Rugged Smartphones and Their Impact on Lean Manufacturing Practices.

In the past few years or so, the manufacturing sector just about all over the world has steadily moved toward the adoption of lean philosophies that seek new and innovative ways to further improve their efficiency. They are doing this by cutting unnecessary waste and steadily drive a far more dynamic cycle of overallproductivity.

This is where smart, connected devices come into the picture since they are an integral part of this ‘across the board’ effort. As a matter of fact, the almost meteoric rise of the (by now ubiquitous) rugged smartphone device amply demonstrates the seminal importance of such resilience in essentially getting the most out of these top end technological gadgets throughout the entire manufacturing cycle.

At its core, lean thinking is more about value addition than anything else. This is done by curbing all unnecessary activity from the design aspect, all the way to manufacturing and subsequent distribution.

The importance of various mobile apps on factory floors

The arrival of mobile data and apps has likewise presented a great opportunity for the manufacturing sector to put to use advanced mobile device solutions, to simplify their base operations, while simultaneously eliminating residual wastage.

This is why rugged smartphones are so handy here. After all, the factory and the warehouse both are by their very definition physically challenging spaces, and can be a hazard for delicate electronic components.

The dropping of cellular phones is the most frequent complaint that leads to phone breakages and it is common on the factory floor. Add to that exposure, to dust and moisture as well as extremes of temperature and the smartphone is reduced to being an accident,waiting to happen. However, a rugged phone, such as the one built by Zebra can easily service the most harmful and adverse of environments.

The colloquial cliché, ‘it can take a licking and keep on ticking’ definitely applies to Zebra smartphone devices easily enough. It has IP65 sealing and has a drop specification of 1.2m and actually carries the term ‘rugged’ in its name.

And to top it off, it comes with a built in bar code scanner that can accurately scan barcodes at high speed. Throw in an external battery pack option and great camera and you know that the Zebra Smartphone is an absolute keeper for the factory worker.

For more information on Zebra smartphone scanners for lean manufacturing or learn more about your options for all your printer, labeling and barcode printing and scanning needs, call us at (800) 643-2664 and immediately talk to one of our friendly representatives; or chat us up on Facebook , Twitter , Google+ and LinkedIn !

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