If you are considering what a mobility solution can do to help your warehouse operation’s efficiency and to lower costs, it’s important to recognize that taking the right steps to design, select, and deploy the solution are the best ways to make sure you will get the ROI you are looking for.

Here are three tips that set your warehouse mobility initiative moving in the right direction and the impact these strategies can have on your business.

1. Make mobility work for you. Don’t work to have mobility. Sometimes planning a mobility project can get off track and the focus becomes how to integrate mobile devices into your operation, rather than how they can enhance your business goals.

Talk to your IT solutions provider about the outcomes you want to see after you deploy a warehouse mobility solution — preferably before you purchase or introduce any devices to your workforce. A VAR experienced in providing warehouse mobility solutions can help you focus on your goals and help you invest in the right solution to meet your specific needs.

It’s also important to take into account your warehouse’s operating procedures and how mobility can support and enhance them. Looking at how your employees will use the devices can also help you make good decisions when it comes to choosing the right features. One of your goals is probably maximizing employee productivity during their shifts. An example of a solution that can address variances in your workforce is Zebra’s TC8000 touch mobile computer, which gives you the option of replacing the legacy terminal emulation green screen with a touch interface that lets workers trade pressing numerous buttons on the green screen with a single tap. If your workers are accustomed to the green screen and find they work more efficiently with it, however, they can choose to use it instead.

Also assess options like whether a wrist strap or belt-attached device would make better sense and whether the device will need to be recharged during a shift or if it’s important to not require recharging. Consider asking for employee input, which can foster a sense of buy-in among employees and make a deployment go more smoothly.

2. Select devices suited to your environment. Work with your IT solutions provider to thoroughly assess environmental conditions in which your warehouse mobility solution will be used. Look at factors such as moisture, dust and dirt, exposure to weather, ambient noise level, transitions from light to dark, and the presence of chemicals. These factors are probably a part of day-to-day operations in your warehouse, but they can have a significant negative impact on the life and performance of warehouse mobility devices. Another significant consideration is your wireless LAN. Is it sufficient to support the new devices or will you need an upgrade? If you need to quickly deploy a cost-effective solution that helps overcome challenges that roaming presents in many warehouses, look into Zebra WiNG (available in Enterprise and Express versions).

3. Deploy in phases. A good strategy for a warehouse mobility deployment is to plan implementation in phases. There are a number of benefits to this approach:

• Deploying in phases will minimize disruption to overall operations.
• It is easier to plan phase by phase, focusing on the needs of particular departments one at a time.
• What you learn in the first phase of deployment — perhaps areas where training needs to be improved or the best location for shared devices and chargers — can be implemented in subsequent phases.
• If you are purchasing devices in phases due to budget constraints, you can start phases based on your purchase of devices over several quarters.
• You can begin measuring key performance indicators (KPIs) with the first phase to help you learn how warehouse mobility is making an impact on your business. If you wanted to see an improvement in order picking accuracy, look at the percent by order before the warehouse mobility solution was deployed and monitor it afterward. Don’t expect significant changes immediately — but you should see an improvement over time. If not, make adjustments — maybe even in time to implement the revised strategy with a future phase.

Warehouse mobility solutions have the potential to help you lower costs, increase customer satisfaction, and operate a more efficient, competitive operation. Thoughtful planning and deployment can help set the stage for successful implementation of this technology.