APPLOCATION JOINS NETSUITE’S SUITEFLEX DEVELOPER PROGRAM
NetSuite ERP Set to Go Mobile with LBS Location Awareness
SAN MATEO, Calif. and VICTORIA, British Columbia (November 09, 2007) – AppLocation Systems, Inc. announced that it has become a member of NetSuite’s SuiteFlex Developer Program. By extending NetSuite’s One System Architecture with web-based wireless location awareness and integration capabilities, it’s now easier than before to find inventory in the supply chain by “going mobile.”
“Our carrier grade MOBILEFusion(TM) platform links location sensitive data from telco networks to ERP applications such as inventory, billing and order entry,” said AppLocation President Gary Hartwig.
The convergence of location sensitive technologies such as RFID, GPS and location based services (LBS) requires a next generation wireless plug and play platform to drive easy, affordable adoption of asset location for supply chain logistics. The SuiteFlex Development platform goes beyond other on-demand development environments by allowing third party applications to integrate transaction data — orders, inventory, invoices and shipments — with their applications.
“We bring rich mapping, location-sensitive data, business logistics and supply chain visibility plus mobility intelligence into transaction data,” said Hartwig. “SuiteFlex enables us to build workflows that look and operate on common business PDAs that look and operate as if NetSuite’s own developers wrote them. This is a good fit both for our products and for our clients.”
In an interview with Fierce Wireless, Nov. 1, 2007, Andrew Seybold, one of the most respected and influential analysts in the wireless industry said the convergence of RFID, GPS and LBS is a key driver in enterprise mobility. He said enterprise solutions are not about one location-aware technology or another but rather about all of them being embedded in the applications that enterprises use to beat their competitor. “RFID is coming to every cell phone,” said Seybold. “If you take RFID, GPS and LBS and put them all together, and look at all of the applications that the enterprise uses, I think all of those technologies are going to play in one form or another.”
Hartwig agrees and feels AppLocation is well positioned to assist mid-size firms integrate location-enabled mobility devices directly to their NetSuite ERP.
Because NetSuite holds critical business data of a company — orders, invoices, Web site transactions, shipping records, time tracking and payroll data — the applications that are built on it using SuiteFlex provide key tools for managing the company’s business. AppLocation’s MOBILEFusion platform allows real-time data from a variety of sources to be linked directly to NetSuite applications from wireless devices. Mobile locating and integration extends the range of business applications enhanced workforce mobility, and efficiency, which directly relates to improved transaction times and can create a competitive advantage.
AppLocation uses its expertise in carrier-grade, location-based services and its web-based MOBILEFusion(TM) platform to track assets wirelessly, improving its clients’ logistic and supply chain business decisions on land, on water, and in the air — utilizing the latest technology in CDMA/GPRS/Satellite devices, mapping, sensors, RFID, RTLS and wireless network management.
“For example, we achieve 1 meter accuracy using GPS in our yard management implementations with a technology that has an inherent 10 meter accuracy,” said Hartwig. “We also have a RTLS product that has the ability to perform well in bounded yards that do not require wide-area coverage or inside where GPS doesn’t work.”
Background — Location Based Services
The integration of RFID and LBS is not trivial as LBS requires a telco grade platform for integration. Many enterprises are not yet aware of the value of location-based services. This technology uses Assisted Global Positioning Satellite (AGPS) and/or triangulation from the closest cell-phone towers to locate the handset. Spatial and temporal awareness is a key element of an LBS system.
Newer location-based services use AGPS technology found in most new cell phones and PDAs that locate by using a hybrid combining GPS technology, CDMA Network Triangulation called advance forward link triangulation (AFLT), and Cell Site Location technology to determine locations indoors and outdoors. Examples of the latest trends in the convergence of RFID and LBS include PDAs enabled with bar-code reader accessory, and PDAs enabled with RFID readers.
Source: NetSuite