THE CUTTING EDGE : IN DEVELOPMENT
United Parcel Builds a Better Bar Code: Bar codes have become a fact of life. Just ask former President George Bush, whose astonishment at seeing a supermarket checkout scanner helped sink his 1992 reelection bid.
A few years ago, United Parcel Service set out to build a better bar code. What the delivery service company came up with is MaxiCode, which packs a load of information in little more than the space of a thumbnail.
A traditional bar code used by UPS for tracking packages fits 18 characters of information in 3.5 square inches. By contrast, MaxiCode crams 100 bits of information into a square inch. And, unlike the old bar codes, if a piece of MaxiCode is torn off, the missing information can be quickly re-created by computer.
UPS also developed an overhead reader that deciphers the new code at ultra-high speeds as packages move along a conveyor belt. A computer then routes the packages for shipping. The company began using the MaxiCode system at a new Michigan facility last year, and plans are on for a plant near Chicago next year.
UPS eventually wants to use MaxiCode throughout its system, and it is making the new code available to other companies. Project engineer Earle Timothy said the savings in paper alone will pay for the investment and that UPS service will improve dramatically. “A package will have a personality rather than just an ID,” Timothy said. “It will tell us things about itself.”
Service Lets You Buy by Wire: Attention, cyberspace shoppers. Looking for a hard-to-find capacitor? Want to get the best price on pencils?
These days, some corporate and government buyers need look no further than their electronic mail. Thanks to an automated brokerage system developed by USC’s Information Sciences Institute in Marina del Rey, finding and ordering products has been reduced to the push of a button--well, several buttons.
The system, called Fast, was started in 1987 and has picked up speed in the past two years. More than 130 customers--including large entities such as General Electric Co., the Department of Defense and universities--have purchased more than $7 million worth of goods through Fast.
Here’s how it works: A customer in search of a particular product sends an e-mail message to Fast via the Internet computer network. The Fast computer screens its database to determine which of the 2,700 vendors in its system carry the product, then sends those vendors e-mail or faxed requests. Fast can even directly access some vendors’ inventory databases to find out if they have the item in stock, its price and the estimated shipping date. It then relays the information to the customer, who orders through Fast. The entire transaction can take less than 10 minutes, or sometimes as much as a day.
A buyer can also tailor a product request--by asking Fast to find the lowest price, for instance. Fast then places the order automatically and sends the customer a confirmation. Payment also goes through Fast, which follows up to ensure that the product was shipped on time. Fast charges the buyer an 8% fee.
Location Beacon Caters to At-Risk Execs: Executives traveling abroad have a lot more to worry about these days than exchange rates and wrinkled shirts. Kidnaping, for instance.
That’s why the London-based Counter Spy Shop developed the WanderCare personal location beacon. While location devices have been around for about 30 years, this gadget would make Maxwell Smart jealous. The tiny (less than two ounces) beacon can be slipped in a pocket or fitted in a shoe, an eyeglass case . . . even a pen.
The beacon emits a personalized digital beam that is picked up by a receiver connected to a laptop computer. The signal has a range of 15 miles and can pinpoint the location of the person carrying the beacon to within an inch. The computer can be programmed to track distance and direction and, if necessary, notify local authorities.
The product has been on the market for six months. Tom Felice, manager of the Counter Spy Shop in New York, said he sells about six a month for $3,800 to $9,400 each, depending on the degree of customization required. The Counter Spy Shop in Beverly Hills figures it sells three a month.
Felice doesn’t know of any specific instance in which a kidnaping plot was foiled by the locater beacon. And he concedes that the device wouldn’t do much good if someone were strip-searched. However, the beacon includes a panic button that alerts the person manning the receiver that danger may be imminent.
What’s next? A beacon device that can be inserted under the skin, Felice says.
Software Escrow Safeguards Source Code: When companies buy software, they’re often buying a relationship. Software users need support and programs need upgrading and customizing. But if the software developer goes out of business, the crucial “source code” for the software might suddenly become unavailable.
Enter the software escrow company. Like real estate escrow firms, these outfits serve as neutral third parties, keeping the developer’s proprietary source code--the guts of a program, through which upgrades, enhancements and corrections are made--under lock and key. If the developer goes bankrupt or fails to provide the agreed-upon service, the source code is released to the licensee.
Many businesses simply use their attorneys or banks for this role, but software escrow companies say they can do more. One such firm, San Francisco-based SourceFile, charges companies that license software from developers $1,000 a year, for which it fashions an agreement between the two parties, stores the source code in underground, climate-controlled vaults and makes sure the code is kept current with the latest revisions.
