NetSuite ERP Set to Go Mobile with LBS Location Awareness
SAN MATEO, Calif. and VICTORIA, British Columbia—November 9, 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™ 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™ 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.
About AppLocation Systems Inc.
Founded in 2002, AppLocation Systems Inc. is a location-based services and real-time location mobile technology company bringing innovative wireless and LBS solutions to enterprise clients. AppLocation's collective 30 years experience in advanced tracking and mobile technology for global telecommunication companies equips us with the insight and advantage to go beyond tracking applications. We implement integrated enterprise solutions to streamline internal processes offering value in delivering web, logistics, fleet management, mission critical command and control and operational/logistics services. We integrate RFID with wireless for improved supply chain management.
MOBILEFusion is a carrier grade platform that enables location sensitive solutions linking telco networks to ERP applications such as inventory, billing and order entry. The convergence of RFID, GPS and LBS requires a next generation wireless plug and play platform to drive adoption of asset location for supply chain logistics. AppLocation uses its expertise in location based services and its web-based MOBILEFusion™ platform to track assets wirelessly improving our client's 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.
Note: AppLocation, MOBILEFusion are either registered trademarks or trademarks of AppLocation Systems Inc. in Canada, the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
About SuiteFlex and NetSuite's SuiteFlex Developer Program
SuiteFlex is an application development platform that enables the creation of third-party vertical applications within NetSuite, as well as business process customisation for any end-user company. SuiteFlex includes several industry technology advances and innovations including additions to SuiteScript — which allows for on-demand programming using only a web browser on a device with Internet access. As a part of SuiteScript, NetSuite introduced Suitelets and SuiteScript UI Objects, allowing customers and third-party developers to build new workflows and applications that can look and operate as if NetSuite's own developers wrote them. In addition, SuiteFlex introduces a new concept for the Software as a Service market — "Service as Software," SuiteBundler — to deliver new integrated vertical solutions by packaging their Suitelets and other extensions with NetSuite's core ERP/CRM/Ecommerce application. SuiteBundler enables solution providers to embed their industry-best practices, knowledge and applications — traditionally delivered as one-off services — into the actual NetSuite application for verticals in a repeatable fashion.
NetSuite's SuiteFlex Developer Program was established to help solution providers achieve success in vertical markets by bringing them the following:
About Gproxy Design
Established in the late 1990s, Gproxy Design (www.gproxydesign.com) is a Miami-based business and service provider of cutting-edge web design, software, custom-built applications and e-commerce solutions for businesses around the globe. A NetSuite solution provider since 2004, the company has enabled hundreds of companies within wide sectors of the industry to fully create, develop, integrate and customise their customers' website experience while meeting each of the company's business needs, goals and models.
About NetSuite
NetSuite Inc. is a leading vendor of on-demand, integrated business management application suites for small and medium-sized businesses. NetSuite enables companies to manage core key business operations in a single system, which includes Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Ecommerce. NetSuite's patent-pending "real-time dashboard" technology provides an easy-to-use view into up-to-date, role-specific business information.
NOTE: NetSuite, the NetSuite logo, SuiteBundler, SuiteFlex, Suitelets, SuiteScript and SuiteTalk are service-marks or trademarks of NetSuite Inc.