The bottom line: Technicians don't sit at desks. A web app adapted for mobile fails on a manufacturing floor... gloves make tap targets unreliable, dead zones drop sessions mid-workflow, and desktop navigation patterns confuse operators in motion. ProAlert's native app was designed from the ground up for the conditions your team actually works in.

Why "Mobile-Responsive" Isn't Enough on the Plant Floor

  • Network dead zones break web apps mid-workflow.
    When a technician moves to the far corner of a building and the web session drops, they lose whatever they were doing. Native offline mode queues actions and syncs automatically on reconnect.
  • Desktop navigation patterns are frustrating in motion.
    Hamburger menus, nested dropdowns, and small text inputs designed for a keyboard and mouse become obstacles when someone is moving between machines under time pressure.
  • Push notifications require a native app.
    A web app running in a mobile browser cannot deliver true push notifications when the browser is closed. Native iOS and Android push reaches technicians regardless of what app is in the foreground.
  • Barcode and QR scanning is clunky in a browser.
    Native apps access the camera directly for instant, reliable scanning. Browser-based QR scanning adds steps, latency, and permission prompts that slow down high-frequency operations like parts lookup.

What a maintenance technician actually sees

Three screens from the native app, signed in as a maintenance technician mid-shift. Nothing here is a mock-up or a resized web page: it is the app running on a phone, in portrait, against live plant data.

Technician, phone
ProAlert mobile app home screen for a maintenance technician, showing the signed-in user and role, a live connection indicator, Active Calls and Pending Sign-offs buttons, and an open maintenance request with the time it was raised
Signed in, connected, one call waiting. Role drives the screen: a maintenance technician lands on calls, not on an admin console.
Technician, phone
ProAlert mobile app work order list for a maintenance technician, showing five assigned orders across in progress, scheduled and approved states, each with its work order number, asset, due date and task completion count
My Orders, five of them. Large touch targets, one row per job, colour carrying priority. No pinching, no horizontal scrolling.
Technician, phone
ProAlert mobile work order detail for WO-202608-0182 on injection press INJ-001, showing High priority, In Progress status, three of seven tasks passed, and photo, video, start and skip controls on the next open step
The procedure, step by step. Each open step carries its own camera and video buttons, so evidence is captured at the machine rather than written up later.

Shop-Floor Call Handling

Every Andon call feature available on the web is available in the mobile app, optimized for one-handed use and time-pressure conditions.

Call Initiation
Initiate Downtime (DT) calls from mobile with asset, call type, and cause selection. GPS coordinates captured automatically at initiation.
Swipe-to-Claim
Swipe gesture claim with First-Responder-Wins logic. The first technician to swipe gets ownership; all others are released instantly via SignalR push.
PIN Prompt + Auto Work Order
The Respond PIN prompt automatically triggers Work Order creation from the matching Standard Work Template. No separate work order entry required.
Structured Close Form
Equipment, Detail, Cause, Resolution, and Notes capture on mobile closure. Identical data quality to web closure... on any device, any location.
Live Duration Timers
Real-time elapsed time display for active downtime events, production runs, and planned breaks. Operators see exactly how long each state has been active.
Asset Messaging
Direct messaging between operators and support staff via the live SignalR (real-time WebSocket) connection. Delivered in under one second.

The queue a call lands in, and the swipe that takes it

Two frames of the same queue a minute apart, on the screen a maintenance technician lands on at sign-in and returns to when an alert arrives. The second is what happens when their thumb moves right.

Technician, phone
ProAlert mobile call queue for a maintenance technician, showing three open calls on three different machines: a machine down call on DRL-001 open four minutes, a machine down call on ASM-002 open nine minutes and already claimed by another technician 310 metres away with a five minute ETA, and a maintenance request on PKG-001 open thirty-seven minutes
Three calls, three machines, three ages. Every card says which machine and how long it has been waiting, so the order to work them in is obvious before anything is opened. The middle one is already taken: a colleague claimed it and is 310 metres out.
Technician, phone
The same ProAlert mobile call queue with the top card swiped open to reveal a green Claim action, the call details for the machine down on DRL-001 still readable beside it along with the four minutes it has been open
Swipe right to claim. One gesture, one hand, no menu. First responder to swipe owns the call and everyone else's copy is released within the second.

Operator Interface and Production Control

Operators get a role-specific interface for starting shifts, selecting products, tracking production, and managing planned downtime... all from the mobile app without requiring a web browser or dedicated HMI (Human Machine Interface).

FeatureWhat It Does
Role-Based Navigation App navigation adapts to the user's role. Operators see production screens; maintenance technicians see work order queues. Same app, different experience.
Shift and Run Control Start and stop shifts and production runs directly from mobile. Shift start creates the production timeline automatically with the operator's identity attached.
Scheduled Product Display On shift start, the app shows the products scheduled for the operator's asset on that shift. No separate scheduling board or paper runcard required.
Target vs. Actual Production Live target cycle count vs. actual output display with cavity-attributed counts for die-driven manufacturing environments.
Planned Downtime Management Start and end breaks, lunches, and planned stoppages directly from mobile. Duration is tracked automatically and excluded from OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) Availability calculations.
Die-Grouped Guidance Production guidance grouped by active die and tooling for metal stamping and injection molding environments where tooling drives OEE targets.

CMMS in the Field

Maintenance technicians get full CMMS functionality in the field. No laptop required to execute, document, or close a work order.

