App development that keeps pace with accelerating business change

The pace of business is accelerating and IT applications need to be able to evolve at the same speed as our workforce. Fortunately, our skills in this area are rapidly evolving too. Jon Tucker, at Panasonic TOUGHBOOK Europe, explains how.

Written by Jon Tucker
General Manager Solutions Engineering – Panasonic Connect Europe

The pace of business seems to be ever accelerating and we are all aware of the personal need to be flexible in the way we approach our work. Take the changes of the past year, for example, who would have thought that we would all have had to adapt so quickly to working from home?

But for all the flexibility of the workforce, the ability for technology to be able to be adapted to meet our business needs is arguably even more important. There is no productive working from home if we can’t remotely access our systems at the office, right?

As a result, successful businesses are already building a different kind of agility into their mobile workforces using technology. Organisations can equip their workforce with rugged mobile devices to help them increase productivity. However, it’s the ability to access the right information, in the right format, at the right time, and to be able to quickly adapt these applications as requirements change that unleashes the true power of mobile computing.

Managing software applications across multiple platforms and operating systems can be complex. Traditionally organisations manage a diverse range of mobile IT devices, form factors, operating systems and applications, but operate a siloed approach when managing these elements. Ensuring everything is integrated across all hardware and software platforms can be costly and time-consuming.

Supports Gemba Process Innovation

In many ways, the solution is a perfect example of Panasonic’s Gemba Process Innovation approach in operation. Gemba Process Innovation requires a combination of hardware, software engineering and system integration to provide the total solution.

The gemba is the physical site where value is created. This Japanese word literally translates to "the actual place". For example, in the supply chain the gemba is where things are made, moved, or sold; the site where value is generated and problems must be confronted: the factory floor, the warehouse, or points-of-sale; these are referred to as the gemba.

In Japan, Panasonic has more than 100 years of business experience to draw upon and has been an innovator in Gemba Process Innovation and is now bringing these skills to Europe. The principle behind Gemba Process Innovation is a deep understanding of the existing business process. Then follows the design of the new solution using technology and processes to deliver new levels of efficiency and productivity. Testing and optimising then becomes the focus to ensure as much value as possible can be delivered from the innovation. With TOUGHBOOK Omnia’s rapid app development capabilities, this test and optimising phase can be delivered incredibly quickly and effectively.

So, as our businesses and mobile workforces adapt to the pace of change, it’s reassuring to know that the ability to create new and adapt existing applications in a fast and intuitive way is also following the same evolutionary path.

Find out more about TOUGHBOOK Omnia.

App development that keeps pace with accelerating business change

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