Palm readers

In their latest incarnation, the popular PalmPilot handheld computer terminals can even read bar codes. This could have major implications for small warehousing and fleet operations.

By -- Logistics Management, 9/1/2000

hen Fresh-2-U, a Spokane, Wash.-based Internet company, launched its local produce delivery service a year ago, its private-fleet drivers used paper route sheets when they readied for the day's runs. But that has all changed in the past few months. Today, the drivers' daily delivery orders are downloaded to PalmPilot-based bar-code terminals. As they go about their jobs, the drivers use the units to confirm deliveries and capture signatures. When they return to their base at the end of their shifts, they download the data.

Although the company is not yet using the devices-handheld terminals made by Symbol Technologies-for bar-code scanning, Fresh-2-U plans to take advantage of that capability for inventory management sometime soon. In the meantime, the company seems confident it's made the right choice. "We're using the Symbol Palm because it's an industrialized device," says Fresh-2-U's vice president, Tim Andrew. "It's got a Palm 5 built into a heavy case, plus it has bar-coding capability if we need to do that down the road."

Because of their low cost and ease of programming, bar-code terminals and computers based on the Palm operating platform are starting to gain converts. Many believe that the Palm-based computer terminals will finally offer an inexpensive way for small companies to use automatic-identification technology in their fleet and warehouse operations.

PalmPilots Learn to Read

The event that made all this possible was the introduction last year of Symbol Technologies' SPT 1500 pen-based terminal-a computer that's small enough to fit into a shirt pocket. The technology powering this device was the same system used in the PalmPilot, the popular "personal digital assistant" originally made by 3Com Corp. of Santa Clara, Calif. (3Com spun off the PalmPilot product as a separate company called Palm Inc. earlier this year. Symbol, which is based in Holtsville, N.Y., has obtained the rights to market the product in certain industries.)

Like the standard PalmPilot, the SPT 1500 allows a worker to enter data using a stylus and a touchscreen. But the new unit features something more: Symbol has added a scan engine to the unit to enable it to read bar codes. It also enclosed the unit in a thicker case for industrial use. Most recently, the bar-code manufacturer introduced an upgraded version, the SPT 1700, which can transmit data wirelessly to a computer over a local area network.

At the same time, Symbol has also been developing Palm operating system (OS) devices with a company called Handspring Inc. in Mountain View, Calif. (A number of Handspring executives were involved in the original development of the Palm computing platform.) Handspring has come up with the Visor, its own handheld computer using the Palm operating system, and Symbol has developed a scanning module specifically for the Visor.

Other automatic-identification equipment manufacturers are hoping to enter the market for Palm OS bar-code terminals as well. PSC Inc. of Rochester, N.Y., has introduced a plug-in module called "Momentum" that turns the Handspring Visor handheld computer into a bar-code scanner. PSC says that its product, which is targeted at the grocery industry, requires no software to be pre-installed on the handheld computer. Instead, the plug-in module actually contains the application software. PSC's foray into the marketplace has not been without controversy, however. Earlier this year, Symbol slapped PSC with a patent infringement suit in U.S. District Court. At press time, that suit had not been settled.

Now, a third bar-code equipment maker is looking to get into the market. Microscan Systems Inc. of Renton, Wash., is working on technology that would allow its fixed-position scanners to output data to Palm OS devices, reports the company's marketing director, Scott MacKenzie. "We have some translation software and a special port that will allow wireless communication," he explains. "You can hook up a fixed-position scanner [with this technology] and the data will go right to a user's pocket PC when he or she walks by." MacKenzie says his company will target the distribution and supply chain markets when Microscan launches the product this fall.

Palm vs. Win CE

Just as bar-code terminals using the Palm operating system were entering the market last year, other terminal manufacturers began introducing units based on the rival Microsoft Windows CE (Win CE) platform. Microsoft, for one, recently announced plans to unveil its own handheld unit, the Pocket PC. Win CE advocates tout their system as being easier to integrate with other computing applications than the Palm OS and emphasize that bar-code terminals using the Win CE operating system offer the familiar Windows graphical user interface.

