Frequently asked questions

What are the benefits of EZ-GO?

The app improves performance in many areas:

• Safety: Reduces the risk of accidents and near misses, and makes people more willing to report and tackle dangerous situations
• Quality: Reduces the risk of market quality incidents, recalls, guarantee claims, external complaints, internal rejection
• Production-line efficiency: Reduces the number of planned and unplanned stoppages
• Wastage: Makes materials and finished products less likely to require changes or be rejected
• Training: Simpler and faster training of new employees
• Employee productivity: Spend less time on administration of checklists and internal audits
• Lightens the workload of specialist technicians, so they can focus on more complex preventive maintenance and troubleshooting
• Makes your factory a more attractive workplace for new and existing employees

How is EZ-GO different from other mobile factory solutions?

Whereas other providers focus mainly on digitising checklists and visual work instructions, the EZ-GO app from EZ Factory goes further. Its task generator can schedule cleaning, inspection, lubrication and other autonomous maintenance jobs at fixed intervals. It also helps you to perform safety, quality, 5S and other audits, and allows operators to report issues and improvements to the relevant people and departments.

EZ-GO has four other important USPs:

1. The app has been developed by and for factory employees. They are the central starting point in determining what it does and how it works.
2. It’s very visual, with a strong emphasis on photos and videos. Images say more than words, and are more effective in ensuring that people comply with standards.
3. It’s extremely user friendly, and requires hardly any training, so you can concentrate on explaining why you want to work with it.
4. It standardizes tasks and ensures they’re carried out promptly and efficiently.

Can you use EZ-GO to train factory workers?

Yes, the EZ-GO app makes it possible to train operators in a real-life environment with machines on the factory floor rather than in a lecture room. The app is an addition to existing learning and development systems, and lets you create a separate area in which training material and other instructions are available in an easy-to-find visual format. You can also test new and existing operators on their skills using the checklist or audit functionality, and forward the completed training as well a include it in employment contracts.

How does it differ from content tools such as SharePoint?

Unlike content and documentation management solutions, EZ-GO lets you continuously store, share and manage valuable knowledge and make it available in real time on the shop floor, where you need it. After all, training is most effective when it’s carried out in the right place at the right time.

How quickly does EZ-GO pay for itself?

Based on business cases made by our customers, the app returns your investment between 5 and 15 times, year after year.

We can help you to draw up a business case in which the financial benefits are clearly mapped out. In an average-sized food factory, for example, the EZ-GO app will quickly pay for itself in the following ways:

1. 4 minutes downtime reduction per shift per line – 0.40% OEE
2. 6 kg waste reduction per shift per line – 0.06% material
3. 5 minute productivity increase per shift per user – 0.3% work time

What do users think of EZ-GO?

We regularly ask our customers whether they’re satisfied with the app, and how it could be improved. We call this our Key Happiness Indicator, and it’s very important: if they’re satisfied, they’ll use it to the full and see their performance improve.

In surveys, users give us an average rating of 8.8 out of 10. It’s appreciated by younger employees, who are already used to working digitally and tend not to use paper very much, while the older guard like the ability to  share their knowledge and leave something behind for the next generation.

How soon can you get started with EZ-GO?

You can start using it right away with just a username and password. You’ll need to configure some basic company data such as departmental structures and service times, and then begin uploading content such as recurring tasks, visual work instructions, and checklists. Your employees can do this on their own, and we can also help you organize a pilot proof-of-value project.

What does a proof-of-value project involve, and how long does it take?

You’re welcome to try EZ-GO for one to two months. We’ll set up a small project team to agree the following in advance:

• The purpose of the project
• The critical success factors, and how we measure these
• The preparations to be carried out, such as collecting the existing paper lists and spreadsheets
• The data to be uploaded

Examples of critical success factors include

• How end users are involved and trained
• The extent to which the app is actually used
• The user experience, measured by a survey
• A business case that maps out the expected benefits and costs

We’ll provide a training session, and the project team will populate the app with the agreed tasks, checklists, audits, work instructions, and other data. Once the end users are trained, the app can go live.

We’ll also hold either one or two evaluation sessions to discuss the measurement of the success factors and adjust these if necessary. At the end of the proof-of-value period, you’ll decide whether to roll out the app and we’ll draw up a licence contract.

What is important for a successful implementation?

We know from experience that a number of things are important for a proof-of-value project to work well:

• Choosing the scope of the project: for example you might select one of your ten production lines, large enough to demonstrate the value of the app and small enough for it to be implemented quickly
• Involving the operators, team leaders and others who will use the app, and including them in the project team
• Communicating clearly about the why, what and how before the application goes live
• Training all end users in the “why” of working digitally and what is expected of them
• A commitment by management to let people devote their time and attention to the project

Who determines the content of EZ-GO?

This differs from one customer to another. Often the content is created by the project team, consisting of people from different disciplines, such as operators and managers involved in quality, environment, and health and safety (Continuous Improvement Managers and QESH Managers) . Some companies hire students to collect and create content quickly. It’s important to check things like cleaning and inspection lists, audit forms, and work instructions, to determine whether they need updating.

How long does it take to digitise current content?

This obviously depends on the size of your factory. Experience tells us that with a team of two to four people, you’ll need:
Preparation: two people working for two days
Implementation: three to four people working for four to five days.

Does EZ Factory produce content/training videos?

No. We believe that high-quality content should draw on your employees’ expertise, not ours. The app makes it very easy for them to create and upload visual and written content.

Do I need wi-fi to use the app?

You can use wi-fi or a 4G data card.  EZ-GO also works offline in areas with little or no reception, but you’ll need to return to an area with wi-fi or 4G after using it, to synchronize the new data within other users.

Is it possible to store the data on our own database?

No. EZ-GO is a cloud-based solution that ensures lower operational costs and seamless upgrades; this is not possible if data is stored at your location. It also means that your IT department doesn’t have to worry about maintaining the system, and the data is at least as secure in the cloud as onsite.

What kind of mobile devices are suitable for the app?

EZ-GO works with iOS and Android, and will be available for Windows tablets later in 2020. The web portal for content configuration and reporting is available on all browsers, and can be viewed on smartphones, tablets, and computers.

What hardware is recommended?

The choice of hardware is up to you, but we can advise on the most suitable devices for iOS and Android. Just contact support@ezfactory.nl.