Automated data collection and the technologies surrounding it have become commonplace on warehouse floors and in supply chains throughout the country. In fact, we have a feeling that while most companies appreciate the efficiency they've brought to their organization, the initial excitement they felt during implementation has worn off, and the technology is now being taken for granted.

Like all things technological, changes in AIDC and advances are happening all the time. And there are some exciting updates that are causing executives, managers, and shopfloor workers to wake up and take notice!

Automated data collection applications for receiving, shipping, and other material tracking and inventory management systems have steadily evolved over the last 10-15 years. Proprietary wireless networks and devices have been replaced by industry standard solutions that are more compatible with your existing business systems at half the previous costs.

The business value of automated data collection is well documented and has been proven time and again through widespread implementation successes. Product and material transactions are executed faster, more accurately and at far less cost than the manual processes they replace. The use of automated data collection continues to increase as companies discover new opportunities to improve their processes and lower costs. The availability of low cost products allows even the most budget-conscious organizations to take advantage of this proven technology.

The Challenges of Building Effective Mobile and Wireless Applications

While we kick back in our air-conditioned office, staring at a 19 in. flat panel monitor and pounding away on an ergonomic keyboard, the factory floor and warehouse offer much more challenging work conditions. While there are rugged handheld computers designed to operate in these harsh environments, survive the occasional drop, and provide the required mobility, a shop floor setting presents other challenges that are many times overlooked.

The fact is, that while we now have affordable and capable handheld computing devices available to us, we remain reliant on old techniques to deliver data collection solutions. In our quest for more efficiency, we get frustrated with our operators and their "lack of discipline," while often the applications we require them to use are actually making their job more difficult. Accountants and operations managers are pleased with the improved material tracking detail and accuracy, but the people doing the real work consider our data collection systems a nuisance and just another management mandate that hinders getting the work done. So, what can be done to make this a happier union?

When you evaluate your existing applications or consider new solutions, are you taking into account all of the factors that impact overall effectiveness, value, and acceptance?

• Does poor lighting make the character-based shipping application difficult to read?
  
• Are your operators fumbling around with their handheld computers trying to perform picking transactions as they pull product off the shelf?
  
• Can John in receiving, who has never been confused for a piano protege, navigate the numerous keypad entries and 3-fingered key combinations required to perform the hundreds of receipt transactions he performs daily?

You may not even realize that your current AIDC system isn't being received or used as enthusiastically or effectively as you'd hoped because that solution doesn't take into account the above environmental limitations.

Today's Solutions

Many data collection applications take advantage of the features in today's handheld options, but there are also traditional DOS-based, character-based, and graphically oriented applications that do not always accommodate the needs of today's industrial worker.

Let's take a closer look to find out what's good, what's bad, and how current AIDC implementations can be fixed to better serve the handheld workforce.

Character-based and thin client applications: Character-based data collection applications are typically DOS applications installed on the device or "thin client" applications running a terminal client (e.g. VT220 or 5270 on the device and communicating with a telnet or similar terminal server running on a server on the network). For DOS devices, all screen and data collection logic resides on the client device and transactions are sent to a host application over the wireless network (WLAN) via a standard communication protocol, such as TCP/IP sockets.

For terminal emulation applications, the terminal server application running on the host contains all of the screen presentation, navigation, and data collection logic, similar to legacy mainframe and other "green screen" environments. The host application is usually integrated with other business systems either through database connectivity or via a packaged or custom application interface.

The Good: Applications deployed with this model are very attractive from a cost and administration perspective. Software that needs to be installed on the handheld units is minimal and all application updates are performed on the application server. Development is generally easier, as screen layout and navigation options are more limited than a graphical interface application. Major Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) vendors such as SAP and Oracle offer mobile thin client solutions based on telnet terminal services for their warehouse and supply chain applications. SAP's SAPConsole [see Warehouse Management with mySAP Supply Chain Management] converts SAP graphical user interface transactions into character-based screens that are accessed by Radio Frequency (RF) devices via a telnet server. Oracle's Mobile Supply Chain Applications (MSCA) include a similar character-based solution for warehouse management [see Oracle Mobile Supply Chain Applications Installation and Implementation Guide].

