IoT is taking companies by storm. Not just those involved in the wider industry. The Internet of Things is proving itself in a number of applications, as discussed in our series 5 questions to… Sebastian Mlodzinski, CEO of Timate, says.
The Internet of Things used in business is primarily associated with industry. But IoT solutions are not only the domain of large industrial plants and corporations. Are Polish SMEs willing to implement IoT?
Sebastian Młodziński, CEO of Timate: Polish companies from the SME sector are keenly interested in implementing technological innovations, including those from the Internet of Things area. Entrepreneurs are aware that innovations can help them manage their organisations better and optimise processes and expenses. We see this on a daily basis at TIMATE. Companies come to us because they want to implement a solution that will allow them to create a friendly working environment, motivate employees, and assess the use of working time.
However, it is worth mentioning that IoT systems work well when they are used by as many people as possible. Why? Because implementing elements of the Internet of Things in a company requires installing the appropriate infrastructure, which may prove to be a disproportionately large expense for small companies. However, if the company employs several dozen, or preferably – more than a hundred people – in this case, the effect of scale will work and the benefits and savings generated by the system and its functionalities will exceed the costs incurred by the company.
What are the barriers to implementation of the Internet of Things?
S.M.: These barriers are several. The first is scale, which I have already mentioned. IoT installations make the most sense and bring the most benefit when they involve a larger number of employees. Preferably several hundred people. The second barrier is sometimes the company’s existing IT infrastructure – or rather the lack of it. To implement IoT, however, you need to have a server or computers, or be willing to buy or lease them.
We also face a mental barrier – IoT devices replace processes, they are intelligent, they can manage people and projects faster than employees. Not everyone is able to accept such a fact.
Another barrier is a lack of trust – in innovation and the fact that it is able to really support business operations effectively.
Finally, it is also worth mentioning an apparent barrier, namely finance. Many managers are reluctant to implement IoT solutions because they are afraid of the costs that need to be incurred when implementing such a system in a company. In reality, however, investments in Internet of Things devices pay for themselves very quickly.
Has the pandemic noticeably hampered IoT implementations in business?
S.M.: Yes, the pandemic has inhibited IoT deployments for a very simple reason. The Internet of Things is still a new technology that companies have yet to embrace, that they need to know and understand and trust. Businesses still approach technological innovations very distrustfully. They want to touch, test and explore before they decide to implement. Pandemic times have unfortunately taken away the opportunity for all of us to learn about innovations directly. We didn’t meet at trade fairs and conferences, we couldn’t talk face-to-face, present solutions and answer questions in real time. This translated into a decrease in the number of implementations.
Interestingly, the war in Ukraine is, in turn, affecting the increased interest in IoT tools. We have an increasingly competitive labour market, with young workers emerging who have completely different requirements and needs, including in terms of technology. Inflation and costs are rising, which is why it is so important today to introduce solutions that help optimise company processes and provide cost savings, while creating a friendly and desirable working environment for employees.
How do employees react to the implementation of TIMATE in their company?
S.M.: Sometimes we encounter resistance from employees at the first moment. This is understandable, as people simply do not like change and are afraid that the new tool will require additional work and commitment from them. In the case of TIMATE, users also have concerns that the system will track them and note down minute by minute what they are doing. However, these concerns are unfounded. Our solution does not collect any sensitive or biometric data. The system only collects information about the employee’s movement and location – at a frequency of every minute. Thus, it only shows the employer how much time the employee has spent in a certain zone and whether he has moved or not during this time. Only on the basis of pre-determined norms for a specific position can conclusions be drawn as to whether the employee was doing work (e.g. as a warehouse worker moving around or as an office worker sitting at a computer) or not.
Quite quickly, however, employees begin to see the benefits of implementing the system. They see that they are being treated fairly, because the employer has an overview of how much and how they work, they get feedback on their work every day, and this evaluation – given automatically by the system – translates into additional bonuses, including financial ones. The system also gives them the opportunity to influence how the whole company works. If they get a bad mark for their work, which is not due to their negligence but, for example, to poor process organisation, they can immediately show their manager what is not working and what needs to be improved.
In addition, the system ensures the safety of employees, which is of considerable importance for both the employees and the company management.
Implementing a change involving, among other things, accurate recording of employees’ working time is not the simplest process. What are the risks involved? What benefits should be taken into account when deciding on implementation?
S.M.: One of the biggest risks is a lack of understanding of the change and the benefits it brings. At the same time, it is worth remembering that awareness of the benefits from implementation must be widespread. This means that every interested group of employees should be given accurate and relevant information about the system. This ranges from management, who will want to know if and how the solution will help the company save money, to managers, for whom it is important whether they will have more work to do and how the new solution will help them manage their teams on a day-to-day basis, to employees, who want to hear that the new tool is easy to use, does not track their steps and will help them perform their duties better and raise their bonuses.
In contrast, accurate monitoring of work and its time can bring significant financial benefits to a business. By implementing TIMATE, it is possible to reduce the time employees do not spend on their duties by 80%. And this translates into tangible sums. It is worth bearing in mind that, in many cases, excessive breaks, leaving the office or factory during work time or simply doing nothing at all is due to an inadequate distribution of responsibilities among employees. Some of them have too much to do, while others are given too few tasks in relation to their FTE. TIMATE allows you to analyse the distribution of tasks and the time spent on them, so you can immediately see how you can optimise your work and make it more efficient. In other words – careful monitoring of working time allows you to optimise your processes and thus make more efficient operations and savings.
