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When looking to invest in mobile technology, many companies are drawn towards consumer-grade tablets. This is no surprise, as they are upwards of half the price of a rugged, enterprise grade tablet. Companies may be willing to take the added expense of having to replace the outdated tablets every few years rather than pay the higher upfront cost of an enterprise grade tablet. However, simply comparing the initial cost of the devices can be deceiving. The upfront and replacement costs are not nearly as concerning as the costs of a consumer grade device failure. In fact, more than 90% of the total cost of ownership (TCO) of a consumer grade tablet comes after the initial purchase*.

In order for your business to get the maximum return on your rugged tablet investment, you need to make sure the solution truly meets the needs of your business. Did you ensure all needed add-ons are available with the solution you chose? Are others able to be added if your daily operations shift?

Many electronic devices claim things such as “water resistant” or “water proof.” However, how do you know if they are what they actually claim to be? That’s where IP ratings come in.

A rugged tablet manufacturer doesn't get to just include the word 'rugged' on their products and call it a day. Rugged tablets are put through strenuous testing and must meet certain performance guidelines in order to truly be considered rugged by industry standards. The rugged tablet industry has adopted testing standards developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), the U.S. military (MIL-STD 810G), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), among other organizations. Tablets are tested against vibration and tumbling, extreme temperatures, humidity and liquids, and drops.

Not all work takes place in an office. Many businesses' daily operations occur in less-than-ideal conditions, especially dirty jobs in harsh industries. For frontline workers in mining, oil and gas, construction, or even agriculture, consumer grade devices just won't cut it. Rugged and sealed tablets are designed from the ground up to meet MIL-STD-810g, IP65, and C1D2 standards to ensure worker safety while reducing downtime and increasing efficiency.

For manufacturing and warehouse operations, being able to mount a rugged tablet to a forklift can greatly increase worker productivity. Before you purchase a rugged tablet and mounting system, there are some important things to take into account. Here are our top 5 considerations.

Having complete screen visibility is crucial for frontline workers, but an intense glare or a shattered screen can halt work on the spot. A shattered screen may take your tablet out of commission for days when it needs to be sent in for repair. That's why MobileDemand offers the ultimate addition to your rugged tablets: an anti-glare screen protector.

Say hello to the new and improved xTablet T8650. The innovative 8-inch rugged Windows tablet is known for being feature rich, rugged, value priced, and designed to enhance worker productivity. Today, it boasts several feature upgrades to help you get more work done in less time.

For warehouse operations, efficiency and productivity plays a huge role in customer satisfaction and improvement in the overall bottom line. Any extra time a worker wastes on an inefficient system is valuable time lost, meaning fewer picks or orders filled each day.

Many healthcare facilities are looking to enable their workers with mobile technology solutions. When choosing devices, it is important to understand the benefits of choosing enterprise devices, rather than consumer grade devices. Here are four of our top reasons for choosing enterprise devices in healthcare.

There are many benefits to mounting a rugged tablet to a forklift, truck, or other vehicle. If you decide to mount a tablet, you are faced with many questions, but there is one you must ask yourself: How are you going to supply power to your tablet?

From retail to hospitals and field services to supply chain, barcodes have been used since 1974 to increase efficiency and engagement. They enhance data management and are becoming more dynamic in their usage. There are multiple types of barcodes, however, so how do you know which is the best option for your business?

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused healthcare systems to learn more about isolation and how it affects patients and their quality of care. Not only are patients physically removed from their loved ones, the people they interact with, their care team, present themselves hidden behind sterile personal protective equipment (PPE) that hides nonverbal expressions that would normally offer patients comfort and assurance.

Today's consumers expect an increased level of service and overall enhanced shopping experience from all retailers. While online shopping is increasing in popularity, retailers need to give consumers a reason, outside of their product and service offerings, to come into their store.

Firstline workers all over the world, spanning countless environments and workflows in industries such as manufacturing, retail, restaurants, and more, are using MobileDemand rugged tablets and cases to achieve more. Many of these devices get passed from one person to the next as shifts change throughout the day. Now, more than ever, it is highly recommended that organizations adopt processes for routine cleaning and disinfecting devices for the health and safety of employees and customers.

As the world begins to open up in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses are facing new challenges in everyday operations. Even as we find some normalcy, these businesses will ultimately function differently from what we were used to, pre-pandemic.

With businesses and healthcare offices slowly beginning to allow customers back in, many organizations are making the choice to implement 'health' checks for their employees and customers or patients upon entrance to the facility. These screenings may include checking temperature and pulse oximetry, as well as a questionnaire about general health, recent travel, or potential exposure.

Following ruggedness, mobility is one of the most important requirements for companies investing in a rugged tablet for their workplace; but sometimes workers need their tablet to become stationary. Having the option to easily switch from handheld to mounted can increase worker efficiency and productivity in a number of industries including field service, manufacturing, retail, and so many more. That's why MobileDemand offers mounting options for every rugged tablet and case we offer.

