The forms allow industrialists to collect data. To obtain reliable data and avoid losses, it is important to have efficient forms. In the era of Industry 4.0, the digitization of processes is the first step to take.
Users of these mobile forms have several expectations:
- improve the efficiency of teams,
- make the forms easier to use,
- facilitate communication between their employees,
- facilitate the management and availability of data in times of crisis,
- continue the digital shift trajectory already underway in many companies,
- reduce the amount of paper in the field (factories, construction sites, etc.) to limit waste,
- improve the management of remote working.
Several types of users are likely to use these forms: people working in quality and continuous improvement departments, production departments, research and development, engineering and maintenance.
The value of using mobile forms stems from the fact that field operators process 10,000 paper documents per year, which represents a considerable waste of time. In addition, production sites, factories or construction sites can take a long time to go through, and data transmission is very time-consuming.
In this article, you will be able to find out the following:
1. Learning in times of crisis
2. Digital transformation concepts
3. How to choose a mobile forms solution
4. How the Ermeo solution allows you to make your forms mobile
5. What you need to remember
1. Learning in times of crisis
The health crisis of Covid-19 has allowed a lot of learning. As a result, the pandemic generated a lot of problems in factories and other service companies.
It has been found that there is a lot of siloed data in companies: paper data, PDF data and Excel data. This data is cross-referenced to build dashboards by hand. This takes time and delays performance analysis: it's as if you're always analyzing your performance one to three weeks back depending on how fast your administrative department is.
In a company, it is very important to manage human capital well. However, with the social distancing that is required, the management of human relations is complicated to organize.
The health and safety aspect in the workplace is becoming much more important. The measures to be respected are multiplying. The use of paper makes the implementation of these measures more complex, as it encourages physical contact between different employees. The health crisis therefore calls into question existing processes, which are cumbersome and not very agile, and which do not allow for quick and good action in companies.
With the Covid-19 crisis, some managers experienced the difficulty of managing teams by teleworking. However, teleworking is not compatible with the use of paper forms. With these forms, it is difficult to have access to all the data, to have an overview of all the documents and to share them easily. This blocks decision making and makes it difficult to implement corrective actions. Whereas a mobile form can be shared quickly, easily and with as many people as needed.
2. Concepts of digital transformation
Concept 1: digital transformation, the end of data in silo
The digital transformation of businesses means the end of siloed data. That's why, today, Industry 4.0 and digital transformation are concepts that are at the heart of the debate. Data needs to be available to remote operators so that they can make the right decisions at the right time. Often, each department has its own silo of data. Most of the time, these are not shared with other departments. If they are, it takes a lot of time. According to IBM, 85% of the data is not used. To make continuous improvement and be more proactive, it is necessary to use all of it.
Concept 2 : to improve, you have to measure yourself
In order to improve, it is necessary to be able to measure oneself through data. However, we can only measure what we understand, and we can only understand what we describe and share. With the use of paper forms, data collection is complicated and does not allow an optimal measurement of its activity. Mobile forms allow you to better measure your performance. A mobile application such as Ermeo gives you the ability to access data more easily via the application or web platform. You can then share the data to start the continuous improvement loop, with the famous dashboards.
Concept 3 : lean manufacturing 4.0
Lean manufacturing 4.0 means eliminating waste with continuous improvement methods. Paper forms generate a lot of waste, which can be reduced by using mobile forms.
- Overproduction Overproduction: reduces re-interventions by 70%.
- Over-processing eliminates duplication, standardizes and simplifies processes, prioritizes and limits investments, and automates reporting (automatic pre-filling of forms).
- Unnecessary stocks Improves the actual knowledge of the stock and their condition.
- Unnecessary transport Improves communication between sedentary and mobile teams (e.g. limits the size of export intervention teams).
- Unnecessary movements No need to go back and forth to get or transmit information (field to office and vice versa).
- Errors, poor quality Inadequate quality: eliminates input errors, eliminates product non-quality due to lack of standardisation, eliminates non-quality of maintenance or inspection interventions due to lack of standardisation.
- Waiting time : accelerates processes by exchanging information in real time and increases the autonomy of mobile operators.
The objective of lean manufacturing is therefore to enhance the value of high value-added activities.
3. How to choose a mobile forms solution
What is a mobile forms solution?
A mobile forms solution is a solution that allows you to :
- collect quality data with web or mobile forms,
- dematerialise your forms easily according to your needs and data,
- digitise data and add high value-added information (images, videos, sounds...),
- make real-time data quickly available to managers.
It is a complement to software packages such as CMMS, ERP, EDM, BI software, etc., which :
- do not have a mobile application for data collection;
- are complex to customize;
- are open to API data integration;
- generate dashboards for managing multiple sources.
A solution for companies that want to :
- simplify their processes (fewer steps) ;
- add an employee/supervisor validation process(workflow);
- digitize customer forms (quotations, visit reports, inspections, surveys...).
8 criteria to consider when choosing your mobile forms solution :
1. Multiple functionalities
2. Ease of implementation
3. The possibility of using it on several types of media (PC, iPhone, iPad, Android, tablet...)
4. The possibility of using it with or without an Internet connection
5. Easy analysis and downloading of data in different ways: PDF, Excel, CSV...
6. Integration of data from the forms directly into the company's databases or software packages (CMMS, ERP, EDM, etc.)
7. Creation and modification of forms (easy and intuitive)
8. Task tracking and data analysis (within the application)
4. How the Ermeo solution allows you to make your forms mobile
The Ermeo platform offers different types of functionality
- transform your paper procedures into interactive, dynamic forms connected to your data,
- automate reporting by customising it,
- reduce the time taken for information to flow between field agents and remote operators,
- save your operators time by automatically pre-filling their intervention forms and making data entry more reliable,
- improve your knowledge of your assets by updating your repositories and database in real time,
- monitor the progress of the interventions and analyse the data collected in the field.
Let's focus on two features of the Ermeo solution that allow you to save time, and therefore performance.
Automated reporting
Automate and customise reporting, whether internally (to team leaders, site managers, technical management, etc.) or externally (with your customers or service providers).
Improve the quality of your deliverables by avoiding retyping errors and standardizing their presentation.
Reduced dispatching time and information flow
Reduce the time needed to distribute and circulate information between your teams and partners (customers, service providers, etc.) while controlling the validation status of your reports.
Collaborate with several people in real time during the execution of an intervention.
5. Things to remember
Technology is here to make our lives easier with :
- the creation of intelligent mobile forms,
- the formation of real-time dashboards (BI),
- IoT,
- data integration (ERP, CMMS, etc.),
- data enhancement (AI),
- maintenance 4.0.
There are solutions, such as Ermeo, that will give you the ability to create mobile forms that will allow you to reduce the amount of paper and optimize your data processing.
With Ermeo, your technicians gain in reactivity and can concentrate on high value-added tasks.
