The client
Teksid is a world-leading Italian industrial group in the iron and steel industry.
Gruppo Teksid was founded in 1978 by the Fiat Group to bring together Ferriere Piemontesi, Industrie Metallurgiche Torino e Ferriera di Buttigliera Alta. With the merger in 2014 of Fiat S.p.A. and the Chrysler Group into the new Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Group, Teksid became part of the FCA Group, the seventh largest automotive manufacturer in the world and a leader in the industry.
The company has seven plants worldwide: four in Europe, one in South America, one in Central America and one in China. Among the features that make it a global player are its long experience in the field, high automation, continuous technology upgrades to raise quality standards, and close integration with the development of client products.
Website
Commodities Sector
Iron and steel sector / industry
Number of employees
Over 160
Partner
Microsoft
Case history data
The client expressed the need to monitor productivity and breakdown of several industrial machines. The machines did not have a control panel and were not interconnected. The request was to avoid interconnected wiring costs, preferring WiFi-based, battery-powered solutions.
Android provides two features: App Pinning and Lock Task Mode. The first feature allows you to have a single full-screen application, and to disable the Home button and the Recent Apps button. The second feature, on the other hand, allows you to take device administrator privileges, hide the Home and Recent Apps buttons, and lock your device on a single application.
The joint use of both features enabled Betacom to activae the kiosk mode, which will block/hide all features of the device except those exposed by a single application that is developed ad hoc. In this case, it was chosen to develop a native mobile application for Android Tablets that would allow you to self-connect to the existing WiFi network and use the content on a WebView.
Solutions adopted
A native mobile application for Android Tablets was developed that allows self-connection to the existing WiFi network and the use of content on a WebView. The subsequent development of a web app made it possible to make the business logic application remote and have instant deployments.
Benefits obtained
The client, without the need for expensive wiring, has a number of rugged tablets at their disposal that allow them to have, in real time, information about the failures and productivity of the industrial machines present. This solution is easily scalable and adaptable.
Products used
Native mobile app development for Android tablets
Business benefits
Less downtime for even top-level maintenance
Future developments
The foundations have been laid for a future and fruitful collaboration.