Where IoT Solutions Make Work Easier for Skilled Workers

In jobs where working from home is not an option digital solutions save valuable skilled workers unnecessary work. Four best practice examples from four regions of Germany and two e-books show how to do it.

Once a window is fitted you should have no trouble for a few years until a repair is required. Joiners, dealers or building material suppliers then have to thumb through catalogs, check old invoices or drive to the customer and measure up. Including the paperwork, assessing the damage to a window can take up to an entire day. When can a worker fit a new window? That will depend on when a window is available and when a fitter has time.

In view of the global shortage of skilled laborers companies face the challenge of getting more work done by fewer personnel. This is where the Internet of Things (IoT) kicks in. The IoT is a technology that not only makes processes more efficient but also eases the workload of the skilled laborers who are available. It can automate routine tasks by means of networked devices and smart systems, monitor products and provide employees with crucial information – everywhere and around the clock. In this article we will look at genuine customer examples to see how the IoT helps companies to cope with the shortage of skilled labor and to make the daily work routine easier.

At IDEAL Fensterbau Weinstock GmbH the workload of window fitters mentioned above is history. The Rhineland-Palatinate-based family firm has since 2019 fitted out all window frames with an NFC chip. If workers or customers use a smartphone app and point their phone at the chip, product data, dimensions, care instructions and certifications can be read digitally thanks to an IoT solution of Telekom and its partner SYFIT.

Smart windows from the Eifel regionare an example of how new features can be developed at a relatively low cost by means of an integrated or retrofitted product connection on the Internet of Things (IoT). They not only upgrade the product but also ease the burden of work on employees, which is a major benefit when skilled labor is a scarce commodity.

Ziehl-Abegg also uses the IoT to access information about itzs product digitally and thereby assist service personnel. The family firm in Künzelsau, Baden-Württemberg, specializes in ‘ventilation technology and manufactures, inter alia, industrial ventilators. Jointly with Telekom Ziehl-Abegg has developed an IoT platform that enables it to monitor all of its products’ operating data online. The system registers and notifies all malfunctions automatically, such as if a certain temperature or rev count is exceeded or undershot. Technicians used to have to look for the source of error on-site. They can now see in advance where the malfunction is occurring and head for the customer’s with the right spare parts on board. Service callouts are now only required if there is a real need for them.

At Otto Heil It’s about locating tools or construction machinery. The Bavarian construction company has introduced digital asset management, Equipment and vehicles are equipped with Bluetooth beacons and coupled with the Telekom IoT platform. Cconstruction site workers can now find everything they need swiftly and easily at the start of their shift by means of a smartphone app.

Dethleffs, too wanted to save time when searching. The campervan manufacturer in Isny in the Allgäu region has 4,000 vehicles on a 280,000 square meter works site and it sometimes used to take employees with outmoded handheld scanners and paper lists a lot of time to locate the vehicle they were looking for. Using an app developed by SYFIT and Telekom the scanner’s GPS position is recorded automatically as soon as  an employee parks the vehicle and scans a barcode on the van. Drivers can then locate campervans quickly and reliably by smartphone and inventories are just a matter of pressing buttons. That saves time, cuts costs, and makes manufacturing and delivery trouble-free.

Many industries are currently in the throes of change, and digitization is also driving manufacturing, but the workplaces of production employees and service technicians are not progressing at the same pace. By using digital solutions companies can make working conditions in industry more attractive and thereby boost motivation on a lasting basis. New technologies not only make work more enjoyable; they also improve safety and efficiency in manufacturing environments and storage facilities.

Companies can also achieve specific cost savings by easing the burden of monotonous and not very motivating tasks on logistics, service and manufacturingf employees. Schwan Cosmetics, the chipmaker Globalfoundries, the plant manufacturer Krones and other industrial enterprises demonstrate how IoT technologies can assist and help ease the burden on employees. Click here for the download.

Logistics too has potential for easing the work burden on employees. Paper-based work, lack of transparency and complicated communication impede logistics processes in many areas and the IoT offers great potential for optimizing these processes. Connected scanners, data glasses, freight tracking or smart route planning provide a wide range of ways in which to improve inefficient processes. From the full service provider Quehenberger Logistics via the logistician DM-Services to the family firm Fiege Logistik many examples from practice show how companies are using digital solutions to optimize their logistics processes, to achieve more transparency and to smartly assist their skilled operatives. To download the e-book click here.