News
Issue #2002 - 47 (December 2002)
(Updated Dec. 22, 2002)

APPLICATION SOLUTIONS & APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT

UPS Uses WiFi & Bluetooth Together To Manage Packages at Shipping Hubs

United Parcel Service Inc. plans to deploy the world's largest wireless LAN and short-range wireless Bluetooth network throughout its worldwide distribution hubs. 
The project, which will cost slightly more than $100 million, is expected to pay for itself within 16 months by enabling package sorters at the hubs to work more efficiently and by standardizing the company on single terminals and network systems, said David Salzman, UPS's program manager for information services. 

Project Paybacks: UPS’s wireless network is expected to yield the following tangible benefits:

• Equipment and repair costs reduced by 30% 
• Uptime improved by 35%
• The amount of spare equipment needed reduced by 35%
• The number of no-trouble-found returns reduced by 35%
• Battery life doubled
• Intangible benefits include the following:
• Reduced purchases to replace lost equipment
• Reduced software-support expenses (one software system replaces seven)
• Reduced hardware-support expenses (two terminal models replace nine)
• Elimination of confusion caused by multiple scanning systems
• Improved user efficiency
• Improved data integrity
• Reduced purchases to replace lost or damaged equipment

Salzman said he believes that providing package sorters with a cordless ring scanner—as well as moving the terminal from the wrist to the hip—should increase worker productivity. The entire project is expected to result in a payoff of some $13.7 million per year over a five-year period. 

Atlanta-based UPS plans to start testing the new Emerald scanners at its mammoth square-mile capacity distribution center in Chicago in September. That will be followed by a rollout next year of some 50,000 Motorola Inc. terminals to its 2,000 worldwide distribution centers, which will be equipped with industry-standard 802.11b wireless LANs, said Salzman. 

The integration of a wireless Bluetooth ring scanner into the terminals used by package sorters in the UPS hubs "is a very big deal to us [because] it eliminates the cord between the scanner and the terminal. The primary use of Bluetooth is for cord replacement, and [sorting packages on belts] is a perfect example of where cords are a big problem," Salzman said. 

He added that the new Windows CE-based terminals developed by Motorola would replace a wide variety of older terminals running on seven different operating systems. 

Salzman said the Emerald terminals stand out as the first successful marriage of Bluetooth and 802.11b wireless LAN technology in one device, a difficult technical challenge because both operate in the unlicensed 2.4-GHz frequency band. Salzman credited Symbol Technologies Inc. in Holtsville, N.Y., with resolving the potential signal-conflict problems. 

Barry Issberner, vice president for Vertical Markets at Symbol, said the company has resolved any potential 802.11b/Bluetooth signal conflicts "with intelligent software in the 802.11b access point that manages the traffic flow by telling the 802.11b radio to be quiet when Bluetooth is communicating." 

WHAT IT IS - The Largest Wireless LAN
UPS’s planned wireless LAN and short-range wireless Bluetooth network:

• Replaces terminals used by package sorters at shipping hubs and other facilities worldwide with combined Bluetooth/wireless LAN ring scanners and hip-mounted devices developed by Motorola that run on the Windows CE operating system.
• Includes installation of 802.11b wireless LANS from Symbol Technology at 2,000 hubs worldwide, which will require installation of up to 15,000 wireless LAN access points. UPS describes this as the largest wireless LAN deployment in the world. 
• Will replace seven scanning applications with one, improving information flow and decreasing the cost of system ownership. 
• Will cost slightly more than $100 million. 

Symbol will provide UPS with the wireless ring scanners, Issberner said. The company will also serve as the wireless LAN provider, according to Saltzman. Issberner predicted that Symbol could end up installing up to 15,000 access points at UPS hubs around the world. 

Ken Dulaney, an analyst at Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Inc., called UPS's decision to standardize its portable terminals on Windows CE "a good move," adding that Gartner predicts that 60% of all industrial handhelds will be shipped with Windows CE by next year. 

The Competition
UPS isn't alone. Ken Pasley, director of wireless systems development at rival FedEx Corp. in Memphis, said his company started a worldwide 802.11b LAN deployment earlier this year. 

The FedEx system provides coverage inside and outside the company's distribution centers and sorting facilities, thus allowing workers to use wireless technology on a hub ramp to scan containers as they come off a truck, Pasley said. 

Like UPS, FedEx is also eager to integrate Bluetooth into its hub infrastructure in order to eliminate possible cord snags by sorters working on a package belt. 

Pasley added that FedEx has started to install wireless LANs in all of its fleet of 180-plus wide-bodied aircraft, allowing rapid transfer of engineering and maintenance data when the aircraft are parked on the tarmac. The company would like to win Federal Aviation Administration approval to use the aircraft wireless LANs just after taxiing. 

"We've asked Symbol to give us the first Bluetooth scanning devices as they come off the line," Pasley said, but UPS appears to have the inside track. 

Source: Computer World
For more information: http://www.computerworld.com    http://www.ups.com and http://www.symbol.com

MobileInfo Comments and Advisory: We want to compliment UPS in exploiting wireless LAN technology to optimize its business processes. We encourage other large enterprises to learn from UPS experience in having the conviction that mobile computing and wireless can reduce operating costs and improve customer service.

Note: This news release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and section 21E of Securities Exchange act of 1934 in USA. Similar provisions exist in other countries. There is no assurance that the stipulated plans of vendors will be implemented. MobileInfo does not warrant the authenticity of the information. Readers should take appropriate caution in developing plans utilizing these products, services and technology architectures.  All trademarks used in this summary are the property of their respective owners.