Boeing Employs Puma Technology’s Satellite Forms for Aircraft Inspection Via Handheld Devices
SAN JOSE, Calif. — November 10, 1999 — Puma Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:PUMA), a leading provider of mobile device management and synchronization software, announced today that inspectors at the St. Louis manufacturing facility of Boeing (Nasdaq:BA) are employing Satellite Forms(TM) software to collect surveillance information on military planes. The pilot project at Boeing is illustrating how handheld devices like the PalmPilot(TM) can be used in entirely new ways to meet the unique needs of individual corporations. Satellite Forms is enabling Boeing to replace a pen and paper-based system with a rapidly developed custom software application for use with Palm Computing platform devices.
This solution offers the potential to be more cost-effective and time-efficient. In St. Louis, Boeing is using Satellite Forms software and Palm Computing platform devices for military aircraft inspections. The surveillance information that has been input into Satellite Forms on the PalmPilot tells management and the inspectors how well jet production is following the planning, engineering drawings, and specifications, and helps determine where they have anomalies in the processes. Traditionally, Boeing inspectors in St. Louis have utilized a pen and paper-based system to maintain their records. This time-consuming process has made it difficult to ensure that the most recent information has been recorded. Satellite Forms allows the inspectors at Boeing to collect and enter the data into a backend system in real time by having a Palm Computing platform device with them.
The handheld device displays an electronic version of a formerly pre-printed document. "We are excited to see Boeing's implementation of our Satellite Forms technology as a way to increase productivity and more easily manage a critical part of their business," said Brad Rowe, CEO and president of Puma Technology. "Boeing's adoption of our technology further proves the powerful impact Satellite Forms can have for a variety of business applications. We are seeing more and more companies standardizing on handheld devices once they learn that technologies like our Satellite Forms will customize the use of their devices and conform to their unique business needs. We created Satellite Forms in order to maximize the potential of handheld devices and today's announcement proves that we are enabling companies to extend their use of mobile solutions."
BOEING OFFICIALS SEE ADVANTAGES WITH SATELLITE FORMS
"This new data collection system with Puma's Satellite Forms has unprecedented advantages over our previous pen and paper approach and has made the lives of Boeing inspectors and managers much easier," said Mike Heffernan, manager of assembly inspection at Boeing in St. Louis. "We are now able to capture data quickly with improved accuracy since Satellite Forms is enabling us to download our surveillances directly to the database, thus eliminating the need for additional data input." Satellite Forms is a leading visual rapid application development (RAD) tool for devices based on the Palm Computing platform. Satellite Forms enables software developers to extend custom enterprise applications to handheld computers, and to seamlessly integrate these handheld solutions with many databases. Satellite Forms allows the user to synchronize the information from their handheld devices to their PCs easily and quickly.
As a development tool for devices based on the Palm Computing platform, Satellite Forms seamlessly integrates these handheld solutions with enterprise data from Oracle, DB2, Lotus Notes, Microsoft Access, and many other databases. Through this integration, Satellite Forms acts as a catalyst for the proliferation of new and diverse custom software applications. Applications developed via Satellite Forms are fully extendable, making them capable of meeting new application requirements as they arise and of achieving tight integration with desktop and server database applications. A broader array of applications, and the ability to synchronize application information throughout the corporate enterprise, will allow handheld devices to play a pivotal role in enterprise information systems as a platform.
ABOUT PUMA TECHNOLOGY — EMPOWERING THE MOBILE ENTERPRISE(TM)
Puma Technology (Nasdaq:PUMA), a leading provider of mobile device management and synchronization software, enables consumers, mobile professionals and information technology officers in the corporate enterprise to harness the full capabilities of handheld organizers/computers, "smart phones" and other wireless personal communication platforms. The Puma Technology(R) Intellisync(R) software platform is the global standard for synchronization and control of the critical connection between handheld devices and vast stores of information found in corporate databases, the intranet and individual desktops. Puma is the only company that provides an end-to-end PDA management solution that addresses virtually every scenario for synchronization, total customization of device-based applications, centralized backup, security, information flow control, notification, and browsing of critical information. The company's Intellisync platform enables the management and development of software to make handheld devices true extensions of the corporate server, the intranet and individual desktops. The Intellisync platform enables mobile access to up-to-the-minute, accurate, "anytime, anywhere" information and has been adopted worldwide by individuals, companies, mobile device manufacturers, telecommunications carriers and on-line contact, calendar and event services. The company, headquartered in San Jose, Calif., maintains a Web site at www.pumatech.com.
Puma Technology, the Puma Technology logo, Intellisync, Satellite Forms, and Empowering the Mobile Enterprise are trademarks of Puma Technology, Inc. which may be registered in some jurisdictions. All other product or company names are trademarks of their respective owners.
CONTACT:
McGrath/Power Public Relations
Nadia Jamshidi, 408/727-0351
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Kathy O'Connell, 408/727-0351
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