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| Thread ID: 84445 | 2007-11-05 22:19:00 | Industrial Setting - Is this possible? | John W (523) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 608712 | 2007-11-05 22:19:00 | Hi there I work for a large multinational manufacturer whos maintenance and It systems are stuck back in the dawn of the PC era, like the mid 1980s. I wont go on about the frustration of fault finding on aged complex plant relying on nothing more than wit and the occasional assistance of long serving staff (where did he tech go last time this plant failed like this). Anyway all breakdown recording and fault reporting is paper based with its attendant failings. Is it possible to have a system so that when a fault is logged onto a database, that fault can then be beamed to a mobile Supervisor (as in walking around the large manufacturing complex) and be displayed on a PDA or similar. I would only need a visual summary as later in the shift, trade staff or the supervisor could fill in the repair details. Naturally we dont have anything like this at present, but if implemented it would free up record keeping, sheaves of paperwork reporting (that often gets little more than a cursory glance or ignored in total) and start a database of fault recording and undertaken repairs. Thanks John in Mosgiel. |
John W (523) | ||
| 608713 | 2007-11-05 22:29:00 | Absolutely possible, however cost will need to be a consideration as there will need to be some up-front costs involved in setting up such a system. You will either have ongoing costs of paying a mobile operator (Vodafone/Telecom) for data charges between the system and the PDA/Smartphone/Whatever, or face one-off costs of installing wireless infrastructure throughout the complex (WiFi access points). One solution is to simply have a system send an SMS message to the supervisor with a very short summary of what has happened. |
somebody (208) | ||
| 608714 | 2007-11-06 00:00:00 | There is software of course that can instantly send data to a mobile device. Think of it as push email but for errors and faults. So you'd need a automated system, that when notified of a fault, selects the fields you want (so not all the data is send) and if on a local network, the data is pushed out via the Internet/Wi-fi or through an email/SMS. Of course the costs aside, you'd either have to find software to do this or maybe have it designed specifically. Talk to Vodafone and Telecom, I'm sure they do this with other companies. |
beeswax34 (63) | ||
| 608715 | 2007-11-06 02:34:00 | The beauty of having a paperbased system at the moment, is that your options are fully open for integration :-) I can help you with the necessary hardware to make it all work, but you would need a provider for your software. Depends in large part how much you have to spend. You can do anything with a big enough computer and enough cash. |
iwalmsley (12803) | ||
| 608716 | 2007-11-06 02:51:00 | So you want a 21st century fault logging system for a 19th century factory? :D | Graham L (2) | ||
| 608717 | 2007-11-06 03:57:00 | There is software of course that can instantly send data to a mobile device. Think of it as push email but for errors and faults. So you'd need a automated system, that when notified of a fault, selects the fields you want (so not all the data is send) and if on a local network, the data is pushed out via the Internet/Wi-fi or through an email/SMS. Of course the costs aside, you'd either have to find software to do this or maybe have it designed specifically. Talk to Vodafone and Telecom, I'm sure they do this with other companies. If I recall correctly, Vodafone charge a minimum of $20,000 to provide software solutions. I'm not sure about telecom. You could probably contract it out do a development house somewhere for less (assuming you use wifi instead of sms) |
utopian201 (6245) | ||
| 608718 | 2007-11-06 05:33:00 | If I recall correctly, Vodafone charge a minimum of $20,000 to provide software solutions. I'm not sure about telecom. You could probably contract it out do a development house somewhere for less (assuming you use wifi instead of sms) Atleast they could tell you what sort of software you needed and the hardware you required to make it all work. |
beeswax34 (63) | ||
| 608719 | 2007-11-06 05:57:00 | Hardware is simple. You need an enterprise grade mobile device, in a manufacturing plant, your friendly PDA isnt going to cut it. Something like a Symbol MC35 would do you. If you want to use Wi-Fi, then you are talking about covering the entire factory in an RF network, which given the amount of heavy metal and concrete, could potentially cost a lot, but no way to give any indication without knowing the site. You are either talking about a wireless switch and access ports, or a mesh network given the typically difficult nature in a factory. If ALL you are looking for is a solution to your specific problem, then you only need a system with email alerts, and a cellphone that lets you read emails. This is by far the cheapest solution. |
iwalmsley (12803) | ||
| 608720 | 2007-11-06 20:06:00 | I would have thought the software would comprise 80-90% of the cost, assuming there is nothing out there that already does what you want. The hardware would be a relatively trivial issue... | utopian201 (6245) | ||
| 608721 | 2007-11-06 20:45:00 | How about using an Email client like Outlook, or Thunderbird as your fault database, recording each fault as a separate email, and email the fault details to whomever you need to. Or subscribe to a service like etxt, which would allow you to send (short) emails from Outlook to mobiles as text messages. |
bachelorno1 (6556) | ||
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