The continuing growth of e-commerce is, despite its inherently high-tech aspect, also dependent upon humbler, more conventional foundations. The business and technology media have a distinct preference for concentrating reports on the supply and demand sides of the e-commerce equation. But, regardless of what method the online consumer uses to contact the supplier and place an order, it is still necessary for the seller to send the physical product from point A to point B. Distribution, then, is the point at which the virtual economy meets the real world.
The technology of distribution, at the primary level, has changed very little over the last 50 years. The use of the airplane as a cargo carrier is the latest innovation, and it seems rather unlikely that there will be any new developments in the foreseeable near future. This is not to say that technology does not have some definite benefits to offer those involved in transporting cargo from one place to another; indeed, competition in the distribution field, like any other industry, has become increasingly dependent on the collection and management of information.
Parcel and Postal Distribution Centers' Need for Data
A distribution center's primary need for information is the ability to track and trace the various packages that it is in the process of moving around the world. This information is gathered through serial communications devices such as barcode scanners and requires the cooperation of other hardware linked into the data-collecting system including dimensioning equipment, label applicators, printers and even backup power supplies. The construction of these systems was difficult and typically done on a makeshift basis, which tended to result in the use of isolated systems, each of which was used separately to control the various devices.
These isolated systems caused several problems. The cost of building and maintaining separate systems was inefficient and expensive, of course, but a much more serious issue was the fact that the data contained independently within each system was not accessible for use within the enterprise-wide network.
PC Server Technology Solves the Data Collection Problem, but at What Cost?
In the last 10 years, PC server technology has allowed for the resolution of the data collection problem by eliminating the need for isolated systems and consolidating the various serial devices into a single coherent system that can be accessed through a distribution center's local area network. This solution typically requires the following technology to operate such a system: a Microsoft Windows NT server running various applications with a multi-port serial card, which provides from two to 32 additional serial ports for the server. Each device requires at least one serial port in order to be attached to the server and accessible to the system. Comtrol's RocketPort is one example of such a serial card. Local area network infrastructure requires that a network, which serial devices are attached, be in place to provide Ethernet connections to the servers. This infrastructure includes Ethernet hubs, CAT5 cable and networking software. Multiple servers can be required if the serial devices attached to the server cannot be located close together. This is due to the distance constraints on RS-232, RS-422 and RS-485, which are common protocols used by the serial devices. A central control room is used to provide centralized local control and consolidate the information being collected from the servers that are deployed on the floor of the warehouse into a common database.
The local area network approach for serial device control has worked with a great degree of success for years, but experience has shown that there are some distinct drawbacks to this approach for data collection. The most problematic issues stem from the simple fact that the servers deployed on the work floor are being subjected to environmental conditions for which they were not designed. Although it may not seem immediately apparent, distribution centers are actually a fairly hostile environment for computers, as the mechanical nature of the server's hard drives in particular render the entire data collecting process vulnerable.
These hostile conditions have directly led to a number of unusual and expensive maintenance practices. Since the failing of a server not only requires its servicing and possible replacement, but may also lead to an interruption of the shipping process, a distribution center must exert an inordinate amount of effort to reduce the amount and frequency of server downtime. For example, one of the world's largest parcel handling firms is forced to make a regular practice of vacuuming inside the cases of its floor servers in order to remove the cardboard dust build-up constantly collecting there.
This example is just one of many environmental challenges that distribution centers must face, but it effectively highlights the dichotomy between effectively managing the data collection process while minimizing the costs of technology maintenance and support overhead.
Device Servers Reduce Dependence on Work Floor PCs
Fortunately, companies producing serial connectivity hardware have now developed a way to connect serial devices to the enterprise network, allowing the · distribution center to collect data without the use of servers deployed on the work floor. This is done through the use of serial hubs and device servers, which are powerful enough to replace the server but are less expensive and far less vulnerable to the hostile environmental conditions of the floor.
Serial hubs provide 10/100Base-T Ethernet connectivity to control from one to 32 RS-232/422/485 serial ports. This new technology offers solid state performance and reliability at a fraction of the total cost of ownership required by standard NT servers. Remote serial ports can be controlled by one master server in a local control room or, in an enterprise-wide setting, can be monitored and controlled through the Internet by making use of an embedded Web server.
These new connectivity products allow parcel delivery firms and postal organizations to deploy software installations or upgrades in an Internet-enabled broadcast mode, which, combined with their inherent reliability, substantially reduces the costs of integration, maintenance and support of the organization's data collecting operations. An application capable of performing the same functions as the previously mentioned local networked approach is as follows:
A master server connected in a local control room or elsewhere via the Internet. Information collected from the serial hubs and device servers is consolidated here into a common database, a serial hub. For a Local area network infrastructure, cable is still required to provide Ethernet connections to the device servers, which the serial devices are attached. However, utilizing the embedded Ethernet switch technology significantly reduces the number of Ethernet hubs required throughout the facility.
The annual cost savings to a single distribution center through the use of device servers can easily reach into the $10,000 range when the reduction in the number of required floor servers and man-hours spent on maintenance and support are calculated.
As postal organizations, 3PLs and parcel delivery firms seek to improve customer service while at the same time reducing cost of operations, these latest innovations in serial device control provide them with the means to do so. They can do this by lowering the cost and increasing the reliability of the data collecting system, while at the same time providing more tracking and monitoring features than ever before.
Bradford Beale is general manager, Industrial Applications Division, Comtrol Corporation. For information on connectivity products, contact Comtrol's Postal Automation Team at 800-926-6876 or visit ia.comtrol.com.
