What does it mean to deliver operational excellence to today’s task worker in a warehouse or DC environment—and how can an industrial browser help achieve that goal?
In this month’s Barcoding Huddle, we invited experts from our technology partner Ivanti Wavelink to discuss Ivanti Wavelink’s Velocity industrial browser and its capabilities. See how you can streamline the warehouse worker experience, simplify tasks, and measurably increase productivity among mobile device users working with warehouse management systems.
May Huddle participants include:
- Jody Costa, VP of Marketing & Strategic Partnerships, Barcoding
- Greg Henry, Business Development Strategic Alliances, Ivanti
- Greg Berger, System Engineering Manager, Americas, Ivanti
Among this month’s top takeaways, you’ll get a deeper understanding of the ways an industrial browser delivers value. See how you can improve the day-to-day employee experience, and understand how to get valuable operational insights by analyzing the data it delivers.
April’s Huddle with Honeywell took a wider-ranging view toward the future. Our May Huddle with Ivanti zeroes in on a choice warehousing ops can make today, to ensure they’re on a smooth path forward.
You’ll want to listen for the full experience—but here are a few highlights from the conversation.
What is an Industrial Browser?
Why not just use Chrome? It turns out, the answer is pretty simple. An industrial browser is designed to deliver exactly what mobile warehouse workers need on the job—and nothing they don’t. Industrial browsers take that core browsing technology and refine it for the task worker by:
- Rendering pages so they display uniformly, no matter the device or OS used
- Directing work in a linear way
- Eliminating clicks, keystrokes, and layers of pages through automations
- Integrating with warehouse scanning systems, RFID and IoT devices, and more
How Can an Industrial Browser Improve Productivity?
It’s not an exaggeration to say a browser can be a key cornerstone in modernizing a warehouse.
While consumer browsers are built for tangential, exploratory user experiences, web-based warehouse management systems rely on linear capabilities to move through workflows, and seamless integrations with scanners and other tools, such as cameras, IoT-equipped refrigeration units, gates, and more.
Seconds Shaved From Tasks Add Up Fast
Working with an integration expert like Barcoding to implement industrial browsing, customers can literally eliminate clicks and keystrokes by creating scripts and custom keyboards, integrating voice, and much more. These “small” steps may shave just a second or two off each workflow—but in a warehouse environment, those seconds add up fast.
Improving the Warehouse and DC Employee Experience
Automations reduce opportunities for error, making the task worker’s job easier. Custom keyboards can eliminate unnecessary keys, and that can even help ease the transition from keyed devices using Microsoft Windows or touchscreen devices using Android. And when the browser renders pages to appear exactly alike across every device, workers get a smooth, simplified experience.
Because the industrial browser is purpose-built and customizable, the customer has complete version control and the ability to test on devices before rolling out any updates. And while consumer browsers can deprecate features like voice search with little notice (and with no alternative, in case you rely on the feature), a dedicated expert like Ivanti takes responsibility for ensuring an optimal user experience that continues for the customer.
Data-Driven Operational Insights
You’ll definitely want to hear what Greg and Greg had to say about data collection opportunities that can facilitate constant, meaningful improvements in your operations. Identify dead zones in your Wi-Fi coverage. Discover where employees have resorted to hand-keying because of a damaged label. Get visibility into the corners of your warehouse where devices are more commonly dropped or damaged. See who’s using what, when, and where.
The data that an industrial browser collects can be like an extra set of eyes, turning worker experiences into qualitative and quantitative insights into your workplace. Mobile device usage, and condition data can be collected to improve mobility and asset management.
So, as employee retention continues to be a challenge and the interconnected supply chain ecosystem evolves and grows in complexity, an application we all take for granted—the powerful yet humble browser—can serve a crucial role in modernizing warehouse operations.
Be sure to check out the May Huddle for these and a lot more insights into the ways IT can more effectively support efficiency and productivity in the warehouse.
You can also learn more about how warehouses large and small are using mobile technology to expand and improve their operations when you download our free whitepaper, Barcoding’s Guide to Warehouse Growth. Just click below to claim yours now.
