Finding an app for that

After acquiring my first iPhone, I searched the Internet for apps to use in the shop. I found 70 hits for “machinist” or “machining” and 45 for “cutting tool.” Conversely, there were 11,169 hits for movie apps and 37,616 for music apps.

Most apps focus on mobile technology for consumers. This may be one reason demand for manufacturing apps is comparatively low, and the search results were on par with my expectations.

Large-scale demand for apps and mobile devices will not come from individual users; it will come in the form of large-scale adaptation and development of enterprise-level solutions. Although manufacturers are beginning to see limited use of mobile devices on the shop floor, integration of enterprise-level mobile technology into everyday factory life will be slow for several reasons.

Tablets and smartphones are relatively inexpensive compared to laptops or workstations, but even inexpensive devices can amount to a large capital expenditure if everyone in an organization is issued one. In addition, tablets and phones can be fragile and may not be appropriate for industrial use, which could require something like the $2,200 Panasonic ToughPad.

Many companies issue phones to engineers and other professionals, but I doubt many or any of them issue phones to shop personnel. In my experience, cellphones were not even permitted to be used by shop personnel on the manufacturing floor.

In addition, easy-to-use industrial apps simply do not exist. As the industrial use of mobile devices increases, those apps will continue to be centered on interaction with manufacturing and enterprise resource planning systems, engineering software and machine tool controls. These systems lack commonality of software and processors that make app development on a large scale practical and cost-effective.

Anytime a company decides to interact with its enterprise-level software outside of the normal interface, extensive development is required. Large-scale IT development is expensive and usually requires continuous support. However, while enterprise level applications will be slow to evolve, site- and individual-level applications will proliferate.