It’s not often that a solution provider realizes his product may indirectly help save lives.
But that’s what dawned on Mike Feder one night as he joined a client to get information for the wireless system he was creating.
Feder’s company, 3G Touch Solutions of Concord, Ont., had been hired
to design a handheld solution for contractors who deliver the Toronto Star to stores and street boxes across southern Ontario.
The drivers were getting their route and newspaper count information on several sheets of paper from the Star. Drop-offs and returned unsold papers from the day before had to be recorded, then filed with distributors who then mailed the documents to the newspaper.
In newspaper parlance, this is the ‘single copy’ side of the business.
“”The name of the game in single copy is simple,”” says Robert Foster, manager of circulation systems development for TorStar Media Group.
“”You want to have as few returns as possible and as few sellouts as possible. The best scenario is having one paper returned from each place. Then you know you’ve met demand.””
But with reports in the mail the newspaper was often two weeks behind knowing what happened on any day.
Inaccurate counts
Not only that, the count wasn’t always accurate. While the number of papers left in stores and schools is precise drivers have discretion on how many papers to leave in a box, so the Star had trouble knowing which box was doing well and on what days.
Three years ago the newspaper asked for bids to improve to the system. The contest was won by 3G Touch, a five-year-old company specializing in mobile technology.
To find out how much better a wireless solution could be, chief technology officer Feder joined one driver on his route. The evening climaxed with them roaring along one of the province’s main highways as the driver completed his paperwork.
“”The driver was doing his tallies on the steering wheel,”” recalled Feder.
“”At that point I thought, ‘This [solution] is a real value-add to this guy — plus to the other people on the road.'””
The solution was to have 155 drivers receive their route information on a wireless handheld to do away with paper and move the Star’s ability to collect data to a daily event.
The VAR already had one piece of the puzzle, a SQL Server-based mobile data server, which acts as a bridge from the Star’s mainframe that holds all the route and product information. It took 3G about four months to create the initial application. Following a six month pilot, an Intermec 760 mobile computer was selected for the drivers.
The colour unit, which runs Microsoft’s Pocket PC operating system, can transmit data at the end of each driver’s run over Rogers’ Communications GPRS cellphone network.
Having to wait to choose that unit caused one of the view problems on the project, said Feder. Time was needed to hone the Intermec’s modem software for the application. But it helped that 3G realized drivers only needed to transmit their data at the end of each run.
Another lesson learned from the pilot was that drivers needed the ability to change the order of their routes, a feature added before the full application was rolled out last year.
Foster wouldn’t say how much the project cost, nor detail the Star’s return on investment.
But he did say “”the process has been very stable and very robust”” thanks in part to the thorough pilot.
“”We know returns have improved and sellouts have improved. We’re well online to meeting our justification for the project.””
And Ontario drivers are a bit safer.