Festool Introduces a Smartwatch

[besharp]

Unfortunately, for internal use only - not for customers  [unsure]


(Smartwatch at 1:52)

 

[GoingMyWay]

Here's the link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?t=112&v=dpnxkGwh2vs&feature=youtu.be

 

[squall_line]

Unfortunately, for internal use only - not for customers  [unsure]


(Smartwatch at 1:52)

Interesting.  Very, very specific application, for sure.

 

[usernumber1]

looks more like a tracking collar

 

[rmhinden]

Interesting that they made a new "smartwatch", vs. just developing a software application for an existing one. 

Bob

 

[squall_line]

Interesting that they made a new "smartwatch", vs. just developing a software application for an existing one. 

Bob

It appears to be a WorkerBase Industrial Smartwatch.  So it's likely the latter, not the former.
https://workerbase.com/industrial-smartwatch

 

[demographic]

I just assumed they'd copied Mafells idea. [wink]

 

[xedos]

My takeaways:

SoftWare company.
18 month development.
Venture capital heavily touted.

Smells a lot like like 90’s dot com vapor ware to me.

 

[mino]

My takeaways:

SoftWare company.
18 month development.
Venture capital heavily touted.

Smells a lot like like 90’s dot com vapor ware to me.

Um, connecting a supervisor via watch to automated issue reporting is actually a pretty neat way - way more practical than having a notification on a (way bigger) phone/tablet or having people scream over the hall to each other.

Nothing really special about it, just a proper use of automation and available COTS stuff. Also, where better to test it than at a new plant where it would not conflict with preexisting workflows ...

 

[tallgrass]

Yea, your employer making you wear biometric monitoring hardware for company tracking needs. Yea, that is not creepy what so ever. I do not have to have that leash around my neck and I work at a Gov research LAB.

 

[AlexThePalex]

Yea, your employer making you wear biometric monitoring hardware for company tracking needs. Yea, that is not creepy what so ever. I do not have to have that leash around my neck and I work at a Gov research LAB.

I was thinking the same thing. Nice electronic collar. Our ancestors fought tooth and nail for a bit of freedom and our generation gives it all up because it has a flashy screen and buttons.  [tongue]

 

[xedos]

My takeaways:

Um, connecting a supervisor via watch to automated issue reporting is actually a pretty neat way - way more practical than having a notification on a (way bigger) phone/tablet or having people scream over the hall to each other.

Nothing really special about it, just a proper use of automation and available COTS stuff. Also, where better to test it than at a new plan where it would not conflict with preexisting workflows ...

At the point this level of oversight is truly needed , it’s best to just ditch the humans and have robots do the work.

 

[DeformedTree]

Yea, your employer making you wear biometric monitoring hardware for company tracking needs. Yea, that is not creepy what so ever. I do not have to have that leash around my neck and I work at a Gov research LAB.

I was thinking the same thing. Nice electronic collar. Our ancestors fought tooth and nail for a bit of freedom and our generation gives it all up because it has a flashy screen and buttons.  [tongue]

I'm wondering if this would be legal in places. While it may not be intended to track, it sure can be. Given some history in Europe , and more recent web laws on tracking, I have to wonder were such things may be from legal standpoints, even if they are not planned to track someone, since they can be used, does that get them into violations?  People are used to badging in and out of an area in a corporate environment, but that is pretty far from being able to have feedback that someone was in stall 2 of the bathroom for 10minutes. You may work for someone, but there are limits. Even in the US, laws and courts have stepped in when companies have tried to have chips implanted in workers. Chipped Emplyees

Too many people are far to comfortable with going along with such potentials.

Who ever sold this to Festool definitely sees value, they see the continuous software license money coming in.

 

[mino]

At the point this level of oversight is truly needed , it’s best to just ditch the humans and have robots do the work.

TLDR:
These things are (primarily) NOT oversight. It is so a more senior employee can assist where/as needed as efficiently as possible. If the supervisor would abuse his powers, the team will not work - as to be able to support a colleague there must be an atmosphere that asking for help is OK and is desirable even for the worker. Otherwise you can never have a good team - thus good results.

--------------------------
Line manufacturing was introduced about 100 yrs ago and tracking of workers progress is an essential part of it. You cannot separate one from the other. And yes, line manufacturing workers are glorified robots. Which is actual OK - search the root of the robot work => it was derived by Čapek from "robota" which meant "(mandated) work" in Czech/Slovak at the time.

Also ref. employee protection in EU, you can have cameras, sensors, etc. all over the place IF there is a valid reason for that.

You CANNOT use them to track employees without a reason - e.g. in an office - and you cannot track them where there is no technology-triggered reason like on hallways, cafeteria etc. But you absolutely can at their workstation - as long as you are tracking the work, not employee (i.e. camera pointed at the work table is OK, camera monitoring the whole person/movement can be problematic.

