11/09/2023
#5 Lessons the Pandemic Taught Us About the Importance of Connected Workers
The pandemic showed us how unprepared some organisations are to major disruptions. With travel restrictions and social distancing rules, many companies in the industrial sector were forced to scale back productivity to ensure the safety of their frontline workers, equipment experts, project supervisors, and clients.
This is in stark contrast to knowledge workers who continue to work remotely. This reduction in efficiency across the workforce highlights the importance of a digital transformation strategy and how a Connected Worker approach can ensure business continuity.
While many industrial workers are deskless and unable to work from home, they can still be a connected worker with technologies that integrate them into their worksite and empower them with real-time information.
Here are 5 ways connected workers were able to maximise productivity during the pandemic.
1. Connected workers reduce operating costs
During the early months of the pandemic, health officials didn't fully understand the virus and testing was unreliable. Many countries advised and enforced a 14-day quarantine for suspected exposures and traveling plummeted. Unfortunately, many organisations had factories or worksites all over the world and relied on air travel to allow technical experts to maintain and repair equipment.
Organisations that deployed Realwear technology during these times were able to respond quickly when sending people to locations was no longer an option. A worker at location, even a lesser skilled or experienced worker, could wear a Realwear headset that enabled 2-way audio and video for a remote expert to guide the onsite team through a process and collaborate in real time. Not only saving the time and costs associated with travel, but the 28-day quarantined that would have applied.
Going forward, this shows how connected workers can reduce costs associated with travel, lost time, and extended equipment downtime through their own Connected Workers. Not to mention the training and up-skilling.