Rugged tablets are extremely popular for frontline workers due to their ease of mobility. But sometimes, even the most mobile of workers need to be stationary. The ability to quickly switch from being mobile to stationary can increase productivity by leaps and bounds. If you are considering mounting a tablet, there is a lot to think about, so here are our top questions to ask yourself before making a mounting decision.

MIL-STD-810G is something you often see referred to when it comes to rugged technology. Companies will claim MIL-STD-810G designed, certified, and tested, but what exactly does that mean?

MobileDemand is pleased to announce the donation of 50,000 surgical masks and 14,000 face shields to Corridor-area hospitals and healthcare providers.

Microsoft recently phased out their Surface Go tablet to make enhancements for the newly launched Surface Go 2. MobileDemand’s rugged Surface Go 2 xCase will accommodate this updated version of the popular tablet. The Go 2 has an additional .5 inches of screen size, and the bezel has been thinned out, keeping the dimensions the same as the original and maintaining the 3:2 aspect ratio.

For today's modern enterprises, staying connected is crucial. Operating at the level of reliability Verizon connectivity provides is what frontline workers expect. Verizon Wireless has certified the proven rugged xTablets T1150 and T1180 making it easier than ever to work from anywhere.

More and more companies are starting to run their workforces from powerful consumer-grade tablets, like iPads®, that meet their on-the-go business needs. Unfortunately, consumer grade tablets aren’t designed for rough-and-tumble industries like beverage distribution, warehousing, or logistics. That’s where MobileDemand is filling the gap, with a steady cadence of product launches focused on ruggedizing consumer grade tablets and improving productivity.

Consumer tablets come to market extremely fast and leave even faster. While useful, and sometimes even vital, for the operation of many businesses, it’s costly to have to replace outdated technology every few years. Rugged tablets help ease that trouble.

When it comes to working out in the field, nothing is more frustrating than when you have technology that won’t work, or worse, breaks. Fortunately, rugged tablets are not only able to get the job done, they won’t crack under the pressure.

Business is dynamic and everchanging. It can be difficult to find the perfect solution to a problem. While most companies just give you their product and expect you to make it work, MobileDemand takes a different approach.

With so many companies shouting the benefits of their tablets, it can be difficult to know what is actually true and what is a bit of a stretch. Since the first touch screen broke, everything has slowly become more rugged. But what makes a true rugged tablet rugged?

Rugged tablets and forklifts work in tandem to elevate productivity. Sure, ruggedized laptops are useful in their own space, but they’re not really built for kind of punishment a forklift can dish out. Here are just a few advantages of this versatile, mountable solution.

Warehouses are only as efficient as their employees, and their employees are only as efficient as the tools they're given. Forklifts and pallet jacks have aided in moving product quicker, but what helps move it more accurately? While pencil and paper may be the age-old technique, what if there was a better way?

MIL-STD-810G is one of the major factors to consider when determining what rugged tablet is suitable for your needs. But not all MIL-STD-810G testing is the same. In fact, there is no actual set of regulations used to test for drop resistance. So how do you know what the company does to test for MIL-STD-810G? By staying vigilant.

There are many benefits to having a tablet in your retail environment beyond the benefits it can provide in your warehouse. Here are four benefits of a tablet in retail.

We are all familiar with the idea of barcodes. Any trip to the grocery store means you will encounter thousands of them, each one assigned to a product. But how exactly do barcodes work? Here is a brief history on barcodes and how they work.

If you’re looking to purchase rugged technology, chances are you’re looking for something that’s tough enough to take out into the field. But with field work, there’s more to it than just having a device that can take the bumps and drops. You want something that’s not only going to be powerful enough to run the applications necessary for your business, but something that will be comfortable and easy to carry. In today’s day and age, there are numerous choices for ruggedized technology, but it boils down to one major question: Do you use a rugged laptop or rugged tablet?

After nearly 10 years with the Windows 7® operating system (OS), it's nearing time to say goodbye. As it stands a little under half of all the computers in the world still use it.

Which is the right choice – consumer or rugged tablets? No doubt that’s a question that anyone with the need for such technology has asked themselves. Other questions that might be asked include: What’s the real difference between the two? Is one superior to another, and if so, why? Here are six differences you’ll quickly notice between the consumer and rugged tablets.

This blog post comes from Russ Martin, Southeast Regional Sales Manager here at MobileDemand. - For more than 20 years, forklift mounted computers, originally known as vehicle mounted terminals (VMT), have been transforming the way products move throughout the supply chain. Early implementations of these VMTs usually emulated traditional host-based terminal applications. Adding bar code scanning to the system greatly improved the timeliness and accuracy of the data in the system, allowing companies to be more attuned to their operational efficiencies. As with most process improvements, these strides going forward did come with a step or two back. In the case of the vehicle mounted computers, these back steps came in the form of power glitches, resulting in the terminal shutting down, or rebooting; usually resulting in the loss of critical data. These interruptions could cause a loss of productivity due to downtime that resulted while the user waited to log back on to the system to resume their duties.