How a system actually gets built
Eight stages, each with what we produce, what you provide, and what has to be true before the next one starts. No stage is a formality and none of them is free of work on your side.
From first visit to a supported system
An exit criterion is not a milestone we mark ourselves — it is the thing that has to be demonstrably true before anyone moves on. A pilot that misses its acceptance criteria ends in a revised design, not a rollout.
Website
“Do they actually do this, and which parts did they do themselves?”
- What Arrowhead produces
- A classified proof register, sourced case studies, and the credentials a third party issued us.
- What you provide
- Read the classification legend before reading the claims.
- Evidence at this stage
- Public evidence, labeled with who produced it.
- What ends this stage
- You can state what Arrowhead delivered and what a partner delivered.
Enterprise demo
“What does the software actually do today?”
- What Arrowhead produces
- A walkthrough of Mobi Inventory as it is today, with the limits stated rather than skipped, and the systems Arrowhead itself runs in production.
- What you provide
- Name the operation, the current process, and the people who own it.
- Evidence at this stage
- Published maturity labels. Multi-facility inventory is stated as a current limit, not demonstrated as a feature.
- What ends this stage
- The scope of what exists today is agreed in writing, separately from what is planned.
Technical discovery
“Will this work on our items, in our building, with our systems?”
- What Arrowhead produces
- Site survey, read-rate measurement on your own items, capture-point design, a bill of materials, and the integration data contract.
- What you provide
- Site access, item samples, the system-of-record owner, and an IT contact.
- Evidence at this stage
- Measured read rates from your items, not a vendor datasheet. Named source systems.
- What ends this stage
- A design, a bill of materials, and written acceptance criteria exist.
Defined pilot
“Does it hold up in production, at one site?”
- What Arrowhead produces
- One site or category instrumented and measured against the acceptance criteria from discovery.
- What you provide
- Pilot site access, operator time, and a named operational owner.
- Evidence at this stage
- Pilot measurements against the agreed criteria, including the ones that miss.
- What ends this stage
- Acceptance criteria are met, or the design is revised before any rollout is committed.
Security and procurement review
“Can we buy this safely?”
- What Arrowhead produces
- Completed security questionnaire, an architecture and data-boundary statement, and the procurement documents your process requires.
- What you provide
- The questionnaire, your master agreement, and a named security contact.
- Evidence at this stage
- Documentation provided under your confidentiality terms; named references on request.
- What ends this stage
- Security and legal sign-off.
Deployment plan
“Who does what, and when?”
- What Arrowhead produces
- Rollout plan, site sequence, install schedule, training plan, and the go-live criteria.
- What you provide
- Network readiness, source-system data, change windows, and operators released for training.
- Evidence at this stage
- A signed statement of work naming both sides' responsibilities.
- What ends this stage
- Both parties have signed the responsibility split, in writing.
Go-live
“What happens when it fails on day one?”
- What Arrowhead produces
- Installation, configuration, training delivery, hypercare, and one intake path for every kind of issue.
- What you provide
- Operational acceptance against the discovery criteria.
- Evidence at this stage
- The signed acceptance record, measured against the criteria written during discovery rather than against how the system feels on the day.
- What ends this stage
- Operational acceptance is signed.
Support and expansion
“Who owns it now?”
- What Arrowhead produces
- In-house depot repair, onsite maintenance options, software support inside the deployment scope, and optimisation as the operation changes.
- What you provide
- A support contract, a current device inventory, and escalation contacts.
- Evidence at this stage
- The maintenance plan features as published, and nothing beyond them.
- What ends this stage
- Ownership of hardware, software, and integration failures is documented and agreed.
What Arrowhead owns, and what stays with you
Three of these are the ones deployments actually fail on, so they are stated first rather than buried in a statement of work.
Who owns network readiness?
You do. Power, network drops, mounting points, and access to the RF environment are the customer's to provide. Arrowhead specifies exactly what is needed during discovery, and a site that is not ready delays the install rather than shortening it.
Who owns source-system data?
You do. Your ERP, WMS, EAM, or CMMS stays the system of record and stays with its owner. Mobi holds observations and the operational context around them; it does not become the master of your item or financial data.
Who owns operational acceptance?
You do, against the acceptance criteria written during discovery. Arrowhead measures and reports; the decision that the system is fit for your operation is yours to make and to sign.
Arrowhead supplies, configures, installs, integrates
- Hardware, tags, labels, and printers for the approved design
- Reader and antenna configuration, print formats, item and workflow configuration
- Fixed readers, antennas, capture points, device staging and rollout
- The integration data contract agreed in discovery
- In-house depot repair, Chandler, Arizona
You provide
- Site access, item samples, and the RF environment as it really is
- The system-of-record owner and an IT contact who can decide
- Operator time for training and for the pilot
- Change windows for installation and cutover
- Network readiness, power, and mounting
Where an issue goes, by what broke
One intake path, whatever the fault. The value of buying hardware, software, and service from one accountable integrator is that nobody has to work out whose problem it is first.
A device, printer, or reader has failed
Arrowhead serviceIn-house depot repair at 415 E Alamo Drive, Chandler. Onsite dispatch where the device is covered by a maintenance plan that includes it.
More detailLabels are printing or encoding wrong
Arrowhead service, with the label labMaterial, adhesive, and encoding are diagnosed together; a print problem is often a material problem.
More detailMobi software is not behaving as configured
Arrowhead software supportInside the approved deployment scope. Work outside that scope is quoted rather than absorbed silently.
More detailAn integration has stopped moving data
Arrowhead, then jointly with the system ownerArrowhead owns its side of the data contract agreed in discovery. The system of record stays with its owner, so a fault on that side is diagnosed together.
More detailRead rates have dropped in one area
Arrowhead, as a survey questionUsually the environment changed: new racking, new packaging, a moved antenna. It is re-measured rather than guessed at.
More detailResponse times and coverage hours are set by the service agreement you hold, and are stated there rather than advertised here. Published business hours are Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm MST.