Trucking Technology Report - Dec. 14
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Both the online report and e-mail are sponsored by @Track Communications, a supplier of wireless communications and dispatch services.
Today's Technology Headlines:
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Aether Systems Buys Wireless Software Firm
Aether Systems (AETH) paid roughly $109 million yesterday to acquire software firm RTS Wireless. According to the agreement, Aether will provide $26 million in cash and 1.35 million of its shares for the company. RTS Wireless makes software systems that allow mobile devices, including pagers and cell phones, to access the Internet.
The acquisition is the ninth by Aether since September 1999. The company has purchased smaller wireless companies to bolster its cellular services operations. Aether CEO David Oros said his company is interested in purchasing RTS for its messaging software products and its engineering staff. Washington Post (12/14/00) P. E5; ElBoghdady, Dina
E-Commerce Will Transform Supply Chain Management
The Internet and e-commerce technologies will soon revolutionize supply chain management, according to Wharton professor and MCA Solutions founder Morris Cohen. Internet "technology has reached a point where large-scale optimization [of far-flung supportetworks] has become possible in real time," he says.
Furthermore, as Cohen and MCA Solutions COO Vipul Agrawal wrote for the Financial Times, "the dream of always providing the right product to the right customer at the right time and place and at the right price will very likely become a reality."
Cohen says the keys to effective and efficient supply chain management operations are determining the level of mission-criticality of certain parts to customers businesses and figuring out how and where to store such parts around the world to service those customers properly. The Internet, he says, makes managing such an unwieldy network of value judgements and logistical concerns far easier.
Cohen says he developed his supply chain management theories over time but particularly after working with IBM (IBM) to improve its global parts supply chain and Saturn, the GM division that trade publication Parts Monitor says has the best off-the-shelf parts availability rate of any car maker. CNet (12/13/00)
Privacy on Mobile Internet Studied
Federal regulators and some of the wireless industry's most influential leaders met yesterday at the Federal Trade Commission to discuss the future impact of mobile technologies.A prime topic of discussion at the meetings was the potential threat to security and privacy presented by wireless technology. Senior FTC staffers moderated the discussions, which are scheduled to last two days. The discussions included the wireless industries' requirement to meet the guidelines of the FCC's Enhanced 911 plan.
Cell phone makers plan to introduce phones with emergency tracing capabilities by next year. But many telecom companies intend use the technology to sell advertising and additional services. The panel discussed various ways to prevent infringements on the rights of cellular subscribers.
Some panelists suggested that companies should be required to attain a customer's permission before using information attained from location technology. But several firms say they could offer personalized information according to the subscriber's city, rather than his or her actual address. Associated Press (12/13/00); Hopper, Ian D.
Packaged to Sell
Consumer packaged goods companies are discovering the practical benefits of trade exchanges online, as well as expanding the industry further into the realm of an Internet Economy.
Procter & Gamble (PG), the world's leading CPG provider, has taken several initiatives to build up trade exchanges and Web-enabled supply chain technology. The company has been one of the driving forces behind the newly launched Transora public trading exchange. Transora boasts the most impressive names in CPG providers - which spend over $200 billion combined in support of global suppliers - making Transora the de facto leading public exchange.
But P&G CIO Steve David admits, "We need more standards in the CPG industry to get the kinds of efficiencies that will allow us to compete." Suppliers who turn to online exchanges should be met with a standardized set of rules and operations, or otherwise may be discouraged from participating at all.
P&G is also taking care to make sure no one in its vast net of partners is left out, and is offering a WebForms application that allows remote and often technologically limited companies to participate in exchanges. Manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers are organizing their industry item catalogs, so that CPG exchanges like Transora can eventually interact with retail exchanges, led by GlobalNetXchange and WorldWide Retail Exchange.
All this interaction and increased communication will not only further streamline supply chain operations on all sides, but also open up new markets at lower costs. Supply Chain Technology News (12/00) Vol. 2, No. 12, P. 18; Blanchard, Dave
Think 3G Is Hot? Consider Its Lesser-Known Cousin
Despite all the hype surrounding the debut of 3G technologies, 2.5G is likely to have a bigger impact on most of the world's wireless markets for the next several years, according to analysts. Nick Ingelbrecht, a regional analyst with research firm Gartner Group, predicts Asia's 2.5G market will have more than three times the number of users than the 3G market through 2005.While not as advanced as 3G, 2.5G will enhance existing networks to allow access to a variety of wireless services, such as e-mailing and stock trading. The technology will give mobile phones more computer-like capabilities and will provide an always-on connection. GSM networks will use GPRS technologies to provide 2.5G, which enables networks to use packet-switching. The upgraded networks will allow data to be transmitted in data form, rather than be reconfigured to voice for transmission and then retranslated as data for receiving. GPRS will also allow users to download and install software.
Packet switching is already used in NTT DoCoMo's popular i-mode service. But countries, such as Japan, that are going directly to 3G still must go through the growing pains of the technology, sources say.
Because of 3G's high speeds, cell phone makers are presented with several problems. The new 3G phones will be required to have processing power more like computers. And the chips needed to process streaming video will cause a large amount of heat generation within the device. Also batteries must be developed or enhanced to supply long-lasting energy for services with high-power consumption. Asian Wall Street Journal (12/10/00) Vol. 22, No. 49, P. 9; Bolande, H. Asher
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