Documentation of process steps per smartphone or tablet

>> F A C T S
The production of pipelines requires that the process steps are documented from the testing of the material verification via the actual production of the pipeline section to the testing of the resulting work piece.

In order to automate the documentation and in the absence of a suitable application, iMes Solutions GmbH was asked to develop a corresponding tool in close cooperation with a manufacturer from the chemical industry.

The technology was based on the proven and modern web framework of the iMes Solutions shift book solution.

A team consisting of project management, Scrum Master and developers created an application in a Scrum process - without any time-consuming creation of a requirements specification and based on React - which requires a smartphone with Internet access as the only prerequisite and has been successfully in use since the beginning of 2020.

>> Initial situation
Prior to the introduction of the newly developed program, the documentation of the individual process steps had to be compiled manually by filling out dockets and then entering and evaluating them digitally at the end - a personnel-intensive, time-consuming and error-prone procedure.

>> TARGET: Automated documentation of the pipeline manufacturing process
All the information required for successful acceptance should be collected digitally and be available at a centrally and immediately. The digitization of information by manual input should be no longer necessary.

>> Project targets & requirements in detail

• Automated documentation of process steps
• Paperless work
• Automated evaluations
• Flexible and user-friendly handling
• Possibility of using mobile devices

>> Technological requirements

• During the planning for the realization it became clear that for the requirement to be able to provide an application on mobile end devices, a progressive web app would be the means of choice.
• By using a platform-independent web application based on React, end devices from different manufacturers can be used without having to sacrifice the convenience of a native application.
• The application makes it possible, for example, to scan barcodes by using commercially available smartphone cameras, thus avoiding touch input errors.

>> Decision for the new development of the iMes Solutions GmbH

The application, which was newly developed using the Scrum method, enables the end devices to communicate with the central company server. The only requirement for the external users to operate the application is a smartphone with Internet access. It is not necessary to connect the devices to the company's own network, either on-site or via VPN. Every single process step in the manufacturing process is documented centrally. The data is centrally available for evaluations.

>>  CONCLUSION
For individual customer requirements, iMes Solutions GmbH offers the new development of software solutions following the Scrum method.