Beckton Dickinson

Over two million injuries and 100,000 deaths occur every year as a result of incorrect administration of medication. Sadly, these losses are preventable. Beckton Dickinson sells over $3B worth of healthcare products per year. Using Riverbed's ScoutSync technology and a Symbol SPT 1740 Palm OS device with built-in scanner and wireless LAN, Beckton Dickinson deployed a system to help verify that the proper medication is given to the right patient at the right time. Laptop solutions would not have met the mobility needs of the healthcare workplace. Beckton Dickinson projects this system will immediately reduce 70% of medication administration errors. "With this projected level of results, it will be glaringly evident that these handheld devices should be used in hospitals to prevent medication errors and misidentification of specimens" says Walter Kalmans, Director of Marketing, Becton Dickinson. (Riverbed Technologies)

Bankers Trust

When you are trading equities, you need the most current information at all times. When that information is on your desktop, you become tied to that desk. Bankers Trust executives were finding it difficult to leave their desks even for lunch. By putting together a Palm, Minstrel's wireless modem, and Aether's AIM technology, they are able to both receive financial data and make transactions anytime and anywhere. Although they looked at two way paging technologies, their needs could not be met with those solutions. Aether is rolling out systems using similar technologies for a number of prominent brokerage houses. (www.palm.com)

Grenley-Stewart

When you are in the business of operating a fleet of trucks, a few cents difference in gasoline price can translate to millions of dollars. Grenley-Stewart is in the business of selling low cost diesel fuel. But their policy requires drivers to buy gas from a Grenley-Stewart station to take advantage of volume contract prices. If truckers can get to a Grenley-Stewart gas station, then both benefit since the trucking company saves money and Grenley Stewart sells additional fuel. Yet the stations tend to be located in out-of-the-way locations, so they can be difficult to find. Using the Palm Organizer and AvantGo software, they were able to distribute to the truckers up-to-the-minute pricing information along with location information and directions to the nearest Grenley-Stewart station. This mode of information delivery is ideal for these mobile workers. In just 18 months, sales have climbed 300%. (www.avantgo.com)

Los Angeles City Fire Department

Los Angeles is a city that must be concerned with fire prevention. The city fire department conducts an annual brush inspection to ensure that high risk areas are clear from fire hazards. Previously the inspectors had to carry clipboards and generate handwritten information that was then manually entered into the city computer system. Not only was this cumbersome, but paperwork was only generated for properties with violations, so there was no way to tell how many properties inspectors had visited.

Using Puma Technologies and the SPT 1500 Palm Computer, this manual process was replaced with automated data entry. Back at the fire house, the data is automatically HotSynced into the system allowing for rapid data processing and obviating the need for manual data entry. Los Angeles is saving $123,000 in inspections and data entry costs per year. The new system has delivered an 11-month payback and a 109% ROI that will soar to 302% after three years. More importantly, the city has a stronger record combating fire hazards and has reduced property damage. (www.palm.com)

Hello World

Hello World sells prepaid telephone cards. Employees had been collecting sales data by hand from vending machines and then mailing the data back to headquarters for manual data entry. Not only was there a lag in time before the data could be analyzed, but the data entry process was costly. Using JP Systems wireless connectivity and a Symbol SPT 1500 Palm Computer, the data is now instantly beamed to corporate headquarters. Completed data forms are sent from the Palm device via IR technology to a two-way pager and then to Hello World's NT Server running JP Systems software. The change in business operations has enabled Hello World's management team to review the day's sales figures in less than 30 minutes at the end of any given collection date. The solution also has improved transcription errors in the data entry group and is helping the CEO's management team monitor its business more efficiently. Hello World is saving at least 120 weekly man-hours or 3 full-time employees' salaries. (www.jpsystems.com)

-Daniel Zucker, Ph.D.