Why Dedicated Inventory Devices Failed — and Why Smartphones Won

This article expands on a recent LinkedIn post:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/roman-kreynin-037856318_movingindustry-logistics-digitalinventory-activity-7404849057455902720-Wl2Y

A brief history

The first company to introduce digital inventory for movers was TechMate, using Symbol SPG scanners. We implemented the earliest version of our Inventory app on Palm OS based Symbol scanners for some of our earliest adopters in the early 2000s.

Later, several companies tried to build digital inventory systems on a dedicated, custom built hardware. All of these attempts failed.

Here is why.

1. High cost of dedicated devices

Hardware purchase, configuration, maintenance, replacements — all added significant administrative and financial burden.

2. High staff turnover

Devices regularly ended up:

• forgotten on-site or in sea containers
• left at customers’ residences
• misplaced in warehouses
• or simply broken

Training new staff on special hardware before every high season became impractical.

3. Extra responsibilities for the crew

Supervisors had to:

• charge the device
• keep it safe
• report damages

They asked for financial compensation — and almost always were turned down.
As a result, hourly workers suddenly “needed more time” for packing, blaming digital inventory for slowing them down.

The turning point: smartphones

The meteoritic rise of smartphones changed everything.
A new generation entered the workforce — the one that is faster tapping through an app than writing anything on paper.

This made smartphones the ideal platform for digital inventory.

Bingo.voxme.com — the model that finally worked.

Three years ago we introduced a usage model that removed all historical barriers:

• $300 annual subscription
• pay-as-you-go: just $3 per inventory
• no limit on the number of devices

And this meant:

·      No expensive hardware

·      No device management

·      No training overhead

·      No hidden costs

Just a simple model that works for companies of any size.

Conclusion

Digital inventory became mainstream not because the technology itself suddenly improved, but because the platform finally made sense.

Dedicated devices required money, discipline and maintenance. Smartphones were already in every crew member’s pocket and their daily routine already depended on it.

This practical truth is what allowed Voxme Digital Inventory to become the new standard in the moving industry.

‍