The Bad: While fairly painless to deploy, these character-based solutions are quite limited in terms of providing an effective solution for your operators. Navigation between fields and screens usually requires use of function or special keys, and the overall experience is far less intuitive compared to well-designed graphical interface applications. The use of color and advanced features like voice recognition are limited or nonexistent. Local storage for buffering transactions or providing local data lookups to improve application performance or to allow operation when connectivity is lost is typically not supported in this model.

The Fix: Variations of the thin client model address many of the shortcomings yet still provide the ease of management and deployment. Web applications, like terminal applications, are centrally installed on an application server and accessed via a browser application. The browser interface is typically easier to use than a terminal screen and can also handle unstructured data such as work instruction documents or part diagrams. SAP's WebSAPConsole is an enhancement to the SAPConsole that utilizes the device's built-in browser, providing a graphical interface [see SAP Mobile Supply Chain Management with mySAP Supply Chain Management]. The WebSAPConsole further extends the thin client capabilities by supporting integration with voice recognition.

RFGen from DataMAX supports the development of both graphical and character-based thin client applications and provides the option to deploy as a rich or "fat" client executable to the device for mobile or batch applications [see RFGen Deployment Options].

Rich client applications: The term client-server, which describes an application running on a workstation or in an RF data collection device, and communicates with a backend database or application, has earned somewhat of a negative reputation for poor manageability, quality, and performance. Hence, the industry has created a new term, "Rich Client Application," to define a similar model, though albeit one that leverages many of the standards and methodologies that today's Internet and intranet applications are based upon.

With this model, the screen display, navigation, and a portion, if not all, of the business logic runs as an application on the device. A server application is deployed to manage transaction processing between the devices and the business application and if needed, transactions can be stored locally on the device for scenarios where deferring updates to the server provides better performance or when connectivity to the server is not always available, such as a field service or remote sales application.

The Good: Rich client applications offer several advantages over thin client character-based or browser applications:

• Offloading presentation and business logic to the device can reduce network communication and server resource utilization and a more responsive user interface.
  
• Transactions can be saved locally when the device does not have a network connection.
  
• A well-designed application that takes advantage of the device's graphical user interface capabilities can be more intuitive and adaptable to the operating environment.

The Bad: Like the client-server applications that grayed many hairs and shortened many careers, there are significant challenges:

• Updates for new features or bug fixes have to be deployed to every device, which for a large enterprise could represent hundreds of units at dozens of locations.
  
• Poorly designed rich client applications can overburden the limited resources of a handheld computer.
  
• Desktop applications repurposed and modified for use on a handheld may be cumbersome and not take into consideration the working environment the application will be used in.
  
• Applications can be more costly to develop due to a more complex user interface interaction and event model compared to a telnet or browser solution.

The Fix: Tools like DataMAX RFGen or MCL Technologies [see MCL Technologies] provide a simplified environment for sophisticated rich client data collection application development. They can also handle the low-level plumbing, and include optional modules for integration into enterprise applications such as JD Edwards and SAP.

For those who have skilled resources available and desire complete control of their application design and infrastructure, there are a wide range of general and handheld specific development environments that utilize Microsoft .NET, Sun JAVA, or C/C+.

A short list includes:

1. Microsoft Visual Studio
2. IBM WebSphere Studio Device Developer
3. AppForge Crossfire

. . . and some free ones!

1. NetBeans with the NetBeans Mobility Pack from NetBeans.org
2. SuperWaba from SuperWaba.org 
3. Microsoft eMbedded C++

Application deployment and management of dozens or hundreds of devices is much less daunting with tools such as Wavelink Avalanche Mobile Device Management, which supports deployment of applications and updates from a central console [see Wavelink].

And finally a note about portable printing: Requirements to generate bar code labels for incoming products, print movie tickets, or other on-demand labels are quite common in data collection applications. Using portable printers for on-demand printing eliminates time wasted making trips back and forth to a fixed-location printer and unnecessary reprinting due to lost labels.

One of the biggest challenges with portable printing has been connectivity to the handheld device. Fragile, often proprietary connectors and unreliable printing coupled with the inconvenience of working with a cable strung across the body, often result in the portable printers making their way to a fixed location in the surplus equipment room!

Improved printer design and the adoption of wireless device interface standards makes portable printing more viable, but often necessitates newer handheld devices to get the required connectivity support.

