I really enjoy writing about business challenges and successes in my weekly posts – and reading those types of posts from others. For me, it is equally exciting when we get to brag about something new that we’re bringing to the market and to our customers. This week I’m taking this opportunity to share news of HL Group’s expansion of our assetsPLUS mobile application to now include support for Windows tablets.
HL Group’s entire history has been in delivering supply chain & assets solutions built around the use of AIT (automatic identification technologies) devices. AIT enables us to fulfill the need for source data capture where an item resides or where work is being done. Traditional AIT devices are industrial-style handheld computers (with processing power, data storage, etc.) that leverage tools like bar code scanning or RFID to accurately capture the data.
While these types of devices are still highly relevant and useful, they have always had a high entry cost when needed for deployment in a lower-use environment. One of the alternatives to them, at least in an asset implementation, is a “smart” mobile device, like a phone or tablet. Couple them with some form of electronic capture – and they offer a strong alternative.
The challenge for these mobile devices is connectivity needs for operation (Wi-Fi, cellular, none), lack of durability (ruggedness, relatively quick product end-of-life typically), and limited data capture options (camera vs. AIT). However, a much lower unit cost naturally makes them very attractive to organizations – and an option to weigh especially given the varying needs and environments of different areas across organizations.
As a software and solution provider, we are always working to delivery to our customers the right options for their mobile asset inventory requirements. That frequently means offering the ability to leverage more than one path for their users.
So to ensure we can offer flexibility in options, we now support Windows devices – tablets, laptops, etc. – running our core assetsPLUS mobile application. This means our customers will experience identical functionality and user interface regardless of whether they are using industrial handheld clients or tablets.
For the client solution administrator managing different devices in their organization, this means:
- Common user experience in menus, screens and reports – regardless of device
- Disconnected operations are remain the standard
- Still supports a single host connectivity architecture and path
With this new addition to our assetsPLUS solutions, we continue to build on our commitment to our customers to provide true enterprise capability when it comes to mobile asset inventory. Our mission is, and always has been, to provide a solution that can be uniquely configured – software functionality and hardware – for individual business areas that share a common platform and host interface. Bringing in tablet devices for our customers was an easy decision that meets that mission.
Interested in learning more about how HL Group and our assetsPLUS solutions could help your team? Just check out our website, or contact me directly.