Work Order List and Detail
View My Orders or All Open work orders with status badges, priority indicators, and asset assignments. Tap to open the full detail view with task checklist.
Media Capture on Tasks
Capture photos and video directly on Work Order task steps as visual documentation. Evidence stays attached to the task record permanently.
Labor Entry
Log time against work orders with labor type selection. Timer-driven segments auto-generate entries... no manual time recall required.
Parts Lookup and Stock Check
Search the parts catalog, check storeroom stock levels, and record parts usage from anywhere on the floor. Inventory deducts automatically.
Barcode and QR Scanning
Scan asset tags and part barcodes to navigate directly to records without typing. Native camera integration with no browser permission prompts.
Asset Lookup
Search assets, view history, check active status, and access attached documentation from the field. Full asset record available without a desk.
Materials, Staging and Requests
A handler claims staging work from the floor, sees one clean card per request with its quantity, pack size and the time it was claimed in local time, and the Materials tab carries a live count of what is outstanding. The buttons enable from server-computed permissions, so the app and the server cannot disagree about what is allowed next.
Controlled Documents, and What You Owe
A production documents page lists the controlled documents governing the job, and a count of the documents you owe a review sits on the title bar of every screen, one tap from the list. Starting a scheduled run either activates it or names the documents blocking it.
A-FMDS in Your Pocket
My Problems, My Actions and the Leader Standard Work checklist, so a leader's routine and the actions assigned to a technician are the same records on the tablet as on the board.
Read-Only Really Means Read-Only
Read-only mode disables the controls rather than labelling live buttons, and a failed licence check returns "unknown" rather than silently hiding a module's tabs as though it were unlicensed. The session refreshes rather than dropping to the login screen, and the app speaks the user's preferred language.
Maintenance technician, phone
ProAlert mobile Inspections tab on a maintenance technician's phone, showing no inspection in progress and three checklists the technician's role is cleared to conduct: a weekly measuring and test equipment calibration verification of five items, a daily pre-shift machine and safety check of five items, and a six item preventive maintenance completion check, each with its code, frequency, estimated duration and a Start Inspection button
Three checklists, because the role is cleared for three. The plant runs twelve active inspection templates and this technician sees the three that belong to the maintenance role: a weekly calibration verification, a daily pre-shift machine and safety check, and a six item preventive maintenance completion check. Each card states its code, how often it is due and how long it should take before anything is started, so a technician picks up the right procedure rather than the nearest one. An operator, a quality engineer or a supervisor signing in on the same app gets a different list. Nothing is running, so the In Progress card is empty rather than inventing something to show.

Offline Mode and Connectivity Resilience

Manufacturing facilities often have wireless dead zones near heavy equipment, in sub-basements, or in shielded enclosures. ProAlert's offline mode ensures work continues uninterrupted.

  • Offline Mode
    The app continues to function when the network is unavailable. Actions are queued locally and synchronized with the server automatically when connectivity is restored.
  • Native Push Notifications
    iOS and Android push notifications for new alerts, work order assignments, and asset messages. Delivered even when the app is in the background or the screen is locked.
  • GPS Location Tracking
    Responder GPS captured at each call lifecycle step: claim, respond, and resolve. Used for ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) calculation on the Andon HUD (Heads-Up Display) and post-event audit.
  • Video Playback with Zoom
    Full video player with frame-step, variable speed control (0.2x to 3x), and digital zoom for field inspection of event-triggered video clips. Multi-camera selection for complex events.

Kiosk Mode

Any tablet can become a dedicated operator station with Kiosk Mode. No individual user login required at the machine level.

Standard Mobile User

  • Individual account with full role-based navigation
  • Personal push notifications
  • GPS tracked at the individual user level
  • Can work across multiple assets and shifts

  Kiosk Mode

  • Tablet locked to a specific asset station
  • Focused UI: shift start, run control, call initiation only
  • Configured from the admin UI with asset, shift, and role settings
  • No individual login required on the shared device
Operator, floor tablet
ProAlert kiosk crew check-in on a floor tablet locked to machine SAW-001, showing the asset's three required crew roles with two of two line operators and one of one QC inspector checked in and zero of one material handler still outstanding, a large PIN entry field with Check In and Override buttons, and a green confirmation reading Checked in Alex Torres
One tablet, locked to one machine. The station shows SAW-001 and nothing else, and every target on the glass is sized for a gloved hand at arm's length. An operator walks up, types four digits and is on the crew: the QC Inspector row turns green as they do it and the count moves to three of four. No account, no password, no session to time out behind them.

For IT and Mobile Device Management Teams

ComponentTechnologyNotes
Platform .NET MAUI (Multi-platform App UI) 9.x Single C# codebase compiled to native iOS and Android. No React Native, no Cordova, no web wrapper. True native performance and platform integration.
Authentication JWT (JSON Web Token) + refresh token Token-based authentication with automatic silent refresh. Biometric unlock supported on compatible devices.
Real-Time Connection SignalR WebSocket client Persistent connection for sub-second alert delivery. Automatic reconnection with exponential backoff on connection loss.
API Backend ProAlert REST API (Representational State Transfer)... 470+ endpoints All mobile functionality backed by the same REST API available to ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) integrations. JWT bearer authentication on all endpoints.
Distribution Apple App Store, Google Play Store, or enterprise MDM (Mobile Device Management) sideload Supports enterprise distribution via MDM for closed deployments where app store access is restricted.

Related Features

Call Management CMMS Video Responder Tracking

See the app working on your floor.

Book a 30-minute demo... we'll walk through alert claiming, work order execution, and offline sync using the actual app on a device.

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