Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Sears techs packing a wireless punch

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 04:24:33 -0400

Sears techs packing a wireless punch
By John Cox
Network World, 09/01/03
When it comes to wireless networking, Sears isn't choosy.

As part of a $65 million project, the retailer this year has outfitted trucks used
by its 10,000 service technicians with a five-antenna dome that supports Global
Positioning System (GPS), 802.11 wireless LAN (WLAN) and packet data WAN services
.

Each wireless technology plays a different role depending on what the technician
is doing, all in an effort to make Sears' field force more productive and help the
company generate more revenue and turn bigger profits. As it is, Sears generates
more than $2 billion a year in service revenue.

The company says the new wireless system is paying off, letting the company cut
administrative costs in half at regional support facilities, partly by using fewer
call center employees. There's less need for them because technicians now have
better access to more data and now can solve more problems on their own.

Sears is on track to recoup the initial investment costs in two to three years,
according to David Sankey, director of process and technology development for the
company's Product Repairs Services group in Chicago.
In 1995, Sears first equipped its field force with rugged Itronix notebooks and
wireless modems to link them with low-bandwidth but reliable and pervasive packet
data networks such as Mobitext. The focus then was on cutting back-office
administration costs by eliminating paperwork and manual entry errors, and
improving dispatching.

"We did achieve the efficiencies we wanted," Sankey says. "There was a
two-and-a-half-year payback, which was very consistent with our original goals."
Sankey declined to be more specific about back-office savings, citing company
policy.
The new system is focused on making the field-service staff more efficient. For
example, a GPS connection to the pedestal-mounted laptop in a truck shows the
vehicle's location and directions. So less time is lost trying to get to a
customer's home.  A new, 20G-byte imaging library on the laptops, with a specially
designed GUI for easy navigation, is designed to help technicians diagnose
problems more quickly. Another goal is to make ordering parts more accurate.
According to Sankey, ordering the wrong part is a costly mistake: "Reverse parts
flow," as it's called, means handling the item multiple times, restocking and
processing paper.

The new system was created with two partners, Itronix, which offers a line of
rugged computers and systems integration services, and Wireless Matrix, a systems
integrator that offers a wireless gateway to link enterprise applications with
mobile workforces.

The truck-mounted dome, designed by Wireless Matrix, uses five wireless
technologies. One is an 802.11b WLAN. A technician can carry a laptop along with
his toolbox into the customer's basement or laundry room, using the WLAN to
connect to the WAN via the communications dome.  There are two WAN options to
ensure connectivity almost 100% of the time. One is for a traditional terrestrial
packet data network, such as the Mobitext network. "These terrestrial packet nets
are still just data, with very high reliability, and low latency," Sankey says.

The second WAN option, when the first is not available, is the more expensive
satellite packet-data network. A signal-strength meter triggers a switch from one
to the other depending on which signal is better. The arrangement gives nearly
universal coverage while minimizing expensive satellite charges.

Two other antennas work with a GPS. One is used to feed a GPS signal to mapping
software on a laptop. The second antenna, not yet activated, will use a backfeed
channel on the GPS signal, passing it to a transceiver in a small device that
slips onto a technician's key chain. A button can send an emergency signal that
will show the wearer's location.
Next up for Sears is rolling out redesigned service-order management software.
Besides offering a new user interface, the application will automate many parts of
a complex process.

Part of Sears' business is in-home servicing of products for other companies: Each
contract has different terms of services, covers different products and stipulates
different maximum repair costs. "There are literally hundreds of possible
combinations on how to close a service call," Sankey says. "We built all this into
the software, with exception tables, data validation and so on."  Another pending
change is new software that introduces a set of CRM features. Technicians will be
able to review repair histories of a stove or washing machine with the customers,
update them on new products and make them aware of current promotions.
http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0901sears.html#related

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From: "Andy" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 18:51:49 -0000

Apologies to Paul Harvey...  and now the rest of the story....

>>ACTERNA/ITRONIX BANKRUPTCY UPDATE
 
Acterna (the parent company of Itronix) filed it's proposed plan of 
reorganization that provides
for payment of 10% of the total unsecured claims to be distributed 
pro 
rata with the total payout not to be less than $3,500,000 or more 
than $5,000,000.  Since this amount is pro-rated among the unsecured 
creditors including NSSC, we will not know how much will actually be 
paid out to NSSC until the hearing on the plan that is currently 
scheduled for September 25, 2003. The current feeling is that the 
amount actually paid to NSSC will probably be substantially less than 
the 10% noted based on the relatively small percentage of the total 
unsecured debt that is actually owed to NSSC.
We will continue to monitor these activities and report any news to 
you immediately.
If you have any questions please free to call me at ***-***-3077 or 
send me an email at [email-masked] 
Don Pierson
USMSS <<<

Acterna/Itronix declared bankruptcy during the installation phase of 
the 
Sears program.  Itronix had contracted with the National Sales & 
Service Corp/USMSS shops to perform over 6800 of the workstation 
installations nationwide - and left most of the USMSS shops hanging 
for installation work.  The whole thing was a real fiasco. 

--- In [email-masked], Marcelrf@B... wrote:
> two-and-a-half-year payback, which was very consistent with our 
Snipped 
>Snipped

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From: "Andy" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 18:52:22 -0000

Snipped