An increasing number of organizations operating within certain industry sectors, including MRO
and logistics, have already provided their staff with tablets and Smartphones embedded with intelligent ERP mobile applications, which allow employees to monitor business operations, machines, quality control, staff attendance, communications, and many other items. As the technology evolves, surprising innovations, such as Google Glass, might become available to complement the ERP mobile applications we currently use.
Google Glass is a new, ingenious device that could take ERP a step further by surpassing the current real-time functionality and making instant data record, transmission, and access a reality. Some industry experts even believe that the Glass will lead existing ERP trends toward a whole new direction. Is Google Glass the end of the Smartphone and tablet era?
How Will Google Glass Impact ERP?
The technology behind Google Glass validates the mobile ERP trends we’ve recently been riding by increasing focus on mobility and real-time communication more than any other technology. Since this intelligent device aims at instant communication without the inhibition of the real world, people could use it to send, receive, or view data virtually, while completing other tasks.
For instance, workers might be able to use Google Glass to look at machines and view certain information, including alarms and manufacturers’ instructions, while capturing, storing and sharing data, videos, and images with other workers. In addition, the Glass is completely voice activated, which means that users could access its search function with voice commands. Quite amazing, isn’t it? Below, you can find even more information about what Google Glass could offer ERP users.
- Hands-Free Communication: Including a wearable computer with a head-mounted display, Google Glass was created to enable hands-free communication for busy people on-the-go. Field technicians, for example, could use the Glass to fix issues by watching instructional videos or diagnose equipment problems by capturing and sending pictures/videos to experts. MRO and logistics personnel might be able to use this device to monitor operations, optimize pallet building, check production, and capture, share and access data, such as lot or serial codes, in real-time. By making available communication paths through which your employees can easily and quickly communicate with each other and with experts, you can save a lot of time, resources, and, evidently, money.
- Applications: The Glass has been designed with a few basic applications, such as messaging, video, and search. However, numerous ERP software developers are already planning industry-specific solutions meant to supplement the basic functionality of this device. While some applications might allow Glass wearers to look inside machines in order to compare operations captured to optimal operations, other applications are expected to focus on interoperability between mobile devices and on-premise ERP solutions to facilitate superior monitoring, so that shop floor managers can run efficient, safe operations.
- Video and Web Conferences: It's believed that Google Glass will reorient all current ERP trends, changing not only how shop floor managers and workers do their job, but also how executives run organizations. The ability to connect in real-time and in a collaborative fashion with relevant data and people could help executives manage different business areas much better than they do now. Imagine being able to review a document with a partner located across the globe without leaving your current location to find a computer, or video conferencing with your associates while traveling from one business location to another. Google Glass could also make available different tools that you might need to solve less important tasks quickly in order to move on to higher-order problems. With Google Glass, the possibilities could be immense.
The businesspeople who intend to complement their organizations with this new technology should first implement a smart ERP system, such as Microsoft Dynamics AX. Interconnecting this solution with Google Glass at a later date shouldn’t be a problem since the Glass aims to be compatible with different systems, including Android, Windows, and Apple.
Although it’s still at a developer stage, the concept behind Google Glass reconfirms that "mobility" is shaping ERP trends more than we’ve expected – a useful reminder for ERP developers and vendors about the evolution of the digital landscape, which extends to the shop floor and far beyond.
