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Phone: 651-351-9227
info@eisincorporated.com
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Mobile Apps in the biotech and pharmaceutical
industries
EIS is leading the way in developing mobile apps for the life science, biotech and pharma industries. Our
OpsTrakker manufacturing app is the first mobile app to improve and focus on biotech and pharma manufacturing. Contact us
to learn more about our life science apps and how they can be used to improve your operations.
Ask us how we can help you with
your mobile enterprise strategies for the biotech,
pharmaceutical and life science industries
Mobile Strategy
App Development
Consulting Services for the mobile space
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EIS has experience developing both
custom mobile apps and integrating these apps with your current
ERP systems to create a mobile enterprise.
Custom App Development
Manufacturing Mobile Apps (OpsTrakker)
Integration of ERP and apps
iPad, iPhone and Android Apps
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OpsTrakker is the leading Manufacturing App for the life
science, pharma and biotech industries. Learn more about the
app and see screen captures by visiting the OpsTrakker
webpage:
Click to learn more about OpsTrakker |
Insights of enterprise mobile strategy
The growth of the iPad has been well
documented as one of the fastest adapted consumer devices and now
surveys of various companies have shown that enterprise iPad use is on
the rise. Young, educated employees found on the biotech and
pharmaceutical manufacturing shop floor who are comfortable with touch
screen smartphones and tablets are driving the use of iPads in the
workplace with increasing frequency. Determining a company-wide mobile
strategy can be a daunting task, but life science enterprises are beginning to
implement more technology as they incorporate iPads into their
operations.
How pharmaceutical and biotech companies use
tablets (iPad and Android)
Periodical articles and research
have shown that the most common place that biotech and pharmaceutical
companies are using tablet devices is in their marketing efforts.
Companies are experimenting with using tablets to provide a better
sales experience for doctors during the limited time sales associates
have to spend with them. A December 2010 article in the Wall Street
Journal states that Abbott, Medtronic and Boston Scientific are among
the companies utilizing the iPad in this capacity. Outside of the
marketing department, clinical trials are starting to use apps,
including those that help patients locate trials and aid in the
capturing and reporting of outcome data. In addition, manufacturing
organizations are starting to look at the iPad as an alternative to
PCs on the production floor. The small form factor of a tablet coupled
with a touch screen provides unique business cases that previously did
not exist when using traditional PCs. Specifically, the OpsTrakker app
- developed by Enhanced Information Solutions (EIS) - provides a wide
range of MES functionality on a tablet device, assisting organizations
with their manufacturing capabilities.
Common issues to
consider when deploying mobile devices
When determining a mobile
strategy, there are many issues one should consider. Two of the most
common and critical issues are outlined below.
Selecting a mobile
operating system and device
Issue: No true mobile operating system
dominates the market. Custom apps developed for an enterprise should
be flexible enough to work on multiple operating systems and/or device
types to avoid the premature obsolescence of the OS or device.
Background: Because many companies already have smartphone standards
in place, any mobile app solution should leverage the company’s
existing mobile devices and infrastructure to minimize cost and
maximize compatibility. With that said, recently there has been rapid
change in the market share of smartphone operating systems that can
quickly cause both devices, and apps developed for those devices, to
become obsolete. As the charts below show, just three short years ago
RIM and their Blackberry devices held a commanding lead in the
smartphone market. However, today that lead has evaporated with
Google’s Android system becoming the dominant player. The charts also
show the tremendous speed at which mobile devices and their operating
systems come and go.
Further complicating matters is the fact
that the tablet device selected, whether it is an Android or iPad,
should be compatible with your smartphone devices.
Solution: An
easy solution to avoid custom enterprise apps from becoming obsolete
due to hardware or operating system changes is to utilize technology
that allows for app development to be independent of the device. For
example, EIS custom app solutions are developed using a unique
software platform that can run on virtually any hardware device. This
technology allows business logic to be developed once into a single
software app, which is then leveraged to translate the app for
implementation on the device that will work best for individual needs
and/or company imposed standards. The app can also be translated to
work in a Windows PC web browser or as a native app on an iPad,
iPhone, Windows Mobile, Blackberry or Android device.
By
using the technology that is an inherent part of the development
platform, the user gains the flexibility to implement solutions on
both smartphone and tablets without the concern of future hardware
changes.
Ensuring an enterprise mobile app ecosystem exists
Issue: Mobile devices are underutilized as companies focus on
deploying the hardware and spend little time on software apps to
accompany the tablet introduction.
Background: As companies
purchase and pilot tablet devices such as the iPad, these initial
rollouts typically do not have apps to assist with making the iPad
deployment beneficial. Initially, companies might use these tablet
devices to check email, web browsing or even view SOPs on the
manufacturing shop floor but this type of functionality brings little
value to the organization beyond providing a “cool factor” for having
deployed iPads. To overcome this issue, some companies have turned to
iPad desktop virtualization apps that allow connections to a Windows
environment to run PC software from a desktop or server. These apps
require a constant network connection and lack a robust user
experience, as the interface for Windows software was designed for a
keyboard / mouse interface rather than a touch screen device.
Solution: When rolling out mobile solutions to a workforce, specific
apps must exist for the devices being deployed. As an organization’s
mobile strategy matures, a complete ecosystem of apps should exist to
provide a wide range of functionality to the end user. However, these
apps must move beyond the cool factor and be based on sound business
cases with a demonstrated ROI to the business. For example, the
OpsTrakker manufacturing app was developed specifically for mobile
devices and focuses on specific business cases such as the eLogbook
module realizing the benefits of using electronic equipment log books
over a paper based system.
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