

In our June blog post, we discussed the realities of digitization and how, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it will continue to be part of the “new normal” of the Industry 4.0 revolution. We also highlighted four practical steps companies can take to prepare themselves sooner rather than later. Suggestion No. 1—“Don’t boil the ocean, start with a cup”—points out the importance of taking small steps to reach big goals. We suggested starting with converting paper rounds to digital rounds for a certain area, like safety.
To that end, we are promoting a two-week electronic round challenge to provide clients a running pilot program in two weeks. This includes one consultation, one round, one iPad up and running in two weeks and a full two-week trial period.
The best part? The initial cost for you will be nothing. Here’s how it works:
Day 1: Pick an audit, inspection sheet or round to convert
While this may seem trivial, it is one of the most important steps. We recommend the following criteria as a conversion selection guide:
- Start with an area you can influence. It doesn’t have to be your department, but it will definitely help if you or your colleague can influence the employees who will adopt the program.
- Try it with people willing to do something new. People who are resistant to change are harder to win over.
- Select a simple inspection. Higher levels of complexity will translate to higher risk. Too many checks or complicated conditions could bog down the process.
Day 2: Determine the goals of your sheet
Changing from paper to digital is an opportunity to rethink the purpose of your process. You can probably do this over lunch with someone who is open to change and brainstorming. Here are just a few idea-generating questions:
- Is it compliance for an audit?
- Is it to gather data on assets?
- Is it for early detection?
- Is it to assess risk?
- Is it to fill the gap that other data sources don’t have (like DCS data)?
Rethinking what you are trying to capture will be great preparation for the next step…
Day 3: Translating goals into technology
The MobilOps team will sit down with you to determine your established goals and objectives. This is important as there are many ways to achieve the end goal. For example, a paper-based checkbox column may be eliminated by simply setting answer conditions in a digital process. The flexibility of digital capture often eliminates barriers that are inherent to paper forms.
Day 4-7: Hang Tight
During these days, the MobilOps team will use create a digital environment for you to test.
Day 8-10: Start building
The MobilOps team will start translating your vision into reality. We will take feedback from the consultation and start building it out at warp speed.
Day 11-12: The big reveal
We will set up a call for you to see your system for the first time. You check it out, provide feedback, we go back and tweak, leading up to the last step…
Day 13: Client takeover
At this point, we will have the round loaded up on an intrinsically safe, loaner iPad and ready for you. We can either hand deliver it or ship it based on your COVID-19 policies. We will spend about an hour with you to review the system.
That’s it! Electronic rounds in 2 weeks.
We highly recommend letting you pilot it with one person the first couple of days. This creates a psychological draw amongst the team members to want to be the next person to check it out.
Interested? Just send an email to info@mobilops.com with “2-week challenge” in the subject line and your contact info. From there, we’ll handle the rest.
We will accept applicants for the challenge until 11:59PM on 09/30/2020.
Subject to availability. Terms and conditions may apply.