“A survey undertaken by VDC Research found that transportation companies are taking a more long-term, strategic approach to developing mobile apps that reduce operating costs, improve employees’ productivity and provide competitive advantage.
VDC found that twenty two per cent of logistics companies surveyed procure ready-made mobile apps from third party suppliers; forty three per cent pay third party developers to create bespoke apps to support their logistics and field service operations, while a further third prefer to develop their own mobile apps in house.
Developing apps in-house involves a significant investment. Gaining maximum return on mobility depends on the ability to re-use code when employees’ devices are replaced.
One thing is for certain, device refresh cycles are getting shorter as logistics managers are keen to benefit from the latest telemetry; personal information management systems; and work order technology, while employees want to be able to use the latest handsets and tablets. Typical refresh cycles for logistics handsets have reduced from five to three years.
If logistics managers are faced with the prospect of refreshing mobile devices every thirty six months, this has major implications for the management and update of logistics and field service apps that run on those devices.
The need to support multiple device types and operating systems over the lifetime of the app prompted VDC Research’s Senior Analyst, Eric Klein, to comment, “A mobile first approach needs to be underpinned by an open, agile cloud foundation in order to reduce time and effort required to develop and update apps to keep pace with business and technology developments and end user expectations.”
We have worked with a number of very large logistics enterprises in the US, UK and Ireland and have noted that successful mobile logistics programmes share certain features. These common success factors are: selection of open standards; thinking strategically about the whole app lifecycle rather than creating an “app for that”; focusing on managing data flows, rather than the device; consulting users prior to app development and deployment; and selection of an end-to-end platform to facilitate development, deployment and ongoing management of logistics apps.
Our top five tips for developing a successful mobile app strategy for logistics are as follows:
Select open standards
As device cycles shorten and handset manufacturers hedge their bets on supporting Windows Mobile, iOS and Android, make sure that you avoid vendor lock in by using mobile application platforms that can support multiple OS. This approach also has the advantage of increasing the available pool of developers for your logistics apps, along with access to a broader range of developer toolkits. Using open standards protects your app investment when undergoing frequent device refreshes because it enables logistics organisations to re-use code to deploy apps on the next generation of devices
Consider the whole app lifecycle
It’s not only devices that get replaced. Apps, by their nature, require frequent updates and upgrades so choosing an infrastructure that reduces the management burden by enabling updates to be pushed or pulled from the cloud or an enterprise app store will pay dividends.
Focus on data rather than devices
Evaluate your enterprise data capture and backend system integration requirements. The ability to unleash data efficiently, securely and seamlessly to your employees’ devices is critical.
Consult users prior to deployment
Using an end-to-end mobile application platform (MAP), allows enterprises to securely link their back-end systems with mobile apps that support multiple OS and various device form factors. This allows employees to select the mobile device, app features and user interface that are most suited to their role and working environment, whether that be a lorry cab, warehouse, airport, or container ship.
Take a MAP with you
Selecting a MAP allows logistics companies to settle in for the long haul and plan their mobile app strategies to support current and future devices, without worrying about redeveloping code for every new batch of devices.”
References:
VDC Research, whitepaper, “Travel Transportation and Logistics gear up for mobile app enablement,” February 2014
http://blog.vdcresearch.com/mobile_and_wireless/2014/02/travel-transport-and-logistics-organizations-get-on-the-mobile-bandwagon.html
Computer Weekly, “The big themes of MWC 2014,” 28th February 2014 http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240215174/The-big-themes-of-Mobile-World-Congress-2014?parentTax=&parentClu=&parentDefaultTax=2240215051
MLogistics, Sharon Clancy’s blog, “Fit for purpose”, August 2013 http://www.mlogmag.com/magazine/100000/asdsad.shtml?q=blog
