Trucking Technology Report - Jan. 30
 |  |
Both the online report and e-mail are sponsored by @Track Communications, a supplier of wireless communications and dispatch services.
Today's Technology Headlines:
ul>
A Look Back at How a Fire Hurt Cell-Phone Output
A fire last March in a semiconductor plant operated by Philips Electronics affected operations of both Nokia and Ericsson.
adio frequency chips (RFC) made by the plant are used in mobile phones produced by both companies. While the plant took weeks to repair, Nokia and Ericsson responded to the crisis very differently.
Some officials with Nokia, stationed outside Helsinki, noticed a decrease in the number of chips delivered before Philips ever notified the company about damage to the plant. Nokia officials responded by devising multiple strategies to remedy the chip shortage, such as pushing for other suppliers to take care of the shortfall and hurrying the launch of a plan to increase production.
Meanwhile, Ericsson did not adapt as well to the chip shortage. The company did not have relationships with other suppliers of RFC chips. Eventually, Ericsson failed to meet its chip requirements for the planned
aunch of an important new product. The company was millions of chips short. Ericsson officials reported that the firm also lost $400 million in possible revenues due to the chip shortfall. To ensure similar
isastrous consequences do not occur in the future, the company has adopted a more flexible production strategy.
Meanwhile, Nokia's actions taken after the fire were successful in keeping the company's cell phone production, which represents roughly 30 percent
f the firm's revenues, on track. Wall Street Journal (01/29/01) P. A1; Latour, Almar
Speedchain Works on Logistics Tracking Tools
The logistics technology company Speedchain is developing Internet-based multi-modal tracking and tracing tools, currently in testing with several companies including a semiconductor maker, a marketer of consumer products, and a systems integrator.Among them is Amdahl, a Fujitsu subsidiary, which plans to incorporate Speedchain's system at the end of this month. The technology will allow Amdahl to use a custom portal to trace its international, domestic air, and domestic truck shipments.
In addition, Amdahl's world-wide transportation manager, Daniel Rios, said the firm also hopes to use the technology to perform cost evaluations of shipments and to audit freight. Speedchain CEO Jonathan Himoff, says his company aims for shippers to
se a variety of service providers and perform exception-level shipment management. Traffic World (01/29/01) Vol. 5, No. 265, P. 24; Hickey, Kathleen
NYK Ship Line Launces Web Logistics Service
Japanese ocean carrier NYK announced Monday the launch of its "Pegasus" e-commerce project, which will allow its customers tomonitor and interactively manage online all the logistics of their cargo shipments -- anytime, anywhere in the world."
The goals of Pegasus appear to be very similar to those of Inttra and Global Transportation Network, two multi-carrier intiatives which are building carrier-customer Web-based interfaces. NYK plans to eventually provide complete supply-chain management services. Journal of Commerce Online (01/29/01)
Bandwidth Breakthrough Leads to New Puzzle
Bell Labs, the research unit of Lucent Technologies, has developed technology for a sixfold increase in radio bandwidth.Typically, more bandwidth per signal allows more data to be transmitted to a mobile phone. But using more bandwidth also lowers the number of signals that can be sent.
Technology developers are looking at several different solutions to this problem. One is to split the radio wave transmitting the signal into two components, allowing each component to carry a separate message.
However, this solution would require that both transmitter and receiver have two antennae. And while this method would work well in open locations with few obstructions to the line of sight, the system would
xperience substantial shortcomings in a city environment.
A more complex solution would allow six components of the signal to be distinguished rather than just two. This solution would require the addition of a third antenna to both the transmitter and receiver. This approach was successfully tested by Bell Labs via the
ransmission of an image of a Joan Miro painting. The system sent the different portions of the painting -- red, green, and blue -- at the same time. Economist (01/20/01) Vol. 358, No. 8205, P. 78
© copyright 2000 INFORMATION, INC. Terms of Service
| ||||
