More than seven in 10 IT decision-makers in the manufacturing industry are looking to leverage mobile and wireless solutions to streamline operations.
These are the findings of a recent research study commissioned by Motorola. The study found manufacturers with mobility applications saved a daily average of 42 minutes per employee.
The 'Motorola enterprise mobility manufacturing barometer' surveyed manufacturing IT decision-makers in 14 countries across four continents. Of the respondents, 80% said mobility was more important for their organisations today than in 2008.
This represents a 9% increase from previous research, indicating that enterprise mobility applications continue to grow in importance, Motorola said in a statement. This comes as manufacturers look to boost operational efficiencies and increase productivity in the current macro-economic climate.
Over one-quarter of those surveyed identified inventory or materials management and sales force applications as their organisation's top drivers for continued mobility investments, says Motorola.
The study also identified the rising demand for sales force and field service applications, with nearly 29% of surveyed enterprises using field service applications citing an increase in business revenues results and 25% reporting an increase in customer or partner satisfaction.
Mobility today
In summary, manufacturers investing and leveraging wireless infrastructure and industry-specific devices see higher productivity for all workers, increased velocity of investment in raw materials, and an increase in the accuracy and relevance of the real-time data they need to make better business decisions.
“With more than 60% of the surveyed manufacturing IT decision-makers stating their organisation currently has a mobility strategy, it is clear that mobility is no longer viewed by manufacturing IT executives as the vision of the future but strategically important today,” says Jim Hilton, senior director, global manufacturing solutions for Motorola enterprise mobility solutions.
“In fact, more than one-half of those surveyed cited a competitive advantage through the use of mobile and wireless technologies to empower their shop-floor and field-mobility workforce to take advantage of opportunities in the marketplace,” he continues.
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