IBM Middle East announces wireless initiative with Symbol Technologies and Intel

Under the agreement, the companies will jointly drive wireless solutions that integrate the Intel® Centrino™ mobile technology and Symbol's wireless handheld devices with IBM software, hardware and services which provide a new generation of mobile workers using notebooks, PDAs and other hand-held devices rapid access to key business information.

The IBM stand at GITEX 2005 (Hall3-Stand C3-1) will provide demonstrations on some of these new solutions that help enterprises extend their e-business infrastructure to their mobile workforces with the applications, data, and connectivity solutions required to improve organisation efficiency and competitiveness. Supporting this initiative, IBM, Symbol and Intel will also host joint seminars for customers and business partners at the back of the exhibition on the 27-29th September at the Fairmont Hotel in Dubai.

"Wireless solutions such as electronic product coding and radio frequency identification are transforming today's business environment, by offering increased accuracy and visibility, real-time decision making, and greater responsiveness to customer demand. However, these are complex and still-emerging technologies that require high levels of expertise to implement correctly to achieve measurable benefits. Consequently, IBM has worked with leading industry players such as Intel and Symbol Technologies to drive significant focus towards this fast-emerging technology area in the Middle East," said Takreem El-Tohamy, general manager, IBM Middle East, Egypt and Pakistan.

"Through our demonstrations and seminars, we believe that organisations attending the show and interested in adopting new wireless technologies will benefit from the experience and deep knowledge of acknowledged industry experts and have the opportunity to discuss the wireless challenges that are impacting their own businesses today."

IBM stand visitors will see demonstration on how flexible mobile communications infrastructures, that combine technologies such as RFID, instrumentation, wireless access and sensors, will integrate an organization and provide coverage to connect people, processes and data in a timely manner:

Field Force Automation Demo- This solution illustrates the benefits of using wireless and pervasive technologies in oil field operations. By integrating the back office systems with front office applications such as customer relationship management and enterprise resource planning, wireless technologies enable oil field organisations increase their operational efficiency, achieve significant gains in productivity, help reduce unplanned outages and provide a proven return of investment.

The oil field operations business scenarios to be demonstrated include the use of SAP applications to generate work orders for basic equipment inspection, and using Radio Frequency Identification (RFiD) systems from Symbol Technologies to confirm assets and closures of tickets. This is also extended to fault identifications through photographic and Product Lifecycle Management solutions that notify the Control Room in time to address the problem.
Demonstrations will also illustrate scenarios that include the remote monitoring of pump volumes through yellow and red alerts, remote monitoring for field use, location-based scheduling, photographic records and automated shutdowns.

Dock Door Receiving Demo

This solution demonstrates the benefits of using wireless solutions from the point of view of a store manager and how he manages a simplified ordering and receiving process at a retail store. The scenario begins with the store manager using the Management Console application, to view the store's current inventory and notices a particular item is running low. The store manager then goes to the store's distribution website to place an order for these items. Once the order has been placed, the distribution department packages the items into palettes and sends the store a manifest of the shipment. The manifest includes information on the contents in each palette and the Electronic Product Coding (EPC) value of the RFIP tag associated with that pallet. The store manager can then view the shipment information on the Management Console.

As the shipment arrives, each pallet tag is scanned using an actual reader and tag information events flow from reader to edge controller, to Premises Server, to the store's back-end system and back for verification. The back-end system updates inventory and shipping information accordingly. The receiving process is simulated by an SWT graphical display showing the dock door receiving area and associated components, such as light tree and motion sensor. Each graphical component simulates its real-world physical component so that events, such as the light tree registering valid or invalid palettes, can be viewed without having to set up physical hardware. Once all expected palettes have arrived, inventory is shown to have been updated and shipment status reported as received.