Thursday, February 12. 2009

Field Service Management ROI Numbers

People are always asking us for the size of certain markets. Today at the Map World Forum, Prakash Iyer of Trimble offered these numbers for the Field Services Management (FSM) market based on an Aberdeen Research report, which he said was conducted in 2007. [Directions Magazine published results of a 2006 FSM report from Aberdeen)

FSM is predicted b to be $1.7 B by 2012

Market Drivers – better service; constant cost pressure; increased productivity; vehicle and driver safety; Sarbannes-Oxley compliance

Typical ROI

12% increase in service profitability
13% increase in vehicle utilization
15% reduction in average travel time per job
10% decrease in overtime pay
28% increase in driver compliance

Posted by Joe Francica in Geospatial Business, LBS Market Sizing, Routing, Tracking, Logistics, Map World Forum 2009 at 00:46 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |

From Earth Orbit to Drill Bit: A View for Integrated, Location-Aware Mining Operations

At the Map World Forum in Hyderabad, Martin Nix of Leica Geosystems presented a vision for a true top (think GPS satellite) to bottom (think drill hole) vision of location-aware mining operations. Certainly, GPS solutions for vehicle location tracking have been widely used in mines before but Leica’s vision is to develop an entirely integrated approach that involves highly precise positioning from drill hole navigation and operation to vehicle telematics. A key driver of implementing these new systems is safety as well as improving machine operator efficiency and fleet management. Nix commented that providing visual information to both dispatchers and vehicle operators increases awareness of all aspects of mine operations and empowers all workers with much needed information. Both in the operations center and in the vehicle cockpit, maps and the location other vehicles in the mine can be displayed along with machine diagnostics. Nix explained that centimeter-accurate positioning for mining will avoid digging and drilling too far or not far enough in addition to reducing material loss. So precise and sensitive are these new tools that it will help determine rock type in order to guide drill bit usage and power. How close is Leica to delivering this vision? Nix explains that remote diagnostics is already in place. However, work needs to be done is the use of imagery to be used in real time. More collaboration with suppliers and more work on technology are needed, but incrementally there are many parts available now.

Posted by Joe Francica in Routing, Tracking, Logistics, Map World Forum 2009 at 00:41 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |

Tuesday, January 27. 2009

Podcast: Hybrid Positioning and Your Future

Hybrid positioning refers to handsets that use GPS and another technology to determine the device's location. Such solutions use Wi-Fi access points, cell towers, TV towers and their related signals, RFID, Bluetooth as a companion for when GPS is not enough. A recent report suggest growing use of hybrid solutions. What might your future and that of geospatial marketplace look like as these solutions proliferate? Our editors share some scenarios and point out gaps in the existing infrastructure, i.e., places to make money.

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in RFID, LBS, GPS, Sensors, Directions on the News Podcast, Wi-Fi, Geospatial Business, Routing, Tracking, Logistics, Infrastructure at 01:00 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0) |

Thursday, December 4. 2008

TomTom Route Planner Beta Uses Historic Data

Tele Atlas announced a new dataset with historic traffic data a few weeks ago to little fanfare. The reason? No one was really using it yet (save TomTom, TA's owner, internally).

Now TomTom is using the database in a beta version of an online routing program. You can sign up to be in the program here. (There's also a rather long video introducing the site.) The big differentiator is that the algorithms will tap into current and past data about traffic (say, how busy it typically is on a Sunday afternoon between 6-7 pm) to produce a better route.

It will be a big score if users note a significant difference in the accuracy of routes over those not using this database. We'll see how it plays out.

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Routing, Tracking, Logistics, Tele Atlas at 07:40 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |

Friday, October 31. 2008

Skyhook Tracking CNN Correspondents on the Magic Wall

A note from Skyhook's Rich Sutton pointed me to the video of John King below showing off not just "live locating" but also running correspondents' locations back in time and showing their recent "routes" which look just like airline routing maps found in the airline magazines.

What's unfortunate is that the CNN crew states that the app uses GPS.

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Tracking, Real-Time/Dynamic Data, Wi-Fi, Routing, Tracking, Logistics, Media & Maps at 13:06 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0) |

Tuesday, October 28. 2008

Podcast: PNDs vs. Smartphones

deCarta announced its connected navigation platform last week. At the same time the expectations for portable navigation devices is looking dim as for-fee smartphone solutions for navigation appear to grow. What is the future for these devices and what about the connected car of the future? Our editors look at what the experts say and share their own predictions.

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Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Open Source, Microsoft, GPS, Real-Time/Dynamic Data, Directions on the News Podcast, Local Search, Wi-Fi, Satellite Navigation, Geospatial Business, Routing, Tracking, Logistics, Apple at 06:00 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |