Handheld Computing Provides Competitive Edge for Local Companies

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cleveland, OH - January 28, 2003 - Amidst a struggling economy, many businesses have said no to improving their information systems. Despite this trend, one company has quietly made strides in implementing new technology to enable the remote collection and transfer of data for Cleveland area businesses. For the past five years, West-side based Zidar Development, Inc. (ZDI) has made its niche in designing custom applications that run on personal data assistants (i.e., Palm™ handheld computers) for use by employees in the field. “ I’ve made it my mission to convince businesses that handhelds can do more than keep track of appointments and phone numbers,” says Frank J. Zidar, ZDI’s president and lead software developer. “They can virtually eliminate a paper-based sales and distribution process.”

By automating existing paper-based inventory, order entry, route tracking and reporting systems, businesses can dramatically reduce costs, save time and increase productivity. Pierre’s French Ice Cream Company, a ZDI client, couldn’t agree more. The company’s sales representatives and delivery personnel are now entering customer orders and delivery information on Palms™ running applications designed by ZDI. The information is then sent to back office systems by the handhelds using a wireless modem or a cell phone, thereby eliminating duplicative data entry. “We’re saving tens of thousands of dollars each year by replacing our multiple copy, form driven purchase and delivery processes with the handhelds. The new system will pay for itself many times over,” says Pierre’s president, Shelley Roth. With this technology, sales representatives are able to access and transmit customer order and product information more quickly, enabling them to spend more time with the customer or make more sales calls. The system designed by ZDI can also collect real time delivery and route data, something not possible with a form driven system.

“Ease of use was a requirement. We didn’t want to have to change the way we did business; we wanted something to help us become faster and more efficient. ZDI designed us a system that did just that,” said Roth. Many businesses are leery of buying commercial package software, for good reason, ZDI believes. “No one does business exactly the same way. You can’t beat a custom application,” says Zidar, who has been designing software for over 15 years.

ZDI’s handheld applications are generally designed with a simple check box and touch screen interface and can be adapted to any business with remotely placed or traveling employees required to communicate data to a central office. With information being transmitted to back office systems in real time, report generation and general data administration are more manageable. “It’s an invaluable tool for our business,” says Trip Morris, president of Tri-Mor, a concrete road paving contractor, who has been running applications designed by ZDI on his company’s handhelds for over three years. “We are able to analyze data quicker and more comprehensively than we could when relied on manual data entry. It helps keep our projects on time and on budget.”

ZDI is of the opinion that the potential for handheld computer technology has barely been tapped and envisions these devices becoming as indispensable in the business world as cell phones currently are. “They’re the perfect compromise between a cell phone and a laptop computer. A cell phone is very limited in its capability but laptops are expensive and fragile. Handhelds are relatively inexpensive and highly capable, making them an ideal business asset,” says Zidar.

About ZDI