While the above "fixes" allow the handhelds to function more effectively, most of those improvements really don't address the needs of industrial workers. Great progress has been made by the device manufacturers and the application and tool developers to provide a framework for effective mobile and wireless data collection with a new eye toward the challenging environment of the warehouse and shop floor.

Are you just now considering automation on your shop floor or at your distribution centers? Or do you have a solution in place that could use some updates to add efficiency for your staff? Here are some approaches worth considering:

Pen-Based and Touchscreens

PocketPC, Palm, and other mobile platforms support pen or stylus input in addition to or replacing keyboard input. The form factor of a handheld device forces the manufacturer to make a compromise between the number and size of the keys. Replacing the use of function keys or other key sequences with menu selection and screen navigation using a pen or touch screen input can reduce keyboard entry errors, make your application less unwieldy, and improve the flow. (Fig 4: Application Menu using Pen or Touchscreen Selection)

Color

Selective use of color can make your application easier to view and highlight significant events or errors, minimizing the need for an operator having to stop work in progress to read application messages unless special action is required. For example, a receiving application could momentarily display a green highlighted message on successful receipt of an item, but would display a red highlighted message that requires acknowledgement when an invalid item is scanned.

Lighting and eyesight disabilities need to be taken into consideration. Other forms of highlighting events may need to be used in conjunction with color to accommodate all conditions.

Sound and Voice

Like color highlighting, sound can be used to highlight both normal events and events requiring operator attention. Operators can perform continuous scanning of materials without having to refer back to the device screen unless they hear an error beep or tone. A success beep or tone is used to give the operator an audible acknowledgement that the transaction was successful. The number of beeps or difference in tone should be easily distinguishable and loud enough to be heard in a noisy environment. Some devices support the use of earpieces to eliminate problems with ambient noise. As with the use of color, the operating environments -- and any operator disabilities -- need to be taken into consideration.

Speech and voice recognition solutions provide a truly hands- and eyes-free data collection experience. Speech commands can direct an operator to perform certain activities and voice recognition can be used for the operator to acknowledge completion of an action -- all without having to handle or view the handheld device [see SyVox Speech Based Solutions]. Here is a sample "conversation:"

1. Computer: "Go to Bin A1234, Say Check Digit"
2. Operator: "21"
3. Computer: "Pick 2, Say Got It"
4. Operator: "Got It"
5. Computer: "Take to Door 1, Say Got It"
6. Operator: "Got It"

Wireless Printers and Scanners

Short-range wireless technologies such as Bluetooth (www.bluetooth.com) provide a mechanism to interconnect devices such as portable printers and scanners to your handheld data collection devices. This provides greater flexibility in how the devices are handled and avoids the clumsy connections, constant repairs, and inconvenience of cables.

Whether you are doing your first implementation of an automated data collection application or looking to enhance what you already have in place, keep in mind the following:

• Do the devices and software you are evaluating support the user interface features your application requires, and do they support a wide range of peripheral devices such as printers and wireless scanners?
  
• Is the platform you are selecting well supported in the industry? Are there readily available resources and products to extend your data collection processes?
  
• If you are buying a packaged application or data collection development environment, what is the license fee for deployment? Is licensing based per device, per site, or per server? Will the cost for a companywide implementation be prohibitive?
  
• Are there environmental factors (i.e. lighting, temperature, or noise) that should be considered?
  
• Have you considered ergonomic factors (i.e. size, weight, and layout) in your decision?

Automated data collection systems have a notable impact on your company's operational activities and the personnel who execute them. Applications that are crafted to work in harmony with the idiosyncrasies of the workplace and the needs of the workforce have a better chance of acceptance and success.

To achieve that, you will have to go beyond the joint design sessions; the RFPs and conference room pilots -- you need to put on that old pair of jeans and experience it yourself!

Publication References

1. Warehouse Management with mySAP Supply Chain Management
2. Oracle Mobile Supply Chain Applications Installation and Implementation Guide
3. RFGen by DataMAX
4. MCL Technologies
5. SyVox Speech Based Solutions
6. Bluetooth Wireless Protocol
7. Intermec Handheld Computers and Portable Printers
8. Wavelink device management
9. Microsoft Mobile
10. SuperWaba
11. NetBeans Mobility Pack
12. IBM WebSphere Studio Device Developer