Tips for Maintaining Your Mobile Device Spare Pool

Running An Effective Mobile Computer Spare Pool

In industries such as warehousing, transportation, and manufacturing, operations rely heavily on enterprise mobility technology such as mobile computers and rugged tablets. Downtimes caused by accidents and device failures can cause production to slow or cease. Thus, it has become increasingly critical for companies to ensure that the correct number of mobile computers, tablets, and scanners are on-hand for the staff to use.

Because it is guaranteed that device downtime will occasionally occur, this means that a buffer of extra units (a spare pool) should be available within reasonable time to fill in when they are needed.

Here are some thoughts and tips for companies on maintaining your mobile device spare pool to ensure uninterrupted supply chain workflow and minimize downtime.

Spare Pool - devices in reserve

What is a Mobile Device Spare Pool?

A mobile device spare pool refers to a designated inventory of ready-to-deploy rugged mobile computers , tablets , scanners or printers kept aside as backups. These devices are typically used in environments where equipment damage or failure can disrupt operations, impacting productivity and efficiency. These devices should be deployable within an acceptable period of time determined by the company.

Why Should a Company Maintain a Spare Pool?

The primary reason to maintain a spare pool is to mitigate downtime caused by device failures. In environments like warehouses or manufacturing plants, where mobile devices are essential for tasks such as inventory management, order picking, and quality control, any malfunctioning device can halt critical operations or leave affected employees unproductive. Having a spare pool ensures that operations can swiftly resume without waiting for repairs or replacements, and can be an essential part of mobile device fleet management.

Optimal spare pool size

How Many Spare Devices Should You Keep in Your Pool?

The number of spares to be held in the pool must be determined by the unique circumstances of the business in question. The optimal pool size can depend on several factors:

  • Usage Intensity and Failure Frequency : What has been the company’s historical failure rate? How frequently do devices experience failure or damage? Businesses with rugged operating environments are likely to have a higher failure rate than slower, more gentle operations.
  • Criticality of Operations : Consider how quickly you need to replace a malfunctioning device to avoid operational disruption. Does the new device have to be available in minutes, or days?
  • Lead Time for Repairs : Assess how long it takes to repair or replace devices. This will likely be determined by the support plan you have purchased for your rugged devices. Check the SLA for your support contract or review your historical experience.

We have seen spare pools sized from 5 to 20% of total in-use device quantity. The most common rule of thumb is 10 but adjust for the factors listed above as well your unique cost of downtime.

How Do You Ensure That the Spare Devices Are Ready to Deploy When Needed?

The last thing you want is to have a spare pool, but then find that the spare computers have not been maintained so as to be deployable when needed. Before devices can be deployed to production, they must be charged and operational, and also loaded with the correct firmware and applications. This means that you need to ensure that spare units are covered when making changes to mobile device OS firmware and applications. To ensure readiness:

  • Utilize Mobile Device Management (MDM) Software : We strongly recommend the use of MDM software for all device fleets of quantity. MDM allows you to maintain a standard device profile, which means that when changes are made, they can be virtually pushed to all of your fleet regardless of its location. With MDM you can ensure that the spare pool is covered when you make updates. The MDM profile also serves as a documentation of the exact way each of your devices should be set up. CSSI offers managed services and technical support for MDM software.
Where to maintain the spare pool

If Your Company Has Multiple Locations, Where Should You Maintain the Spare Pool?

If spares must be available within minutes, then the pool must be maintained on site. Obviously, for companies with multiple locations, this can cause a lot of spare redundancy, and the great expense of carrying additional units.

More common for multi-location businesses, a single central location is designated as the hub for spare devices. Spares are immediately shipped from the hub to locations where they are needed, and repaired units are returned from repair depots back to the hub. This will reduce the need to carry redundant quantities of devices. Also, centralizing the spare pool at a central distribution center or a strategically located hub can streamline logistics and ensure quick deployment to any location when needed. This approach also helps in better inventory management and maintenance tracking.

How Can You Ensure That the Spare Pool Is Not Depleted?

It’s important to put in place systems for inventory management of the spare pool and RMA submissions for damaged devices. But most vitally:

Ensure that the spare pool is replenished!: The single biggest challenge we see our customers encounter is keeping the spare pool stocked. Why is this? Let’s say a handheld fails at Site A. A request is made to pull a replacement device from the pool at Site B. Also, a return material authorization (RMA) is requested with the manufacturer to return the damaged unit for repair, and a shipping label is issued. It is not uncommon to find that the team at Site A forgets to send the broken device back for repair! After a few instances of this, the company may find that there are no remaining spares in the pool! This can be avoided by putting in place processes to ensure that the loop is closed with the shipment of the failed device to the repair depot.

When Does It Make Sense to Outsource Spare Pool Management to a Third Party?

Does your IT team have the resources to take on the task of spare pool management? If not, then a third party such as CSSI, which specializes in MDM and mobile devices, may be better suited to handle your spares for you. With a third party like CSSI providing spare pool management services , you gain:

  • Expertise : We specialize in managing spare inventories efficiently.
  • Scalability : We can scale the spare pool size according to your needs.
  • Cost Efficiency : Outsourcing can sometimes reduce overall costs associated with spare pool management.

Consider outsourcing if your company lacks internal resources or expertise to manage spare inventories effectively, or if you operate in multiple regions requiring localized support.

Discuss Spare Pool Management Services With CSSI

Maintaining your mobile device spare pool is essential for industries reliant on rugged mobile computers . By strategically planning the size, location, and management of your spare pool, companies can ensure operational continuity and minimize disruptions caused by device failures.

If you’d like to discuss spare pool management and how CSSI might help with either mobile device management services or spare pool management services, please contact us to get started. Our managed services team will be happy to discuss your needs with you.

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