In 2016 at a Code Conference, Elon Musk had observed that we are already cyborgs but that the constraints right now are in interfaces. Now, everything else Elon Musk aside, I do think that this is an interesting way of seeing how we interact with technology. My first cell phone was a Nokia brick that could barely play the snake game (but it could, and oh I did) and now my phone is capable of using augmented reality to show me what Ikea furniture would look like in my house.
Smart watches really represent the first wearable that has gained any traction. When Google Glass first came out, we immediately joined the explorer program to see what it was capable of (as it turns out, not enough yet). But while augmented reality glasses are still figuring out their place in the world, watches are here now. As of last year, there were over 55 million Apple Watch users and growing over 50% year over year.
Bezlio’s goal is to bring mobile technology into manufacturing and that includes expanding our definition of what mobile technology is as hardware evolves.
Using Wearables in Manufacturing
The real power of a wearable is not as a standalone device but instead as a companion device to your smartphone. One of the key ways that a smartwatch does this is by giving you an improved interface for push notifications.
Push notification technology allows an app to proactively reach out to you to share information. When you get an invite on Linkedin, the app receives that activity, and then pops up a message on your screen letting you know that it happened. You see this technology commonly used in consumer apps (sometimes annoyingly so) and it can be powerful at encouraging user behavior.
Push notifications are a great way to gain a user’s attention. Combine them with wearable technology for even more benefits.
An alert on your wrist is easier to see along with the haptic and audio feedback which is easier to recognize than in your pocket (the dreaded phantom notifications where you check your phone for no reason). So push notifications are a great way as a developer to get a user’s attention, and a notification on the wrist is more effective than on the phone screen itself.
Work faster with push notifications
In manufacturing, push notifications can be used in a variety of ways, for example they can:
Inform material handlers that a job has been completed or a purchase order has been received and needs to be put away into inventory.
Inform a shop floor supervisor that a production line needs their assistance.
Inform maintenance that there is an urgent issue with a production line.
Let a sales person know that one of their accounts is on credit hold, or that a new order has been placed.
Push KPIs to the executive team.
There are many other use cases which is why Bezlio already has built-in push notifications that can be deployed in minutes.
How Bezlio’s push notification plugin works
Bezlio notification on Apple Watch
In addition to receiving a notification on their phone, the user receives an update right on their smartwatch
Bezlio has a plugin that can be used to send a push notification to any Bezlio user in their organization. This could be based on an action automatically (a purchase order was just received) or through a user manually sending a notification (hey maintenance, my machine is not working properly). It can save a lot of time versus emails or walking around to find someone to tell them in person. The cool thing is that not only will these push notifications reach a user’s phone, it will also be automatically sent to their wearable to quickly get their attention.
For example, in some companies the receiving staff will receive a purchase order at the dock and then material handlers will then come and move inventory from the dock and put it away in the warehouse. I was able to add a simple trigger to the purchase order receipt bezl so that when the receipt was performed it would automatically inform the material handlers that a purchase order had been received so they can put it away into stock. And all in less than 5 minutes!
And this is just one example of how wearable technology like this could be useful. There is a lot of potential for how push notifications can have a positive impact on inter-company communication. This potential is even greater when teamed up with wearables when you need to get a user’s attention quickly. If you have any ideas, I would love to hear about them!