Bluetooth at work for 3PLs: the cable-replacement technology provides a bridge from data's point of origin to the enterprise's network for third-party logistics providers

Frontline Solutions, August, 2004 by Tom Kevan

As the wireless standard develops, Bluetooth is proving itself in personal area network applications. People often compare Bluetooth with Wi-Fi, but the technologies do not compete for the same functions. Wi-Fi is a wireless networking technology, and Bluetooth serves as a cable replacement. Bluetooth's strength is in the personal area network--connecting one device to another without the hassle of having a cable in the middle--which makes it a perfect medium for devices such as hand-held scanners and mobile printers and for use in warehouses and logistics operations.

UPS Package Tracking

One of the biggest users of Bluetooth in North America is United Parcel Service of America (UPS). The logistics provider selected the wireless protocol as its standard method of connecting peripherals with mobile computers in its operations.

"We made Bluetooth a standard feature in all of our terminals and our next-generation of on-road terminals," says Dave Salzman, senior project manager with UPS. "It will form our peripheral expansion bus for those terminals."

UPS recently refreshed the technology it used for package tracking. Loaders capture bar code data on every package placed into a bag or trailer for shipment, and that data works its way to the Web, where customers can go for full- visibility tracking.

Before the upgrade, loaders used ring scanners (worn on the finger) and mobile terminals from Symbol Technologies Inc., connected by a cable. The terminals passed the tracking data on to company PCs by using spread-spectrum radio communications.

But the cables hindered the loaders' movements and reduced their performance. Under the new system, Bluetooth transmits bar code data from the finger scanner to the waist-worn computer. Then UPS uses Wi-Fi to transfer the data from the waist terminal to the company's network. From there, the data are fed to the Web tracking system.

UPS selected Bluetooth for this application because of its size, weight, and battery consumption. "We couldn't put Wi- Fi in the ring scanner," says Salzman. "The scanner's battery was too small to support it. And we had to make the scanner as small as possible so it didn't fatigue the user when he had it strapped to his finger. It had to be just an ounce or two. So Bluetooth was a much better fit than Wi-Fi."

UPS also needed a wireless standard that was globally accepted, and Bluetooth is approved for use in 118 countries. "We like to remain standards based," says Salzman.

Before adopting Bluetooth, UPS considered infrared communications, but that proved unacceptable. "We couldn't ensure line of sight between the finger and the terminal," says Salzman. "The user is busy loading packages when the scans are made, and we couldn't find a place to put the infrared sensor so that it would see the user's finger with enough certainty."

When implementing Bluetooth, companies often encounter problems involving interference, range, or security. In UPS's case, the primary concern was interference between Bluetooth and Wi-Fi because they both operate in the same unlicensed frequency spectrum. The logistics provider avoided interference problems by implementing the alternating wireless media access (AWMA) protocol, which essentially alternates Bluetooth and Wi-Fi transmissions. "AWMA is one of the recommended practices of the IEEE 802.15 group," notes Salzman.

Range and security posed no problems. "We had to go just a couple of feet, so the range was more than enough," says Salzman. "And we don't have any sensitive data going across the Bluetooth link."

UPS plans to use Bluetooth in its next generation of driver terminals and anticipates using the protocol to communicate with sensors in its vehicles for such applications as an engine bus interface and diagnostics.

Optimizing Delivery Operations

Another logistics service plans to leverage Bluetooth technology to streamline its processes. Gateway Delivery Inc., a Canadian third-party logistics provider whose fleet makes deliveries from Vancouver to Quebec City, suffered from an inefficient paper-based inventory and delivery system that was causing missed deliveries, faulty inventory records, and lost revenue. The paper-based procedures were too slow and error prone to provide adequate service levels.

"Our operation was completely based on paper. We have boxes of records, and we cannot continue to expand our operation without an adequate technology platform," says David Carruth, Gateway's co-founder and executive vice president.

Gateway created a new system to provide more timely delivery confirmation to customers and more accurate documentation for goods transferred from its warehouses. Currently, workers scan bar codes to record receiving and loading data with an Intermec laser scanner strapped to their wrist. The scanner is cabled to an Intermec 760 Series computer worn on the belt. The wearable scanners require a great deal of maintenance, and workers find them awkward to use.

To eliminate this problem, Gateway is replacing the wired scanners with Intermec's SF 15 cable-free scanner, which will communicate bar code scan data to the 760 computer by using a Bluetooth radio interface. The 760 will then pass the data to an 802.11b-standard wireless LAN in the distribution centers.