You’ve decided to join the digital transformation revolution and are now examining a Connected Worker Solution for your industrial facility. Congratulations on your foresight! Now comes the next step – picking a vendor. You understand a Connected Worker Solution can help your most valuable asset – your front-line worker – get more done in less time with greater safety. But you might be unsure what a best-in-class Connected Worker Solution or Platform should offer. Here are a few suggestions on what to look for when talking with a vendor:
- Prepackaged content: A best-in-class Connected Worker Platform will offer a library of prepackaged work instructions, inspection forms, compliance and safety documents, and health and safety checklists.
- Agility: In addition to a prepackaged library, such a platform also should provide the ability to easily configure and edit documents in minutes to best suit your unique and specific needs through low-code/no-code applications. You should also be able to quickly create and publish customized documents and forms on the fly.
- Integration with ERPs: A best-in-class Connected Worker Platform should be purpose-built to tightly integrate with ERPs, such as SAP or IBM Maximo. This enables your maintenance staff to capture field operational data while executing step-by-step instructions for the front-line worker.
- Hands-free operations: A best-in-class Connected Worker Platform ought to deliver voice-enabled work instructions and operations on a tablet or a wearable device, such as smart glasses.
- Remote two-way video conferencing: Along with hands-free operations, you should require a vendor to provide two-way video conferencing between a remote expert and front-line worker, integrated with ERP operational data and step-by-step work instructions.
- Scalability: A best-in-class Connected Worker Platform should provide configurable support for different languages, site-specific workflows, role and user-driven configurations, etc.
- Connected or disconnected: A worthy platform should work seamlessly in either online mode or offline mode. It should also offer quick synching capabilities.
- Enterprise-grade security: Any platform you consider needs to be secure in the highest sense of the word. It should function with single sign-on (SSO), which allows a user to log in with a single ID and password to any of several related, yet independent, software systems. The SSO ought to offer consumer-grade experiences such as Face ID, Touch ID, etc. Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) – a protocol for authenticating to web applications – is also a critical must-have. Two-factor authentication and encryption of data at rest should also be high on your list.
Selecting a Connected Worker Platform is a big decision. It’s not like buying a laptop or TV. You want to make the right decision the first time. Vendor relationships and trust also need to be factored into the decision. Ask yourself:
- Do you trust that the vendor is working in your best interests?
- Do they understand your business and what you’re trying to accomplish?
- Do they offer a complete solution that can be customized to your unique needs?
- Can they scale their solution so that it grows as you do?
If you feel hesitation or uncertainty on any of these, that may not be the right vendor for you.
Questions? We’re here to help
Innovapptive – a Connected Worker Platform provider – has a simple mission: “Connect and create conversations between people, machinery and work processes while improving people’s lives.” Innovapptive offers the only Connected Worker Platform that digitizes the last mile of your front-line workers into SAP and IBM (watch a short video here). We’d like the opportunity to personally show how our Connected Worker Platform can help you successfully start and complete your journey to more efficient, safe and productive plant maintenance. Schedule a free demo today by calling 844-464-6668.
