Trucking Technology Report - Jan. 4
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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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FCC May Act on Wireless Issues This Week
The FCC may unveil a proposal this week for additional spectrum for third-generation services. The agency may also amend ownership caps placed on wireless operators. But providing the necessary spectrum for 3G services may prove a difficult task since many spectrum users have not been open to sharing their airwaves.
As pertaining to lifting prohibitions placed on the spectrum purchases of wireless operators, the agency is likely to at least increase the amount of spectrum a company can own if not remove the restriction altogether. CNet (01/02/01); Ross, Patrick
Hot on the GPS Trail
GPS technology used in pilot programs at BellSouth (BLS) dramatically improved productivity among field workers.For the pilot, BellSouth's project manager of the GPS initiative, Rick Hamrick, says the company considered rural, suburban and urban applications when setting up the program to determine whether or not there were differences in coverage in those areas. BellSouth used 55 units in Atlanta across four work groups. In the end, Hamrick deemed the pilot a success.
BellSouth discovered that all of the areas were wired with cellular and BSWD and were capable of covering all of the company's needs for the pilot. Hamrick says that BellSouth intends to take GPS technology to the next level and has broken ground on three platforms. Right now, he says, the company is building an integrated dispatch system, which will dispatch the closest qualified worker to the customer's location.
BellSouth's ultimate goal is to integrate all three applications into a total dispatch solution that it could market to other industries. Field Force Automation (01/01) Vol. 2, No. 3, P. 24; Swissler, Becky
Surviving the E-Commerce Transition
E-commerce is drastically affecting warehouse management as companies reconfigure their fulfillment systems to fill orders quickly and efficiently.Warehouses must adjust from shipping bulk orders at a set pace to shipping individual orders as they are placed. "E-commerce is certainly going to affect those warehouses that are not accustomed to doing a lot of piece picking," predicts Annette Hartman, vice president of logistics for the Swatch Group, which is Web-enabling its business.
Dot-coms and brick-and-mortar firms alike are revamping traditional warehouse operations to suit the Internet. Web pure-play Amazon.com (AMZN), for example, has bolstered its warehouse operations to ensure that the system can scale to match the firm's doubling sales volumes, while MRO supplies giant W.W. Grainger has launched a three-year initiative to streamline its distribution centers to maximize efficiency.
Warehouse management tailored to the Web is important because it is key to order fulfillment; observers say that those firms who do not adjust their fulfillment processes to gain greater efficiency and accuracy risk alienating their customers or business partners.
Effective warehouse operations will "require different information packages for communication, different pick modules, different staffing, different WMS systems," warns Tompkins Associates principal Jim Tompkins. Warehouse Management--Supplement (12/00) Vol. 7, No. 11, P. 3; Johnson, John R.
Feel the Pulse
Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology could enable transmitters to reuse radio frequencies that many technologies, such as cell phones and satellites, currently occupy. UWB may accomplish this by employing narrow pulses over the spectrum. The system can cover up to 5 GHZ of spectrum and only creates a minuscule amount of interference in a given frequency band. In addition, UWB can provide multiple channels within the frequency band. The technology could also be used for specific applications, such as location-oriented applications.According to UWB supporters, the system could be substituted for current continuous-wave systems as well. Time Domain, possibly the originator of UWB technologies, has created a 50-microwatt system, which can transmit data at 5 Mbps within a 10 meter limit. The system's data transmission features outperform rival Bluetooth by providing speeds over five times as fast. In addition, Time Domain's system consumes less power.
But there are several factors limiting the deployment of the technology. UWB requires the processor to use a lot of power, despite its low rate of power consumption for transmissions. Skeptics say current batteries do not provide enough power to run a UWB processor efficiently. But the major problem has been FCC approval. While the FCC has granted Time Domain the right to sell a small number of UWB motion-detection systems, the FCC has yet to approve wider availability of UWB products. But the agency is considering a proposal calling for the approval of unlicensed UWB signals.
In addition, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration is expected to complete its testing of UWB interference levels by February. UWB supporters are hopeful the FCC will approve the proposal soon after tests are completed. Commverge (12/00) Vol. 1, No. 11, P. 21; Webb, Warren
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