You also cannot use any information about the employee which you acquire via such means for anything else than for the stated purpose of the manufacturing itself. E.g. HR is not allowed to access such data etc. On top, Germans they are pretty "crazy" with these things ref. employee protection.

Germans tend to go over the top like up to recently forbidding to have mobile phone numbers on package being delivered - so it was common the package was not delivered in more complicated places etc. where a phone-in was necessary. etc.

Now I am not defending "tracking people". But when you work in a team of tens/hundreds which MUST work in sync, you cannot simply have the freedom you get in the trades. Synchronisation is essential to get the efficiencies these plants get.

 

[squall_line]

Thank you for the insight, [member=61254]mino[/member] !

I saw it as a way of getting a supervisor's attention that there was something wrong, akin to a pager or a flight attendant/nurse call button, just more sophisticated.  I would imagine that you could also load troubleshooting instructions, assembly specs, and other data into the watch that can be brought up with a simple swipe or scan of a QR code or NFC tag.

As with all things like this, it can be abused, so I'm glad you mentioned the protections that EU and Germany have in place for such things.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Who ever sold this to Festool definitely sees value, they see the continuous software license money coming in.

This seems to be the trend, more and more. As the "regulatable" technology grows and becomes so much the fabric of society that it becomes "required", you can nolonger actually own it. You essentially lease the device and pay a license fee to allow it to function.
They sell people on this concept because the devices are so expensive in the first place and this reduces the initial cost and then you continue with small continuous payments.
Then they hope that you never add it all up to see the total cost.
It's very much like car payments. Stretch the payment period out to the point of needing a new one about the time you pay it off. The payment mentality never stops.
Seems like it kind of started with antivirus software? Back in the day when you bought programs on CD, you could up-date it if you wanted the new version's features or live with it as it was. Now, not so much. Many of them up-date themselves, whether you want it or not and some of them just quit working if you don't.

 

[Eank1954]

TLDR:
These things are (primarily) NOT oversight. It is so a more senior employee can assist where/as needed as efficiently as possible. If the supervisor would abuse his powers, the team will not work - as to be able to support a colleague there must be an atmosphere that asking for help is OK and is desirable even for the worker. Otherwise you can never have a good team - thus good results.

--------------------------
Line manufacturing was introduced about 100 yrs ago and tracking of workers progress is an essential part of it. You cannot separate one from the other. And yes, line manufacturing workers are glorified robots. Which is actual OK - search the root of the robot work => it was derived bu Čapek from "robota" which meant "(mandated) work" in Czech/Slovak at the time.

Also ref. employee protection in EU, you can have cameras, sensors, etc. all over the place IF there is a valid reason for that.

You CANNOT use them to track employees without a reason - e.g. in a office - and you cannot track them where there is no technology-triggered reason like on hallways, cafeteria etc. But you absolutely can at their workstation - as long as you are tracking the work, not employee (i.e. camera pointed at the work table is OK, camera monitoring the whole person/movement can be problematic.

You also cannot use any information about the employee which you acquire via such means for anything else than for the stated purpose of the manufacturing itself. E.g. HR is not allowed to access such data etc. On top, Germans they are pretty "crazy" with these things ref. employee protection.

Germans tend to go over the top like up to recently forbidding to have mobile phone numbers on package being delivered - so it was common the package was not delivered in more complicated places etc. where a phone-in was necessary. etc.

Now I am not defending "tracking people". But when you work in a team of tens/hundreds which MUST work in sync, you cannot simply have the freedom you get in the trades. Synchronization is essential to get the efficiencies these plants get.


By the way, it’s interesting to see how modern industries are adopting wearable tech to balance supervision and efficiency. Smartwatches, for instance, can monitor workflow or safety parameters without invading personal privacy. There’s a great article about this topic — https://www.cogniteq.com/blog/smartwatch-app-development-what-you-should-know — that dives into how smartwatch apps are reshaping workplace monitoring while respecting employee rights.

That’s a really balanced and well-thought-out take. You’ve explained perfectly how monitoring in manufacturing environments isn’t necessarily about control, but about coordination and efficiency. It’s easy for people outside that context to misunderstand the purpose — especially if they compare it to an office job, where the same level of oversight would feel invasive.


I also agree about the importance of trust and atmosphere. Without a sense that supervision is there to support rather than punish, the whole system falls apart. And yeah, the EU regulations make a lot of sense in drawing that fine line between tracking the work versus tracking the person. It’s a tricky balance, but when done right, it actually benefits both workers and productivity.

 

[fritter63]

Yea, your employer making you wear biometric monitoring hardware for company tracking needs. Yea, that is not creepy what so ever. I do not have to have that leash around my neck and I work at a Gov research LAB.

Continually glad that I'm retired......