Fast, accurate facility lighting estimates with FileMaker Go for iPad
Johnson Controls modernizes the task of lighting factories and offices with FileMaker Go.
Lighting a factory or office building starts with charting every light fixture, the power it consumes and its output. Industrial lighting company Johnson Controls used to document these inspections on paper, which can lead to errors. Now the company uses FileMaker Go for iPad to create fast, error-free estimates for customers.
"They needed an accurate way to audit facility lighting systems," says Sterling Rouse, the developer at 360Works who built the solution for Johnson Controls. "With FileMaker Go, they're able to take accurate notes in the field on an iPad and get clean records for their central FileMaker Pro database. It's a great solution and it was incredibly easy to implement, compared to building an iPad application from scratch."
Replacing Paper and Faxes
With FileMaker Go, they're able to take accurate notes in the field on an iPad.
During a field audit, Johnson Controls collects reams of data. Traditionally, the company's auditors took notes by hand with pen and paper. It was the tried-and-true way of getting complete audits.
"They would fax the notes to the main office, where someone would transcribe them and put them into the FileMaker Pro database," says Rouse. "It was a multi-step process and they needed a way to log the data more accurately and avoid transcription errors. We were in the middle of creating a custom iPad application when FileMaker Go was released. We knew right away that it was perfect for Johnson Controls."
Internet Optional
Reliable internet connectivity is not a guarantee in all the places where Johnson needs to gather data. Fortunately, FileMaker Go allows solutions to either directly connect to the central database on a server, or to operate entirely locally. Johnson chose the local option. This gives them a fast and efficient way to enter data on the iPad on the spot.
Faster and More Reliable
Johnson Controls auditors can now visit a site, enter data and take notes on their iPads, then transmit the data to the main database when they return to the office or when they have a reliable internet connection.
"Audits take a couple of days. At the end, they push the data back to the main database," says Rouse. "It'll save a ton of time and there shouldn't be any transcription errors in the audits."
Easy, efficient mobile solutions with FileMaker
Creating and deploying iPad and iPhone solutions with the FileMaker platform is easy and efficient. Rouse says he developed the main database on the desktop and ported it to the iPad almost effortlessly. "There aren't really any differences when you're developing for FileMaker Go," he says. "We do account for the iPad form-factor and touch screen. We make the fields and buttons bigger and keep the interface in mind. But you don't have to. You can port an existing FileMaker Pro database to FileMaker Go and it'll work without modification."
Performance-wise, FileMaker Go runs as well as its desktop/notebook parent, says Rouse. "It works great. The performance is as expected. I build it on the desktop and when I push it to the iPad, it behaves the way I expect it to behave. It's a good feeling knowing that mobile development will be so straightforward from now on."