Lessons learned
Rosenberger Ice learned that success in developing a handheld solution lies in defining realistic goals and expectations and then keeping a strict focus on achieving them without getting distracted by other ideas that come up along the way.

"If a handheld solution does not add to your bottom line, it is not worth the hassle and expense," Gorman advises. "Operationally it has to make the job easier, not more complicated."

The company also had to pay close attention to the system's ease-of-use to ensure its acceptance among drivers who had little, if any, computer experience. Rosenberger Ice needed to collect a lot of data but wanted to make collection a simple process for drivers. With careful development, they developed a system that requires the driver to enter only the quantity of items purchased. The handheld does the rest.

Building safeguards into the system is also critical. For the VanLinx system, the driver has to check off whether a sale is cash or credit before he goes to the next screen. This ensures that his end of day report is accurate after he performs the next HotSync operation.

"It is not that different from building a large system," Gorman notes. "You have to build in controls and anticipate where users can mess it up."

Christine Harland Williams is President of Harland Communications and tracks handheld solutions used in the enterprise. She can be reached at ppme@harlandwebs.com.