin Survivor case, now you have something that WILL stand up to most food and beverage situations.  (I learned first hand {first foot?} about ‘food and beverage situations’ some years ago when I first started calling on F&B guys, and trashed a few pairs of nice Johnson & Murphy shoes before I realized something a bit more rugged was needed).

If you have an IT guy roaming about the place worried more about ‘specs’ than usability, you can also use your favorite Android or Windows tablet, for around the same price.

As recently as 2 years ago, I was recommending hand-held units from Intermec, Symbol and Motorola.  Most of my customers were paying anywhere from $2,500 – $3,400 per unit, depending on configuration and features.

There’s still some WMS (Warehouse Management Systems) that are built around these units and aren’t ready for mobile solutions (gotta start thinking about these things when buying older technology, folks).

But in any case, now with the Griffin Survivor cases, we can now cut costs on the plant floor by 10x – pretty neat deal if you ask me – and you should ask me – about any technology improvements  – saving money, improving productivity – somebody’s gotta do it.

Contact gh@Genehammons.com