Among new tools for ready mixed producers at this month's ConExpo-Con/Agg in Las Vegas (note show report, pages 52-72), is a mobile computer aimed at replacing paper delivery tickets and automating driver task or vehicle status recording. From there, system developers envision such functions as cab-based driver time punch in/out; automated navigation assistance and vehicle status signaling; COD order credit card processing; and quality control.

Similar to rental car agents' handheld computers, DigiTic is a ruggedized onboard device mixer truck drivers use to receive and store paperless tickets. It captures electronic signatures and automates record routing so that accounts payable data is immediately available upon a mixer's return. Franklin, Ohio-based Moraine Materials is the system's premier user. The producer began a pilot in January at its Green's Concrete & Supply business on Cincinnati's east side, followed last month with a roll out among Cincinnati and Dayton area plants' senior drivers.

Packaged in a rugged plastic housing, the portable, dashboard-mounted computer receives and transmits data and driver-logged voice message files through WiFi standard wireless technology. DigiTic calls for the installation of a wireless transmitter and receiver, configured to a plant operation with a “fence” or signal range of perhaps a block or up to a few miles. DigiTic's inaugural version is promoted by Chelmsford, Mass., developer Paradyme Technologies to operate with WiFi support, where users' investment is limited to initial hardware without subsequent monthly service charges.

As the product is developed for functions beyond ticketing, Paradyme will build the device to operate with GPRS, GSM and CDMA cellular standards. Those functions will provide data transmission in real time but carry monthly per vehicle service fees. DigiTic requires a SQL server-supported database functioning independent of batch, dispatch and administrative computer programs.

In a typical sequence, a mixer truck driver beginning a work day activates his or her dedicated DigiTic computer, to which an order, delivery instructions and other load information have been relayed. The computer is programmed to include static information headers — bearing date; truck, ticket and P.O. numbers; and customer and job names — placed on a sequence of tabs titled Product Information, Delivery/Status, Signature/Water, COD Verification, Notes/Ticket Cancellation.

The tabs are used to display and record delivery cycle information. Delivery/Status notes truck departure and site arrival, while Signature/Water captures customer information and unloading time. Notes/Ticket Cancellation allows the driver to record up to a two-minute voice message on site conditions, water adjustments and other variables that might later be called into question. DigiTic requires drivers to input a certain amount of information prior to hitting an order submit button and returning to the plant.

Approaching the plant, the driver enters the wireless coverage area whereby all trip information is relayed to the database. At the same time, the driver is receiving information on the next load, as the system stacks tickets for automatic relay to each dedicated onboard computer.

“DigiTic eliminates paper ticket handling and opens a range of automated information exchange and gathering possibilities where the driver is the central player,” notes Paradyme's Jack Delperdang, executive vice president of product development. “By placing in their hands a simple, mobile computer that receives and transmits critical concrete order and delivery information, drivers gain a new sense of pride in their jobs. Entrusting drivers with portable technology elevates a company's professionalism in the customer's mind.”

Delperdang is a partner in Paradyme with Insinc Corp., whose Massachusetts headquarters is housing the venture. Insinc has developed a communications equipment enclosure, PlantCOM, for small to mid-sized concrete plants using either point-to-point or frame-relay hardware schemes. The company cites more than 15 years of developing technology for the construction materials industry.

Delperdang and the Insinc staff began the DigiTic project three years ago. They developed a portable device that could withstand any rough environmental abuse and wrote an innovative ticketing application. They affiliated themselves with a pioneering manufacturing company which brought the DigiTic idea from a concept to reality. Insinc developed the software and task and status tabs, while Delperdang helped refine the DigiTic into a more robust device equal to daily handling in a mixer cab and on a job site.

Delperdang joins Paradyme Technologies with 31 years in the concrete industry, most recently as Moraine Materials' customer service and information technology manager. He joined the producer in 1998 after serving in a similar capacity with Minnesota-based Cemstone Products Co. Green's Concrete, DigiTic's first commercial user, is one of three southern Ohio operators Moraine Materials has acquired since 2003. The deals have nearly doubled its size, to a fleet of 175 mixers and 16 plants.

Paradyme is launching DigiTic at ConExpo-Con/Agg with the goal of establishing a user base geared to ticketing functions. Software development will continue toward a second version with time card function later in 2005. To that end, each computer is manufactured with a card swipe that drivers will use, along with a log in code, to clock starting time for driving or yard tasks. Paradyme officials also plan to explore DigiTic system interface with ready mixed plant control and dispatch technology. Early on, the company will be working with Texas-based batch computer specialist, Control Solutions, on interoperability. The companies will be exhibiting at adjacent ConExpo-Con/Agg booths, 11329 and 11428, in the South Hall.