There are a large variety of third party mobile products that also support Inspections. So for clarity, when we're talking about supported here, we're talking IBM supported. In that context, Maximo Mobile is IBM's officially supported mobile application that supports Inspections in a connected and disconnected mode. The Conduct an Inspection work center can also be used on mobile devices, but would only work when connected. If you have connectivity and use the Conduct an Inspection work center on a supported mobile device, that would also be supported.
Inspections do not need a WO to be associated to be visible in the Maximo Mobile application. Just like there is a My Schedule view to view Work Orders assigned to you, there is an Inspections view to be able to see the various Inspections (Assigned to you, pending, in progress, etc.). In both applications there is quick link functionality to jump from the Inspection to the Work Order or vice versa, but that's not a requirement. Your specific example of creating an ad-hoc inspection against an asset, however, is not supported today in the mobile application. Someone would need to create the inspection and then you would be able to access it on the mobile device.
I'm not able to speak to the roadmap for this specific request, and I'd recommend suggesting it as an Idea (https://ibm-ai-apps.ideas.ibm.com/ideas/). But in general terms, the goal is for the new application framework to replace the existing Anywhere & Work Center applications. There is new functionality that can only be done in the Maximo Mobile version of Inspections (such as conditional logic based on the range of a numeric response, viewing historical answers to that question, etc.). I would expect the missing functionality like the ability to create an ad-hoc inspection to be added but I can't provide an ETA on when that would occur.
And for clarity, while we're talking about it in context of Maximo Mobile, the new framework and Inspection application is also accessible in the Web application. It's the same code base with some slight differences based on Maximo Mobile needing to support disconnected situations.
As for Anywhere, almost anything is possible with software development but I would not recommend spending the amount of effort required to do it. If you create a net new app you'd have to perform native build of the apps which is a pain. Inspections are highly dynamic with different types of data (attachments, meter readings, custom value lists, free text input, etc.) that have to be managed and stored independently. And then you'd get into conditional question support where you have to show/hide and change the requirement of inputs based on what a user provides. With Anywhere not receiving any future enhancements, it'd be a significant development effort with a short timeline of viability. It's much better to spend the money on a mobile product that supports it out of the box.
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Steven Shull
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Original Message:
Sent: Fri October 22, 2021 12:40 PM
From: Geoff Hughes
Subject: Inspection Forms in Maximo Inspector app
Hi Steven,
You mentioned that Maximo Mobile is currently the only supported mobile solution that handles inspection forms. As of right now, it is my understanding that inspection forms may only be accessed through Maximo Mobile if there is an associated work order to go along with it. I am curious if IBM is planning on extending the functionality of inspection forms with successive iterations of Maximo Mobile; specifically, will users be able to access an inspection form on the fly with no work order tied to it (similar to Conduct an Inspection in the browser)?
For example, if a user is using a company vehicle, it would be great if they could open their app and conduct an unscheduled inspection (similar to the browser functionality).
You mentioned that Maximo Anywhere does not support inspection forms. If a Maximo admin used the customization ability of Maximo Anywhere and created a new app (I believe this is currently possible but I have not done so myself), would they be able to add inspection forms within the new app that is built off of Anywhere? I ask this specifically because you stated Inspections was released after Maximo Anywhere.
Appreciate your help!
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Geoff Hughes
Original Message:
Sent: Fri December 18, 2020 08:27 AM
From: Steven Shull
Subject: Inspection Forms in Maximo Inspector app
I'm assuming since you posted this in the Maximo Anywhere community you're talking about the Anywhere app. This is very confusing, but the two aren't related in any way. IBM developed the Anywhere Inspections application prior to Maximo releasing inspection functionality. With IBM's new mobile product, Maximo Mobile, they are supporting the Maximo Inspection functionality that you expect but there are no plans for this inside of Maximo Anywhere. Depending on how familiar you are with Maximo history, Maximo Mobile is a name they used for their product before Maximo Anywhere. So if you see anything not from the last year about Maximo Mobile, it's talking about the legacy product. Maximo Mobile hasn't been released yet (last I heard was targeting January 2021) and is licensed as part of the Maximo Application Suite so you would need different licensing to take advantage of it.
To try and explain why Maximo Anywhere has an Inspection app at all if it's still based on WO, it's because that is how shops had to do inspections before Inspections were released in 7.6.0.8. Customers would create a WO and typically use Specifications/Tasks to track what had to be done and wanted a more streamlined way to capture progress of the inspection than utilizing Work Execution. As an example of how they streamlined the app over Work Execution, tasks are visible immediately on the main screen because you're typically going down the list and just completing task after task. Similar for specifications. This was also the first app to support selecting values on the main screen when the list is small. The apps previously required you to transition to a new view to select values for lookups which would slow you down, especially if you're answering simple yes/no questions. Functionality that isn't typically needed for an inspection is removed while still supporting the key functionality (labor, issuing tools, etc.) that an inspector might need. Essentially, think of it as Work Execution, but optimized for the old WO based Inspection approach.
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Steven Shull
Director of Development
Projetech Inc
Cincinnati OH
Original Message:
Sent: Thu December 17, 2020 01:19 PM
From: Vijayalakshmi Laxman
Subject: Inspection Forms in Maximo Inspector app
Hi All,
I'm trying to figure out how are the inspection forms appearing in the Maximo Inspector application for a work order? I have inspection forms associated to the Asset/workorder / job plan tasks still they do not appear in the inspection form section of the app. Not sure what step I'm missing.
Please advise.
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Vijayalakshmi Laxman
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