CRM is the most mobilized business application in manufacturing, with over 35% manufacturers already mobilising their CRM applications, IDC has found.

According to the firm's Manufacturing Insights’ survey across Western Europe, CRM business applications are considered the most suitable applications for mobile deployment. Tightly linked to email, CRM applications are often delivered on the Cloud and typically used by mobile salespeople, said the firm. 

The research also found that in order to speed up their business, manufacturers have started deploying mobile tools on their supply chains, particularly to support logistics processes.

Smart devices, which provide an exploding array of user features, are considered one of the key drivers to mobility and deeply affecting how manufacturers operate, the report showed. 

Lorenzo Veronesi, EMEA research analyst at IDC Manufacturing Insights said: “Historically, the main priority of CIOs has been to establish the necessary technological platform to deliver mobile services and to efficiently manage the exploding number of devices across the enterprise. Companies are now taking the next step, and we see growing interest in extending on-premises corporate applications to mobile devices.”