Timex always said its wristwatches could "take a licking and keep
on ticking." But Timex wasn't making laptops.
Still, for some businesses, laptops need to take the occasional
beating. Some would crumble under the pressure, but others can
weather the storm -- literally.
Since 1995, Sears Holding Company, parent of Kmart and Sears,
Roebuck and Co., has been putting hardware from Itronix to the
test. Itronix makes ruggedised notebooks. Sears Holding has used
the Itronix GoBook 1 since 2002. Those models replaced the Itronix
XC6000 notebooks.
Sears Holding's in-home technicians use GoBooks - dubbed the
Sears Smart Toolbox (SST) - for service order dispatch, GPS
mapping, messaging, parts look-up, parts inventory, estimate,
credit card authorisations, computer-based training, timekeeping,
and some third-party diagnostics applications. The company has more
than 10,000 of the notebooks in service across the US.
For example, a Sears technician can go to a home to fix an
appliance. While there, the technician can access information on
parts and other diagnostics instantly and wirelessly. That, along
with the GPS providing the best route to the home, helps the
company boost productivity in the field and reduces the number of
back-and-forth trips a technician must make. Because the laptops
are always in motion, a rugged option is necessary.
Sears Holding is the US' largest provider of home services,
averaging more than 13 million service calls per year. That means
the laptops go in and out of a truck more than 13 million times;
there are 13 million-plus chances for it to be dropped or suffer
some other type of damage.
The GoBooks have not really been subjected to serious poundings
so far, but SST program manager Daniel Bowman recalled a time with
the XC6000s that confirmed the need for a laptop that was a bit
more, well, rugged.
"Our former model, the XC6000, was caught in a tornado disaster
which involved the technician and vehicle," Bowman said. "The
laptop was later found in a farmer's field and returned to Sears
because of the customised 'Sears' label on the top cover. After
removing the soil and a basic cleanup of the battery terminals, the
laptop booted-up fine." The technician also made it through the
tornado unharmed.
While the XC6000 was considered ultra-rugged, the GoBook 1 is
one level below. According to Bowman, it can still withstand some
harsh treatment, though testing its limits is not really
recommended.
"Our technicians understand they are working with a laptop, and
although rugged, it is still a laptop," he said. "The SST tends to
be handled with a bit more care these days due to the pain of not
having one for a day or two while replacement equipment is sent
out."
"We have yet to have an incident that matches the tornado
story," Bowman continued, "but most of our wear and tear today
involves the LCD and touch-screen."
According to Itronix, the GoBook 1 is a rugged laptop capable of
withstanding shock, vibration and spills. Recently, GoBook 1 has
been replaced by newer models, the GoBook VR-1 and GoBook 3.
Along with Itronix, other rugged laptops include Panasonic
ToughBooks, Ergo notebooks, and Terralogic laptops, tablets and
handhelds. Typically, a rugged laptop is classified by its stronger
outer casing. They are usually designed for exposure to extreme
temperatures, between -10 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit; rain, snow,
sleet and other liquids - some can handle up to four inches of rain
an hour; dust and other particles, and hazardous materials. They
are also designed to withstand shocks caused by drops, shakes or
collisions with heavy equipment.
Rugged laptops are usually chosen by emergency response crews,
industrial workers, mobile technicians, auto mechanics, military
personnel or any profession that is predominantly outdoors or in
turbulent or unpredictable conditions. Essentially, a rugged laptop
needs to be able to withstand a high-speed chase, a blasting zone
or a manufacturing plant mishap.
Sears Holding selected Itronix for a few simple reasons, Bowman
said.
"Itronix is an industry leader in ruggedised mobile workforces,"
he said. "And coupled with their helpdesk, depot services, advanced
exchange program, and overall client services organisation, the
choice was [easy]."
Bowman added that a range of services, a strong warranty,
maintenance and general repair were also huge selling points.
"Compared to their competitors, their services really do take
Itronix to the upper level in the industry," he said. "As the
culture here at Sears continues to be very customer focused, the
fact that Itronix provides us with the same level of service that
we love to provide for our customers creates much of the selling
point."
Although Bowman is quick to sing the praises of GoBook, he said
that there are some minor drawbacks, principally the weight.
"From a field usage perspective, it would be nice to have a
laptop that was a bit lighter for the technician," he said. "Our
technicians already carry tools and equipment other than the SST,
so if it was possible with today's technology, I would prefer a
fully ruggedised laptop under four pounds."
Though the laptops may be a little heavy to carry day in and day
out, the good far outweighs the bad, Bowman said, adding that the
GoBooks boost customer service and productivity.
"Nearly every one of our processes prior to implementing the
system back in 1995 involved manual processing or required the
technician to contact a series of different supporting associates
to complete any given service call," he said. "Today, our
technicians can offer the customer extremely accurate estimates
from a parts, labour and protection-agreement standpoint, [and they
can] repair merchandise using advanced diagnostics tools and parts
look-up schematics."
Sears Holding has also added such features as split payment
options to give customers flexibility in how to pay for collect
call services. The company has added GPS mapping to help get the
technicians to and from calls efficiently, cutting down the overall
drive time. And estimate and billing screens automatically
calculate service promotions, tax exemptions, discounts and other
mathematical functions that help technicians build rapport with
customers on a pricing structure.
"The technician is not spending extra time performing estimates
and point-of-sale transactions manually with pencil and paper,"
Bowman said.
Overall, he said, using rugged laptops has changed the way Sears
Holding does business.
"The SST provides our technicians with a suite of powerful tools
for automating many of our manual processing activities in the
field," he said. "One of the larger benefits, however, is the
feedback from our customers on how much more professional[ly] our
field service technicians present themselves while in millions of
homes each year helping [people] to resolve their household
appliance, lawn and garden, electronic, recreational, power tool
and HVAC issues. We can make appliance problems go away much more
efficiently, and our customers like that."