Sidebar: Mobile Apps May Boost Revenue

By Matt Hamblen

June 20, 2005 12:00 PM ET

Recommended

(6)

Digg

Twitter

Share/Email

Computerworld - SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Maytag spent about $6 million to install a mobile computing system for its 830 field service workers, said CIO Ernie Park. But, he added, it expects to gain $13 million annually in revenue because the appliance repair technicians can work more efficiently and bring in more business.
Maytag's TechConnect application runs on handhelds from Intermec Technologies Corp. in Everett, Wash., and provides repair workers with directions and updates on service calls. Park said it can also track trucks via the Global Positioning System. Since the rollout was completed last October, the average number of service calls completed daily by individual workers has increased from 5.8 to 6.4, he said.


Rod Ghani of Safelite Auto Glass Image Credit: Dean Stevenson

A new compensation system was introduced along with the technology: Maytag now pays field-service workers more if they reach a certain level of productivity and less if they fall below one. Even so, it took until April for workers to fully accept the system, Park said. "The technicians originally saw it as a threat," he noted.
Safelite Auto Glass in Wichita, Kan., rolled out a mobile application for 200 of its safety glass installers in 2003 at a cost of $100,000, using Nextel phones. By month's end, Safelite plans to expand the system to 2,000 workers, who will be equipped with BlackBerry handhelds. Rod Ghani, assistant vice president of business development at Safelite, said the initial deployment has yielded millions of dollars in new revenue because installers can get more real-time information about available jobs.

Recommend Digg Twitter ShareThis

Email Print Send Feedback Reprints

Jump to comments

Mobile/Wireless

Additional Resources

WHITE PAPER

Do You Know the 7 Steps to Successful Data Migration?

Approximately 60 percent of data migration projects overrun time or budget, while some fail completely. Download this white paper, "Enhancing Your Chance for Successful Data Migration," to learn the critical steps you need to take to execute a data migration project with minimum cost and risk to your business.

WHITE PAPER

Total Cost of Ownership of Server Computing Vs. PCs

Read the Gartner research note to learn why the TCO of a server-based computing deployment used to deliver all applications to users is around 50% lower than that of an unmanaged desktop deployment.

WHITE PAPER

IDC White Paper: Linux in a Global Recession

Economic downturns have a tendency to accelerate emerging technologies, boost the adoption of effective solutions, and punish solutions that are not cost competitive or that are out of synch with industry trends. This IDC White Paper presents the results of an IDC survey of 330 companies in Western Europe, Asia/Pacific and the Americas that measures the receptiveness to Linux and takes into consideration changing views driven by the disruptive economic environment that businesses face today.