National Vehicle Distribution - Motoring On With Help From Hand Held Products And Waveform Solutions

The motor industry is a major user of automated data capture systems, which are employed in a wide variety of applications.

A case in point is National Vehicle Distribution (NVD), the largest vehicle logistics provider to the Irish motor industry. The company recently upgraded its data collection system, opting for Hand Held Product’s new Dolphin® 9500 mobile computers, supplied by Waveform Solutions.

NVD was founded in 1980, and has become the key strategic partner to vehicle distributors and dealers in Ireland. The company offers secure storage facilities in Baldonnell, Rosslare and Ringaskiddy, and is Ireland’s No.1 vehicle logistics provider.

National Vehicle Distribution provides high volume transport of vehicles all over the country - from the port of arrival; between dealer premises; and the movement of hire-drive fleets between ports, airports and other destinations.

When NVD started to look for a mobile data capture system, it approached one of its regular suppliers, Waveform Solutions. Waveform is based in Dublin, and is the dedicated mobile and wireless subsidiary of The ADC Barcode Group. It is also one of Hand Held Product’s prestigious Power Partners.

Alan Carroll, Managing Director of Waveform Solutions, comments: “Above all, NVD wanted a mobile data collection solution which would be very rugged and could provide a high degree of functionality. We therefore recommended Hand Held Product’s new Dolphin® 9500.” Several of the units were put through a rigorous evaluation process before NVD signed the contract.

The Dolphin® 9500 is a state-of-the-art, feature-rich model that boasts the latest technology. This includes an industry-leading triple wireless radio design, with 802.11b wireless communications for maximum speed, efficiency, and usability.

The 9500 is also GSM/GPRS and Bluetooth®-enabled. Although it is very lightweight, its magnesium alloy construction makes it the toughest product on the market. It uses Hand Held Product’s Adaptus™ imaging system, and offers signature and image capture capabilities.

NVD purchased 80 Dolphins for use in its trucks and in the vehicle storage compounds. They are used to track more than 150,000 vehicle movements. One of the applications involves scanning the Vehicle Identification Numbers that are used to log the cars into the storage facility and when they go out to dealers. The Dolphins can read the numbers easily, even through glass.

The 9500 is also used as a mobile phone within the trucks, and the integral camera is used to capture images that can then be attached to damage reports. This is much more efficient than the old system, which required a written description of the damage, or a photo taken with a digital camera. The new reports can now be sent off instantly, using GPRS.

Donal Scannell, NVD’s IT Manager, says: “"When we embarked on the process of replacing our old narrowband RF system, we put together a wish list of the functionality we wanted from the new handheld computers. Having looked at a wide range of mobile computers from various manufacturers, we were introduced to the Hand Held Products Dolphin® 9500 by Waveform Solutions.

I was particularly impressed with the rugged construction of the Dolphin, and the many extra features available. I am confident that we have selected the very best handheld computer on the market."