SPIX industry introduces “NoTouch-NoScreen” to secure the digital interactions of field operators
In today’s digital era, field operators are asked to complete forms, access information, and generate reports in real time using digital equipment. This creates nasty or hazardous situations for field operators, which can be removed if the constraints of the screen and touch can be removed.
Constraints of the digital transformation
Traditionally, field industrial data are reported on paper onsite and copied to any type of digital backend systems afterward. A significant effort of digital transformation has been made by the industry to remove the paper reports.
This digital transformation promises to overcome all the difficulties of the field operators to report data in real-time, and therefore to improve the performance of the industrials. The digital transformation provides two major improvements:
- Time saving, with the suppression of the time to re-copy the data from paper to digital.
- Traceability, with the overall improvement of data storage and retrieval.
Nevertheless, the introduction of digital solutions for field operators does not releases the hands or eyes of the operators, nor simplifies the redactions of comments on the field.
The introduction of digital tools for field operators in the industry has many benefits in terms of efficiency, accuracy, and data traceability. However, it can also lead to new constraints and potential risks. In addition to the known risks related to cyber, data security, software and hardware robustness, other risks associated with the use of digital tools are more directly related to the field operators:
- Carrying an equipment: A tablet is too heavy a smartphone is too small! One already working on the shop floor certainly heard that twice a day. Consequently, the digital equipment is most often left apart, and used after the operation. This causes a major breach in the compliance with most of the norms and standards in the field operations, as the data are not reported in real-time.
- Gloves removal: Using a tablet or a smartphone with professional gloves can be a nightmare. Therefore, field operators most of the time remove their gloves to report their data in digital tools, hence creating a safety breach and a non-compliance to the safety rules and norms. Specific gloves exist, but not all of them are compatible with professional working environment (chemical hazard for example).
As a conclusion and regarding the introduction of digital tools for field operations generates two issues:
- The digital tools hinder the generation of real-time data, as the equipment (tablet or smartphones) is not compatible with operational use in working environment: non-compliance on the quality of the data.
- The use of tactile screen and the focus on the screen itself might generate new risks for the operators themselves, while removing their gloves, or falling while walking, which introduces non-compliance on safety rules.
NoTouch-NoScreen : for what purpose?
The integration of a voice assistant into the daily life of industrial field operators can bring multiple benefits and facilitate their tasks. Moreover, it may overcome the dependence on the screen and free theirs hands.
A Voice Assistant enables the field operators to use digital tools releasing the constraints of the screen and releasing their hands. The NoTouch-NoScreen innovation is a breakthrough in the use of digital tools while on the move in industrial environments.
The NoTouch-NoScreen approach solves the issues of the field workers while interacting with digital equipment. It releases the constraints of carrying or touching tablets smartphones, keyboards, or mouses to feed an information and removes the constraint of looking at small screens to get an information on the field. SPIX industry is a pioneer company introducing NoTouch-NoScreen applications based on the Smart Voice Assistant Spix that includes advanced voice interaction modes dedicated to such “voice first” interactions to digital content.
- Real-Time completion of information: A voice assistant allows the operator to complete the requested information (measurement, visual inspection, defects, …) in real-time during the operations. This is a major improvement, compared to paper or traditional digital tools. It helps to comply with the norms and standards by drastically improving the quality and accuracy of the collected data.
- More accurate documentation: The voice assistant can allow operators to dictate inspection reports, observations, recommendations, comments, description, and actions already taken, directly in the field, making it easier to document inspection and quality control activities. A more complete documentation helps to strengthen the compliance with the norms, as the documentation is completer and more accurate.
- Enhanced Safety: By allowing operators to keep their hands free and focus on their work environment, a voice assistant with its NoTouch-NoScreen capability helps increase safety during field operations. Removing the constraints of the gloves avoids creating a safety breach, hence improving the compliance to the QHSE and OSHA norms and standards.
The integration of a Smart Voice Assistant that implements the NoTouch-NoScreen principles for industrial field operators can offer them a practical, efficient, and versatile tool to improve their performance, efficiency, and comfort at work.
Conclusion
The need from the industry to strengthen the quality process leads to more sophisticated field reports. Consequently, checklists and forms associated to quality controls and inspections become more complex and their quality and completeness more critical.
This generates a particular pressure on the field operators in charge of the inspection tasks or quality controls to complete the checklists and forms as precisely as possible, in real-time and without any missing data. The digital transformation and the introduction of tablets and smartphones pursue this objective.
The digital equipment might be difficult to use by field operators to complete their checklists and forms in real-time: hands are busy, tablets are heavy, smartphones are too small.
SPIX industry introduces a breakthrough solution dedicated to field operators to help them in their digital interactions while working on the field. The key added value of the uniquement innovation of NoTouch-NoScreen voice interface consists in:
- keeping the hands of the operator free,
- release the constraints of looking at a small screen,
- avoid carrying a digital equipment,
- enable to complete forms and checklists in real-time,
- without any compromise with the operator’s safety.
For the first time with NoTouch-NoScreen voice interfaces brought to the industry by SPIX industry, the constraint of the digital screen is removed. Field operators can complete checklists and forms by voice in real-time, hence drastically improving the quality of the collected data. They can keep their hands free, hence improving their safety at work.
Press contacts
André JOLY – Managing Director
Phone. : +33 (0)6 25 17 27 94
Email: andre.joly@spix-industry.com
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