For those who think a lift truck is as pedestrian as a pack mule, now might be the time to think again.

While lift trucks still do the heavy lifting on the floor and at the docks, information management technologies are making drivers more productive than ever.

"Quite simply, the lift truck is emerging as a mobile information platform," says Doug Hall, director of printer and data capture marketing for Intermec (423-348-2600). "What runs a warehouse is the movement of goods and what enables that is accurate information. The common denominator between the two is the fork truck, since every piece of material at the pallet level is touched by a truck."

Today, at least seven different technologies are working together to create the mobile information platform. Some have been in use for years but are still improving. Still others are emerging.

Here's a stat to consider: 40% of an operator's time in a manual warehouse is spent traveling without a load. Part of that is search time and part is empty travel time between assignments.

A warehouse management system (WMS) can improve that statistic.

At the base level, a WMS manages the flow of work through a facility. "Before a task is assigned, the WMS looks at the queue of work and then considers the three P's," says Tom Kozenski, product marketing leader for distribution systems, RedPrairie (262-317-2000). "Does he have permission to do the job? Is the work proximate to him to cut down on travel time? And what's the next best thing for the driver to do from an order priority standpoint?"

This approach optimizes productivity. Since a WMS also controls the location of inventory, it eliminates the search time associated with finding inventory.

A WMS system with rich functionality can further cut down on empty travel time through task interleaving. That's a function that combines tasks to eliminate deadheading.

"Task interleaving looks for the optimal combination of tasks to optimize the driver's time," says Chris Heim, president and general manager, HighJump Software (952-947-4088). "A driver who delivers a pallet to the shipping dock might then pick up a pallet for putaway."

Wireless mobile computers serve as the interface between an inventory management system, the driver and data collection devices such as a bar code scanner or a voice-directed system.

In the not too distant past, these systems were called wireless terminals. Today, they are truly mobile computing devices. "Today's terminals are using Windows CE or even Windows XP as an operating system, and can run a WMS application," says Tom Pate, director of sales, LXE Inc. (770-447-4224). "That allows you to do more processing, display graphics and incorporate touch screens that make the operator more efficient."

Inside the four walls, most wireless computing devices are communicating with the host system over a wireless local area network (LAN) using 802.11b. The next step might be systems that can seamlessly roam between a wireless LAN environment inside a facility and a wireless wide area network (WAN) outside without dropping a session.

Of course, to make all of this work, the system must know what a driver has just done in real time. Bar code scanning is still the most common technology used on lift trucks for data collection.

What continues to evolve is the flexibility associated with those scanning devices. "Traditionally, scanning devices were tethered to the mobile computer with a cable," says Gil Bautista, senior director, warehouse distribution solutions group, Symbol Technologies (800-722-6234). "They also drew their power from the lift truck."

Today, Bluetooth technology allows devices to talk to one another in a cable-free personal area network (PAN). The challenge to Bluetooth, Bautista adds, is that the scanner is no longer drawing its power from the lift truck. That means battery management for the scanner has to be considered.

In the last few years, voice has come into its own for order selection and picking. Now, the advantages of hands-free, eyes-free data collection are moving to the lift truck.

"There's a lot of wasted time when a lift truck driver has to pause to grab a scanner, pause to scan and then put the device away until next location," says Brad Wyland, product manager for distribution software, Vocollect (412-829-8145). "With voice, a driver speaks a check digit when arriving at a location and another check digit to confirm a pick or putaway. The whole time, the driver's hands never leave the controls of the truck."

Voice technology providers are working closely with WMS providers to leverage the value of the WMS. "Voice technology can support task interleaving," says Wyland. "That's emerging as a critical functionality for WMS's going forward."

Whether an operator is using a scanning device or voice-enabled technology, bar code labels still need to be printed. The emergence of fork truck-mounted mobile printing solutions allows drivers to take the printer to where the work needs to be done.

"A lot of our solutions are related to point of application printing," says Bob Danahy, director of global mobile and wireless technology, Zebra Technologies (800-423-0422). "That could be a pick and ship application. Or it could be printing in an aisle because a product changed in the cycle and has to be re-labeled."

While mobile printers used to be wired to a mobile terminal or computing device, that is changing. "Over the last two years, we've seen a transition to wireless printing solutions operating over an 802.11b network," says Danahy. "By doing that, the printer is completely accessible to the IT manager over the network."

Manufacturers are now developing printers that can operate on the new 802.11g standard, which allows for larger file data sizes and faster transfer rates.

While most IT solutions are focused on driver productivity, others apply technology to track and manage drivers or a fleet of lift trucks.

One solution uses an intelligent radio frequency-based computer to control access to vehicles and to track the location of a vehicle. These devices, however, don't take the place of a mobile computer. "Most vehicles will still have a mobile device to communicate with the WMS," explains Greg Smith, director of marketing for I.D. Systems, Inc. (201-996-9000). "We're focused on a different set of productivity metrics."

These systems act as a management and security tool by controlling access to the vehicle or by denying the vehicle access to a specific area.

Vehicle access, for instance, can be controlled by requiring an operator to key in a code, swipe a card or perform an electronic checklist before operating the vehicle. The computing device can also be used to send text messages between an operator and management.

As a further security measure, the system can be programmed to restrict access to sensitive areas of a facility. "If you have an aisle with high-value goods like CDs or DVDs, you may want to know when vehicles are lingering too long in that area," Smith explains. "The system can also act like a geo-fence and actually shut down the vehicle so it can't go into that area."

These systems can also be used to track the location of vehicles. One approach is to install RFID readers throughout the facility that receive a signal from the lift truck to determine a location.

Another solution uses optical or laser technology to read unique position markers installed overhead on a facility ceiling.

A camera-based imaging device mounted on the lift truck reads the image to determine the location of the vehicle and the product on that vehicle. "We're targeting it for warehouses and factories that need to do WIP tracking or to track materials in unstructured or bulk storage areas," explains Larry Mahan, general manager, Sky-Trax, Inc. (302-395-9541).

While Sky-Trax relies on camera-based imaging today, in the future, the solution may be coupled with an RFID reader. "That will allow you to track unit loads without the driver ever having to do anything," Mahan says. "You'll know when a load is picked up and dropped off, all without any driver interaction."

The RFID-enabled lift truck may be the next evolution of data collection. There are several technical challenges before that can happen.

One is to isolate the shock and vibration associated with lift trucks.

The bigger hurdle is designing an antenna to read on forks. "The antennas available today are designed to point at a specific area from an overhead portal or conveyor," says LXE's Pate.

What's more, only one pallet passes through a portal at a time. When a lift truck pulls up to a rack, the antenna will be pointing at a multitude of cases and pallets with RFID tags. Manufacturers will have to find a way to isolate the signal of the pallet or case needed.

Despite these hurdles, there are economic reasons to develop a lift truck RFID reader. "A large warehouse might have 250 dock doors," says Hall of Intermec. "Equipping each with one or more RFID readers could be expensive. That same facility may only be using 50 or 60 lift trucks to load and unload trucks. Equipping them with an RFID reader is a lot more economical."

Both Symbol and Intermec are piloting lift-truck mounted readers now. Production models are expected to be available by the end of the second quarter of 2005.