January/February 1996
FOCUS:
Pen Computing in Transportation
Introduction
by Dominic Giangrasso
The transportation industry presents what is perhaps the ultimate challenge
to mobile computing. The rigors of this industry can tax mobile technologies
to their very limits and help define new limits in the process.
While an intriguing picture can be presented for the use of technology in
direct-use vehicles such as cars, it is their deployment in the services
arm of the transportation industry which has more immediate potential.
There are many excellent examples of how companies have used mobile pen
computing to stand out from their competition. United Parcel Service deployed
the most extensive use of both mobile and wireless computing when it implemented
its Delivery Information Acquisition Device, an electronic clipboard otherwise
known as DIAD. Combined with cellular communications gear in over 50,000
vehicles, DIAD allowed drivers to replace the error-prone paper method of
tracking packages.
The $300 million project had many hurdles to overcome during deployment.
UPS analyzed the state-of-the-art in portable computers in 1990 and came
to the conclusion that nothing available was rugged enough to survive. The
DIAD device was designed from the ground up to meet the survival requirements
of daily use in vehicles traveling American roads. With some creative cellular
carrier agreements, the new UPS system revolutionized the process of tracking
packages. Nicholas Snider, then National Delivery Information Manager for
UPS and project manager, completed the project in eighteen months, even
though it was planned to take five years. UPS is deploying an improved DIAD
device with improved tracking software.
Federal Express is also well known for its implementation of mobile technology
and small handheld devices and barcoding to track and monitor its package
delivery. Its special draw, besides its unbelievably efficient operation,
is its offer of free access to its package tracking system directly to customers
via the Internet. Without mobile computing technology this data would not
be available.
Advances in handheld and pen computing systems today can allow for significant
improvements to these systems and make it easier for both of these companies
and their competitors to implement similar solutions. Low cost PDAs like
Apple's new MessagePad 130, the new compact range of pen machines from Norand,
Telxon and Symbol, and lower price points from packet data systems like
ARDIS, RAM, and CDPD carriers make it possible for almost any company to
go mobile.
Trucking companies are using Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers and
wireless communications to better manage their fleets. Inventory management
of payload also plays an important role in streamlining the delivery and
billing processes. With the addition of pen computers and bar code scanners
and the picture looks even better. Imagine this scenario: A delivery truck
proceeds on its route to the buyer's dock, it relays its position via GPS
and wireless data links to its headquarters, which then notifies the buyer
of its estimated arrival time. Once at the buyer's dock, the truck driver
is notified via cab-mounted pen computer that he should proceed to Bay 10.
As he backs into the bay, the cab computer contacts the buyer's dock system
and begins an automatic upload of the inventory being delivered. As the
dock personnel prepare to unload the material, both the truck and dock mounted
scanners begin the process of scanning each item as it is removed. A pen
tablet in the hands of the trucker monitors the activity and provides him
with status during the unloading process. Forklift mounted computers linked
to the dock system tell their operators where each item goes by noting the
buyer delivery vehicle and the bay where it's parked. Once the unloading
is complete, the truck and dock system compare data and verify that all
expected inventory has been delivered. As the dock master and the trucker
both sign the virtual delivery bill on the pen tablet, both the dock system
and truck store electronic copies. Within seconds, the supplier's billing
computers and the buyer's payment systems close the deal by exchanging virtual
funds.
Service sectors using vehicles such as cars, trains, planes and ships can
also benefit. Companies have been using handheld computers to address customer
care issues such as the Hertz customer check-in service. Bring in a rental
car to the return area at selected airports and you are greeted by an electronically
wired agent. The agent, equipped with a wireless handheld computer, scans
your vehicle bar code on the windshield and automatically retrieves your
record, checks you in and even prints you a receipt.
Airlines are using pen-based handheld devices to allow flight attendants
to track and record data about passengers and consumables during flights.
One would assume they turn their gizmos off during takeoffs and landings!
Starting with the first Space Shuttle flights, NASA has been an avid user
of mobile computing. Early flights used Grid Compass pen computers to help
with navigation, while their latest experiment involves wireless Norand
Pen*Key 6100 computers to test the use of both pen- and touchscreen-based
wireless systems to help the crew monitor experiments and operations.
The transportation industry is realizing the benefits of pen and mobile
technology. The solutions we have gathered will illustrate the variety of
solutions that are making the task of moving people and things easier and
more efficient.
Dominic Giangrasso <76771.636@CIS> is a Telecommunications Department
Manager of User Services for Consolidated Edison of New York. He is also
an affiliate member of PDAia and is an outspoken proponent for the use of
mobile and pen computing.
Pen Computing
Issue #8