ISSA/Interclean 2001Tech Wrapup: It’s All About Wireless

At last year’s International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA) convention and trade show in Atlanta, electronic commerce was all the rage. Several seminars covered topics related to computer-based buying and selling, and many exhibitors proudly showed off their electronic catalogs, auction interface and other e-commerce toys. Almost all of these speakers and vendors looked forward to this year, when the show would be open to end users, so they too could hop on the e-biz bandwagon.

But in the interim, the “dotcom” boom became a bust; technology stocks tumbled and a many of e-commerce providers disappeared with it. And while there still were e-commerce vendors and presenters at this year’s ISSA-Interclean show in Orlando, Fla., they were fewer and farther between. This year, it seems, e-business has been replaced by a new buzzword: wireless.

“We’re seeing a seismic shift, from desktop to handheld, from wired to wireless,” explains Vance Hilbers, vice president of business development for TangoPoint, an Omaha, Neb. vendor of quality control and workloading programs.

In nearly every aisle, technology vendors showed off various ways to access their software via handheld devices; Palm Pilots, Pocket PCs, even cellular phones. Timekeeping, workloading and quality control programs all can be accessed from your handheld.

For instance, Phoenix, Ariz.- based Daniels Associates demonstrated its inspection program, Audit Route, at the show. This checklist-based program loads onto a Palm Pilot or other mobile computing device, so building service contractors can conduct inspections with their handheld instead of a clipboard. When finished, the user can upload the inspection results into their main computer back at the office. The system integrates with Daniels’ workloading program, so the specifications are readily available.

TangoPoint also, has its wireless services up and running. The system allows users to access, transmit and conduct inspections, work requests and job orders via the Internet. The system can be accessed from a traditional desktop or laptop computer, or from a handheld device.

And yes — many of the e-commerce companies that made it to the show this year have added or enhanced their wireless capabilities. These programs, which allow end users to order products and supplies through their Palms, are marketed to janitorial supply distributors, and may find their way to BSCs soon.

Universal Business Systems Inc., Somerville, N.J., is a business services firm specializing in sanitary supply, foodservice and other distribution firms ; the company offers Paper Master, an Internet-based catalog, ordering and inventory system. The system is accessible from a handheld device. For more information, ask your distributors what types of online or wireless ordering they offer.

Other Programs
Of course, not everything on the show floor was geared to handheld computer users. For example, ExpressTime Petal, Miss., offers an automated timekeeping program. Although telephone timekeeping has been around for awhile, the company recently introduced a new twist; if an employee is late or doesn’t show up for a scheduled shift, the software automatically pages the supervisor.

Several chemical and equipment manufacturers have teamed up with software programmers and consultants to produce workloading, chemical management or bidding programs of their own. For instance, consulting firm National Pro Clean, Dallas, is offering its Cleaning Management Software Version 5.2, a workloading and quality-control program, via chemical manufacturer Canberra Corp. Toledo, Ohio. Recent enhancements to the software include a calculator which allows users to account for variables, such as building density and clutter level, before estimating.

The new version also can be integrated with Canberra Corp.’s products, as well as other chemical catalogs, so contractors can automatically calculate what chemicals will cost for a particular job. The program currently is available through Canberra distributors, but National Pro Clean intends to offer the program to other manufacturers in the future .

by Stacie H. Whitacre, Managing Editor

MSDSSolutions.com provides an online MSDS management tool that is hosted and managed from its server, instead of selling a software package that users have to install on their own servers and workstations.

The service allows users to access the most up-to-date MSDS information from any workstation by logging on to the Web site with a user name and password. This way, each work site manager can search for and print out data sheets for the materials at that particular work location.

Users can access the site’s extensive database of materials, generate reports, create labels, inventory products by site and print summary sheets for off-line use.