IHS Technology reports that factories are the latest to bear witness to the BYOD phenomenon.
The popular practice of bring-your-own-device is quickly reshaping information technology in business offices. And now it’s spreading to the manufacturing sector.
The newest whitepaper from IHS indicates that employee-owned smartphones and tablets are playing an increasingly important role in manufacturing settings for 2014 and even beyond.
From the report:
Rising numbers of manufacturing workers are utilizing their own smartphones and tablets to monitor and control industrial equipment, according to a new white paper from IHS Technology IHS. Such smartphones and tablets can allow users to manage equipment remotely, observing processes while employees are on the move or while they are working in another part of the factory.
IHS says that the BYOD trend now is being driven by individuals, but companies in the future are likely to accommodate this phenomenon by “provisioning employees with ruggedized devices tailored to the rigors of the factory floor.”
“The use of BYOD devices in manufacturing is predicted to rise at a rapid rate in the coming years. But because the movement is being driven by individuals and not at the corporate level, gauging the number of BYOD devices being used or to forecast the growth of the market is difficult,” said Mark Watson, associate director for industrial automation at IHS. “Just the same, anecdotal research conducted by IHS indicates the BYOD trend is expanding in the manufacturing realm.”
