We all know the bar code reader from the supermarket: The items are placed on the conveyor belt of the desk, and the checkout assistant makes sure that the bar codes on the items are recorded by a scanner. A split second later the price – and often the name of the item – reads on the display, viewed by us, the customers. The checkout assistant is relieved from the old way of entering amounts to the cash register – saving time for both her and her customers.
The samme principle lies behind the Mobile Employee project initiated by the Digital North Denmark. But now the bar code reader has gone mobile – and the potential is almost infinite.
- A breakaway group from the Ericsson mobile manufacturing company invented a small scanner, a bar code reader to be attached to the Ericsson cell phones. Their target group was the consumer market. We modified this scanner into a business version, a Net-Mill scanner, that transmits the bar code information to a server on our site in Aars by means of GPRS technology, explains René Rolander Nygaard.

Workman with a Scanner
The commitment of the project was to develop a solution that could substantially relieve the building companies and entrepreneurs of the administrative workload: With the aid of his mobile phone and the small scanner, a plumber, carpenter or electrician could record the time of start and completion for a task, and the spare parts used – and he could check whether a specific item was in stock back in the company.
This project is already up and runnning, and several companies counting e.g Sanistål are testing the system.
- With the GPRS technology you're online all the time – the workman on site will not have to connect to our server every time he needs to send information. But Nokia, who supplies the GPRS technology, have just introduced a ”2nd edition” – and in the beginning it was not working too well. This made us a bit itchy, as we can not tolerate response time issues when introducing a technology like this to customers. But now Nokia has solved the issue, and we are able to let our customers experience response times of one second, declares René Rolander Nygaard.

Entering Labour and Spare Parts
The functionality of the Mobile Employee is based on the employee carrying a booklet on site with the bar codes required. At the beginning of each job he records it using the scanner. A plumber for example might need some pipes and fittings for his task, so he records his removal of these items from stock using the bar code scanner. Via the server at Net-Mill in the city of Aars this information is saved for the invoicing of the customer while the plumber is able to track his mobile stock – what he brings in his service van and what he has used on site. And once the task is finished he will record the time of completion using his scanner.
While still on site the plumber is able to transmit a covering note directly to the customer's fax or e-mail, for an instant approval of his consumption of labour and items. From there on, mailing the invoice to the customer is just a routine.
On the plumber's return he can retrieve the information on his monitor, and make corrections if called for. Not until his clicking the ”Approve” button will the information be forwarded to his master.

Saving the Master's Time
- The construction worker is relieved from the hassle of noting everything down during the process. Still, the greatest saving is in the administration – often back in the entrepreneur's home. Previously he had to rely on his interpreting his mens' handwritings – and he would have to add item numbers – before the time cards were forwarded to the account keeper, who in turn would have to enter it all manually. When using the Mobile Employee, information is transmitted directly from the server to the entrepreneur's standard accounting system. This saves two procedures. And where administrative work was previously at the expense of the entrepreneur – often by working in his and his wife's sparetime – the customer is now paying for the time the plumber is spending on recording, points out René Rolander Nygaard:
- Some plumbing and heating services experienced losses of as much as 10 percent in their mobile stock . This was not owing to pilfering from the cars – but simply the plumbers forgetting to note down when grabbing a part for a job. An item that should actually have been paid by the customer. The scanner makes it easier for the plumber to quicly enter that he takes three fittings.
The technology is not difficult to learn and use. The first threshold to overcome lies with the worker on site.
- Yes, when introducing the system we often get reactions like: ”This is simply personal surveillance”. But once we have made it clear that Net-Mill is not able to use this information for any control purpose – and that their master will not be able to see it until the approval of the employee – they begin to realize that this is easier than filling out time sheets, reports René Rolander Nygaard.

For Checking Wells – and Ordering Medicine
Not only plumbers, carpenters or electricians will benefit from the Mobile Employee. Also service engineers free up substantial amounts of time by migrating to the bar code system:
- The Municipality of Århus has got 8,100 wells to inspect twice a year. This means handling 16,200 sheets of paper. With the aid of the Mobile Employee project the employees inspecting the wells, would be able to record the problems related to a particular well, for example. When a colleague inspects the same well six months later, he will scan the bar code of the well and read out any problems occurring during the last inspection – and what measures to take this time, explains René Rolander Nygaard.
Also in the home care the Mobile Employee will prove useful: It enables the home care assistant to detect the tasks completed today – hoovering for example – and on a long term basis the home care assistant will be able to order medicine using the bar codes that are already on the package.

In Control of the Vodka
At present three modules are up and running: Recording for the payroll system, job recording and the mobile stock control. Additional modules – for example service modules and invoicing – are being developed. The Mobile Employee can be set up and customized for specific professional groups to use it.
Diageo, the world's largest producer and distributor of alcoholic liquors, has realized the potentials of mobile recording: The company has placed an order for a scheme design for data collection.
- This could be Track & Trace, where both the company and the customers are able to track deliveries. And it could be the Diageo employee entering a liquor store in an airport scanning random bottles to check if the store is using illegal or unuauthorised distributors, explains René Nygaard, who has no doubt that a wealth of applications - and new customer segments - are waiting for the Mobile Employe.
Read more about the Mobile Employee on www.denmobilemedarbejder.dk - or on the Web site of the Digital North Denmark, www.detdigitalenordjylland.dk