You are presuming that the location will be an internet hot spot - most construction locations are Not Spots.

There are potential issues with servers at either end, and transmission masts - Vodafone ran a camapign asking "what if your wi-fi went down?" - it frequently does irregardless of the provider!

Despite their proliferation a lot of companies still prohibit the use of mobile devices out on site due to their being a distraction from the other hazards.

Where they do issue a company phone does it have a suitable app to open your document? Are apps and (in your case downloads) permitted or banned for network secutity.

A mobile has a pretty small display area compared to an A4 sheet - many workers don't wear their reading glasses at site being forced to don suitable eye protection.

As we are now in the colder, wetter part of the year mobile displays struggle and are a struggle to operate.

As to pdf attached to order are these actually going to the location or some accounts desk in an office?

At one construction firm I berated a supplier for not sending Safety Data Sheets, transpires their method was to attach them to the order confirmation which got sent to head office! The chief accountant then complained about how much filing space transaction paperwork now takes up not having bothered to enquire who actually wanted the attachments.

Then of course there is the advantage that a piece of paper does not run out of battery power.

Paper is recyclable.

Paper does not require rare earth metals for its construction.

Paper is more sustainable than electronics.

Paper does not rely upon huge data centres consuming vast quantities of power - last time I looked 10% of global electricity production was being consumed in data centres!

That is before employing someone full time verifying the current document is where it needs to be and the QR code leads to that document - you can't just set it up and forget it.

Thanks for the reply, we can make huge savings in paper, ink cartridges, printers, plastic bags (to put the paperwork in) that all help the environment. Research suggests that most users (especially in the construction industry) have a mobile device with a personal data plan to download a document without the need for wifi. Also if we email the documents to the employer the duty of care would be on them to ensure their employee has access to operating & safety information

As with others this wouldn't work for my organisation.  The majority of sites we work on ban mobiles etc and are often in areas with no mobile reception.

Occasionally we sort mobile comms with our electronic document management system via Starlink but for the most part all documentation is provided to the sites in hard copy.

You may only supply to sectors where this could concevably work but it wouldn't work for us as a customer I'm afraid.

Originally Posted by: hemsy

Research suggests that most users have a mobile device with a personal data plan to download a document without the need for wifi.

Same issues apply regardless of the "G" (2G / 3G / 4G / 5G) as for wifi - Feel I got taken a bit literally.

Then you can add in the days computer says "No" decides the bill has not been paid and disconnects the service.

Or those days when the providers service falls over which happens quite often (see downdetector.co.uk).

Assuming the practical issues mentioned already can be resolved, you will need to make sure the documents are provided in a format that can be easily read on mobile devices. Assuming they are currently printed on A4, this is not going to be the case if you simply provide the PDF. If you are serious about this you will need a different format – a mobile App with good options for accessibility would seem appropriate.

Before you do anything I suggest you take a critical look at the documents you supply. Are they really intended to help end users or just to protect your company if something goes wrong? Lots of documents we receive in daily life could be eliminated or significantly reduced if the receivers requirements were properly considered.

Perhaps a better solution would be to print the critical documents in a robust format and make them a critical component of the equipment, that must be returned after use. That would reduce the printing requirements and avoid the issues of mobile devices.