Despite these features, the Palm platform seems to be gaining the upper hand against CE. Although Palm and CE units together accounted for less than 15 percent of the 1.1 million bar-code terminals sold in 1999, Palm units are outpacing their CE counterparts in sales, reports David Krebs, a market analyst with research firm Venture Development Corp. in Natick, Mass. "The CE terminals have been slow to take off," says Krebs. "The CE operating system has been slow to gain acceptance because every new version [of the operating system] is different from the previous one. And the earlier versions were not flexible and used a lot of memory and power."

Even Intermec Technologies Corp. of Everett, Wash., one of the marketers of Win CE bar-code terminals, concedes that adoption of the company's units has been slow. Jeff Hovorka, a product manager at Intermec, says the sales of CE terminals were hindered by a dearth of development tools for programmers to write applications and a lack of stability in the CE system.

The Price Is Right

But Win CE's stumbles are only one factor behind the Palm operating system's success in the automatic-identification marketplace. The Palm OS terminals have gained wider marketplace acceptance for a variety of reasons-not the least of which is cost. Traditional handheld terminals used for data collection typically cost $2,000 or more. However, Symbol's Palm-based units go for around $700, notes Chris Siervo, a product manager at Symbol Technologies, while CE-based devices cost about $1,000.

The low unit cost makes Palm OS handheld terminals especially inviting for small and medium-sized companies interested in getting into tracking or bar coding warehouse merchandise. "This is designed for small warehouses and small fleets," says David Collins, president of the Data Capture Institute in Plymouth, Mass, "and it's priced for that."

Along with a low price per terminal, the Palm operating system provides a friendly, familiar face for users. "The presentation method in a pen-based system is simple," explains Collins. "Do this task, touch a button. Scan this, touch a button. It's easy to adapt to-which is especially helpful if you have a lot of turnover at the loading dock." Programmers also say they have found it easy to write applications for the Palm terminal.

Despite its surge in popularity, the Palm unit has some limitations at this time. For instance, its communication range is fairly restricted. Although Symbol does have a wireless unit, Collins says that it works best in the confined space of a local area network. "With a Palm," he notes, "you still have to go back to the cradle to download."

In addition, many developers of warehouse management systems (WMS) have yet to develop interfaces that allow communication between Palm OS devices and sophisticated warehouse management applications. "The links between Palm devices and WMS are an obstacle," says Steve Mulaik, director of the logistics systems practice at the Atlanta-based Progress Group consulting firm.

But at least one WMS vendor has cleared that hurdle. Marc Systems in Reston, Va., has developed an interface that handles Palm OS data in "near real-time," says Ron Riggin, Marc Systems' chief technology officer. The Palm device can download bar-coded data in traditional batch fashion when it is placed into a cradle that's connected to the WMS. Or it can transmit bar-coded information wirelessly over a short range to an infrared device that relays it to the application running the warehouse. "You point your Palm toward an infrared device and it just picks up the signals from six feet away," explains Riggin. "It's not as good as RF [radio frequency], but it's a lot less costly and it's better than paper."

Although the technology was developed with small companies in mind, Riggin says that global corporations have expressed just as much interest in using Palm-based units with WMS systems. "Its biggest sales potential lies with the large global corporation that doesn't want to put a full-blown RF network in a small facility," he says.

Hitting the Floor

In any event, many smaller companies have not yet invested in WMS, so real-time connectivity is not an issue for them. In their eyes, the Palm devices offer a way to capture inventory data, even if they have to make periodic batch downloads. "The smaller and medium-size companies are embracing this right now as a means of handling batch transactions inexpensively," reports Collins.

Should smaller companies adopt the Palm-based technology in large numbers, it could have a bigger impact on distribution than anyone had foreseen. The widespread deployment of handheld bar-code computers could change the role of the warehouse manager by allowing him or her to get out from behind the desk and spend more time on the floor. Mulaik, for one, believes that could prove to be the biggest long-term benefit of these units. "This could lead to giving supervisors terminals they can use on the floor," says the consultant. "The people running the warehouse now have to camp behind PCs all day to follow what's going on. With this technology, they could be on the floor managing people."