Nowadays the majority of enterprises utilize and depend on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software to run and improve their core business processes. Simultaneously, mobile technologies which can be used within ERP have gained additional importance. This is because ERP systems, together with mobile technologies, offers a wide spectrum of synergies and both have a significant impact on enterprise efficiency as well as long run effectiveness of operations. The improvement possibilities in ERP due to mobility are countless. These include, but are not limited to sales activities, payments processing, customers management, marketing, information services, communication, human resources, banking, and all areas of supply chain activities. This integration of mobile solutions into classic business processes leads to new collaborative opportunities and improves the enterprise workflow and enables the transaction of digital business processes. [pic 1]
According to IGI-Global, mobile technology is defined as “the part of technology that involves mobility”.[1]Expanding further on this short statement, mobile technology is a form of technology that is mostly used in cellular communication and related to it aspects. It includes general packet radio service (GPRS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), Bluetooth, 4G (Generation), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) System, wireless fidelity ( WiFi), global positioning systems (GPS), Command Line Interface (CLI), wireless application protocol (WAP), and short message service (SMS). The mobile technology uses a form of specialized platform where by many transmitters have the ability to send data at the same time on a single channel. This platform is called Code-division multiple access (CDMA). On this platform many users are allowed to independently make use of single frequencies because it restricts the likelihood of interference of frequencies from two or more sources. Setting all these technical terminologies aside, mobile technology can be described as simply as allowing users to utilize data and resources without being knotted to a single location or office. [2]
Just two decades ago, mobile technology was almost unknown in life and business. It was for sure not utilized in the business world as it is nowadays. Due to is functionality, it has started a notable journey into the businesses world and now it is affecting almost all core business processes. The significance of mobile technology in business cannot be underestimated. Many business organization from diverse backgrounds, use the mobile technology to increase their earnings through providing customers easiness to patronize their product through apps and websites. One of the best examples of utilizing apps and websites is in the travel industry. For example, United Airlines created an app for ticket booking, flight checking-in, monitoring flight status, bag tracking, managing reservations, printing boarding passes, buying travel options, passport and visa scanning, and watching in-flight entertainment.[3] Another great example is the railway. With the use of an app travel tickets can be purchased from the internet without having to queue up to purchase it. The evolvement of mobile technology has made our life easier and also saves us time and resources. [pic 2]
The use of apps become so important for business and users spend more time per day using apps then desktops. According the survey of Business of Apps [4], in 2015 users [pic 3]spent 2.8 hours per day, or 51% of time per day on using apps. This trend shows a significant increase from 2010 when the number of hours spent on apps was only .4 hrs per day, or 12.5%
Another very important busienss area of unitlizing mobile technoligy is in the manufacturing sector. Just like in the travel industry, moblie technlogy has broken through and helps manufactures stream line operational process and improve profitiablity. [5] Manufacturing companies are rapidly discorveing new ways to untilze mobile technolgy for maximized efficinences as well proces improvements and process reingeneering intitivies. Through the use of samrt phones, tablets, and laptops all linked to one network, manufacturing process are being tracked in real-time and displaying incredibilty accurate data. Use of mobile technolgy has been proven to increase manufuacuting througuput on prodicution lines, decrease errors during the exhange of critical business informiton, allows for a continieus acces to data, deacrease down and lost production time, enhance situational awareness, and overall incrase productivity and accountilbity. After all as the worldwide demand for more products, being delivered in shorter time and at lower costs continues to grow, the use of mobile technologies in manufacturing will grow. The age of leaving the smartphone at home is ending, and mobile devices are replacing the endless, physical paper trail in manufacturing and supply chain process. which is only going to further boost supply chain and manufacturing productivity. [6][pic 4]