A mobility solution that turned internal resistance into optimal results

Maxbo, one of Norway’s largest building suppliers had been using mobile devices for several years, but a few problems had made the employees resistant to use them. First of all, the WiFi coverage was insufficient in the large stores, causing the mobile devices to lose the connection to the network in the middle of an order.

In addition, the mobile devices had become a burden to Maxbo’s IT department. Devices that needed repair turned into time-consuming problems with too many steps to get a damaged unit serviced or replaced.

For this reason, many workers thought it was easier to simply use pen and paper – even though it was less efficient and resulted in lower quality with more picking errors, communication failures, and shrinkage.

After learning about us from one of its suppliers, Maxbo contracted us to create a more stable and flexible solution, with the ultimate goal of increasing the number of orders submitted from a mobile devices.

When building Maxbo’s solution, it was important that the user interface looked and operated in the same way as the old software. Even though we built a completely new system with the option to add more features, Maxbo’s employees did not have to learn a new application.

The big change was under the hood.

For hardware we chose an advanced rugged mobile device with a SIM card that provided a connection to the 4G-network if the WiFi is unavailable. Because the device is Android-based, it supports future developments and system integrations.

To make it easier for store workers and IT staff, we put together a mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) solution. In addition to hardware and software, the solution also includes operation, maintenance, service, support, and 24-hours replacement service.

This means that Techstep has the full technical responsibility for the solution and Maxbo only needs to worry about using the devices and submitting a service request if a device needs a repair. Everything is included at a fixed monthly cost per device, allowing Maxbo to add or reduce the number of mobile devices at any time.

At the project start-up, Maxbo had set the bar high and the goal was not only to increase the number of orders made with mobile devices, but to also achieve 100 % usage among the employees. It was an aggressive goal, but a survey carried out three months after implementing the new system showed the goal had already been reached.

We are proud that we has contributed to such a noticeable efficiency increase and we have since started several new projects together with Maxbo.