Think Your Consumer-Grade Device Works for the Warehouse? Think Again.

With the flexibility of today’s Smartphones and tablets, more and more organizations are instituting BYOD programs in the workplace.  Although this may lower the budget on equipment purchases, there are other considerations to be made with respect to use case, durability, total cost of ownership and management.  If you’re considering the use of consumer-grade devices in an industrial environment, this blog will help you understand why an enterprise-class device would be a better fit.

The Warehouse

The warehouse is a tough place for electronic equipment.  Particularly equipment tied to a network.  Tall shelves, dark corners, high ceilings and other challenges can wreak havoc on mobile device connectivity.  Furthermore, not all Wi-Fi radios are created equally. For enterprise class devices, Wi-Fi connectivity is designed to bust through the challenging areas of your distribution center or manufacturing floor.  This enables the mobile worker the freedom and flexibility to move throughout the space without broken connections, and requires fewer access points—keeping costs low and minimizing IT management of your WLAN. Consumer-class radios don’t necessarily offer that kind of flexibility.  Security is also a concern since consumer devices may not possess the features needed to meet organization requirements, which could put network security at risk.

Enterprise Device Durability

Most consumer-class devices are not designed with durability in mind, let alone a rugged workspace like an industrial warehouse.  When researching device options, look for specifications that can withstand the rigors of your environment.  Here are our favorite three:

Drop & Tumble Specs: Since drops are the most common cause of failure, choose a device that can handle being tossed, dropped, and treated roughly.  Specs that indicate the ability to withstand multiple drops and just as many tumbles tells you the device can take a tumble or two (and then some!) and still keep up with workers moving at a fast pace.  A device like this keeps productivity up and downtime to a minimum.

IP Sealing: Equipment that possesses an Ingress Protection (IP) rating, which is a worldwide standard, ensures reliable operation if exposed to dust, dirt and water sprays. There are a number of ratings that can be achieved, but common ratings for industrial devices (tablets, barcode scanners and mobile computers) are:

• IP54 Limited protection against dust ingress & splashes of water from any direction
• IP65 Totally protected against dust ingress & low pressure water jets from any direction
• IP67 Totally protected against dust ingress & protected against short periods of immersion in water

Full-Shift Battery Operation: Today’s focus is all about maximizing worker productivity, and manufacturers like Zebra understand exactly how important full-shift battery operation is to your workforce.  Even more important is a user-swappable battery that makes it a snap to replace if the first battery was not fully charged.  Enterprise class mobile devices are designed to use high-capacity batteries that hold a charge for a full shift – with snap-in, user-replaceable batteries that won’t slow them down.

Total Cost of Ownership

Yes, a rugged, industrial device will have a higher price point than a consumer device, but when total cost of ownership (TCO) is taken into account, the price you’ll pay over 2, 3 or even 5 years will certainly be much lower with an industrial device.  A recent study by VDC Research Group[i] confirms the belief that choosing an industrial, enterprise-grade device is a smarter choice for the warehouse.  The study found that consumer-grade devices are three times more likely to fail in the first 12 months, with over 70 percent of failures being drops.  Most warehouse, factory and distribution centers have concrete floors – which can easily crack the display on a consumer device.  In addition to the cost of repair, downtime is also bundled into the total cost of a failure.  The VDC study also found that these failures can mean 180 to over 250 minutes of lost productivity for each device.

Whether you’re looking for mobile computers, tablets or even barcode scanners, it’s important to understand the particular use case in order to choose equipment that can stand up to the daily rigors of your operation.  To learn more check out our recent blog about choosing the right barcode scanner or consult with a solution provider to save you time and help make the right choice based on requirements of the business.  At The SMS Group, we have years of experience working a variety of environments, and have a keen understanding of which models work best in each situation.  Contact us today to get the help you need to make an informed choice.

[i] Mobile Device TCO Models for Line of Business Solutions; Volume 1/Track 7: Enterprise Mobility Mobile Device TCO; David Krebs; VDC Research Group, Inc.; 2012 (Slides 4, 18, 28 and 29)