Modernizing a Mobile Fleet with Rugged Devices and Fully Managed Services

Richards Building Supply faced significant challenges with its mobile device infrastructure and needed managed mobility services to improve reliability across its fleet. Its workforce relied on Samsung smartphones, but the fleet was fragmented across different versions and operating systems, creating compatibility and support issues. The devices experienced frequent breakage due to rugged working conditions, resulting in costly replacements and downtime. This not only impacted employee productivity but also threatened the company’s ability to effectively use Descartes software for proof of delivery and route optimization, which is essential to its operations.

The problem was compounded by several factors:

• Device Management Complexity: Supporting multiple device types and OS versions made troubleshooting and maintenance time-consuming for IT teams. With no dedicated support partner, every issue landed on already-stretched internal resources.
• Downtime Costs: Frequent device failures led to service interruptions, delaying deliveries and negatively affecting the customer experience. Without a spare-pool strategy, a single broken device could sideline a driver for days while waiting for a replacement.
• Mounting & Connectivity Issues: Devices were not always properly mounted in trucks, and some lacked Verizon certification for reliable cellular connectivity, which impacted real-time data exchange with Descartes applications.
• No Visibility, No Early Warning: Lacking continuous monitoring, the company had no way to see device health across the fleet or catch failures before they happened. Problems surfaced only after they had already disrupted operations.
• Reactive, Fragmented Support: Without centralized, proactive device management, the company struggled to ensure consistent software performance and updates, leaving reliability to chance.

This created a situation in which Descartes software performance risked being undermined by poor hardware reliability, ultimately putting customer satisfaction at risk.

Richards Building Supply partnered with our team to modernize its mobility ecosystem:

• Hardware Standardization: We transitioned the company to Zebra TC50 rugged devices, consolidating its mobile fleet into a single, standardized platform.
• Cellular Enablement: Devices were certified with Verizon to ensure reliable carrier connectivity across the fleet.
• Fully Managed Mobility Services: Through our StayLive managed services, Richards Building Supply gained a true support partner across its fleet of devices, with always-on troubleshooting, continuous monitoring of device health, and a managed spare pool that swaps out failed units quickly so trucks keep rolling and data keeps flowing.
• Ecosystem Transparency: In close collaboration with SOTI, we delivered full visibility into the device fleet, proactively identifying and resolving failures and challenges before they cascaded into downtime.
• Partnership Alignment: We worked closely with Descartes to ensure its software continued to run optimally on the new hardware, enhancing the overall user experience and maximizing productivity.

This consultative approach went beyond simply selling devices. It delivered a full solution that included hardware, software integration, and ongoing managed support that Richards Building Supply could count on.