Other Voices: Key signs your business needs mobile device management

Editor’s note: The following column by Anson Shiong, CEO of Sand Studio, is part of Modern’s Other Voices column, a series featuring ideas, opinions and insights from end-users, analysts, systems integrators and OEMs. Click here to learn about submitting a column for consideration.

Whether it’s a distribution center, warehouse, courier service, or manufacturing facility, most businesses involved in logistics use some form of technology to help with routine business operations. Unfortunately, these technologies are often dated and perform ineffectively. A good example is wired devices, which could lead to a myriad of challenges in today’s environment.

These challenges are widespread, affecting almost every area of a business, from warehouse and distribution management to administration, transport, and personnel. But what are these challenges? What is the solution?

The answer is simple - mobile device management, or MDM. In short, MDM enables logistics businesses to remotely manage both employee-owned and company deployed mobile devices within a businesses’ network. It also empowers administrators to track, view, remotely wipe, lock, deploy applications and files, and so much more.

So, is your logistics business suffering? The key symptoms your logistics company may need MDM are explored and outlined below.

Messy reporting leading to inefficiencies

Most logistics companies have delivery functions in their routine business operations, with multiple employees sent out in the field. These employees are often required to report back after each delivery or turn in paperwork at the end of their shift. The problem with this, however, is that most companies conduct reporting in a messy way - via archaic paper systems, which leads to additional administrative work, sometimes via phone calls, which requires a dedicated administrator to answer calls and log information, or via email, which presents its own challenges, like emails being lost or sent to spam.

If a logistics business wants to simplify their reporting procedures, the right MDM solution will help by offering a suite of application management tools. These tools enable the company to customize and deploy applications - for example, a simple app that records each delivery, the time, and the address - to all drivers within the network. These applications can streamline the reporting process, reducing required manual administrative procedures, and freeing up staff to do more valuable work.

Issues accessing work data in the field

Most logistics businesses have personnel out in the field. A common challenge faced by field workers is being unable to access company-specific files reliably from their mobile devices, especially with regards to accessing cloud-based servers and having to navigate multiple folders to find a specific file. This can be time-consuming and frustrating for the staff member and customer alike, potentially leading to a loss of business if the customer decides to choose another provider in the future.

If a logistics business has experienced field workers calling in with complaints of being unable to access or find files, MDM can help by empowering administrators to distribute and receive files to - and from - all, or select devices within a network. Using this bulk file transfer method, an administrator can send the necessary files as a batch, or between each stop, so the necessary files or documents are easily obtainable, negating both employee and customer frustration with a simple solution.

Employees disappearing during deliveries

During a typical workday, many logistics businesses are unaware of where their staffs are, or whether they have encountered any issues along their delivery routes. As such, MDM offers logistics businesses the ability to enhance security, safety, and overall productivity of personnel out in the field through GPS tracking capabilities.

The right MDM solution should enable administrators to view where delivery personnel is at any point during the workday, and if any safety challenges are encountered or if the employee can’t be contacted. Administrators can either visit the site where the GPS says the employee is located, or involve emergency services with an approximate location for further assistance if an accident is suspected.

Device management is time-consuming and complex

A common challenge faced by all businesses using remote devices is the management of these devices. This makes sense, with businesses having multiple remote employees each with their own devices, it’s virtually inevitable that on any given day, a range of issues can occur. Unfortunately, this places a burden on IT staff and smaller logistics business owners who struggle to keep up with the routine maintenance and technology issue resolutions that comes with the demand of multiple deployed remote devices.

MDM can address this by giving a ‘bird’s eye view’ of the mobile devices used across a business, enabling them to have real-time status access and allow remote control capabilities so that problems can be diagnosed and resolved on the spot, without delay or a loss of productivity in waiting for the employee to return to the office.

Needless to say, MDM offers a myriad of benefits for logistics businesses with multiple remote workers, and with the rate at which technology is evolving, MDM should soon grow to offer more and more benefits to all types of business, reducing overheads, improving productivity and processes, enhancing safety, and providing value.