Mechanics at Heinen & Hopman save time through the software solution of NetMotion

The mechanics at Heinen & Hopman, provider of marine and offshore HVAC (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning) solutions, rely heavily on a good Internet connection.
This is because the mechanics use cell phones, laptops and tablets on a daily basis to perform their work.
Having a stable, reliable and secure connection is necessary to use applications such as 3D visualizations of the ships they work on.
NetMotion’s Mobility solution allows the mechanics to access essential data anywhere and anytime without disruption.

Poor Internet connection on construction sites Because Heinen & Hopman’s field technicians work primarily on construction sites and construction sites, they often have to deal with weak Internet connections.
Therefore, before the implementation of the NetMotion software, field workers regularly suffered from dropped connections, which caused irritation.
Having to re-establish a VPN connection each time caused a lot of lost time and problems in operations.
This is because without this connection, the engineers cannot be provided with the correct and most up-to-date information, such as shipbuilding drawings.
Setting up such a connection with username and password every time disrupted the daily work to a great extent.
Because employees could not rely on the presence of a reliable Internet connection, other solutions were sought.
For example, employees took their laptops with them, on which a static version of the building plans could be opened.
However, the result was that without an Internet connection, this information was not synchronized and was therefore out of date.
This defeated the purpose of the Internet applications.

Uninterrupted use of applications For Heinen & Hopman, NetMotion’s Software Defined Mobility (SDM) solution offers a solution.
By setting up a software-defined, mobile infrastructure, policies can be quickly created that then take effect automatically under certain conditions.
For example, only primary applications are allowed when the connection is 3G or lower, to make the best use of available bandwidth and ensure that important applications continue to perform well.
The required session remains constantly active in the “background” eliminating the need to log in again.

“The mechanics are so enthusiastic that everyone is asking for this solution. So we are expanding it further for more devices, with the goal of being able to work mobile anywhere.”

Reinier van Schaik | ICT Manager

This solution solved the problem of malfunctioning applications.
Nowadays, field staff can access essential data about the ship anywhere and undisturbed, allowing them to take their devices on board and eliminating the need to return to an office location on the dock each time.
This eliminates employee frustration, increases productivity and reduces lost time.
Reinier van Schaik, ICT manager at Heinen & Hopman: “A large proportion of our mechanics enjoy working daily with devices running on NetMotion’s Mobility software.”
But not only the mechanics benefit from this new solution.
Van Schaik: “It also allows the technician in charge to spend more time on site without having to worry about side issues such as lost connections.”

Smooth and fast implementation

Since November 2016, a large part of Heinen & Hopman’s field staff has been working with NetMotion’s software.
The implementation went smoothly; after a successful Proof of Concept (PoC), the software went into production, allowing it to be implemented in the production network in one go.
Van Schaik: “The mechanics are so enthusiastic that everyone is asking for this solution. We are therefore expanding it further for more devices, with the goal of being able to work mobile everywhere.”
Van Schaik describes the implementation carried out by NetBoss, in collaboration with Dataplus, as knowledgeable and pragmatic: “Even though working with a high-tech product, NetBoss has two feet on the ground and thinks with you every step of the way.”
Since the arrival of NetBoss, as NetMotion’s implementation partner, much has changed within Heinen & Hopman.
“Our employees boot up their device, log in once and the connection is automatically set up in the background and then NetMotion software is like turning on a light bulb: “Instead of manually flipping a switch, the ‘light’ now turns on as soon as you walk past it.”