 T710 rugged tablet in docking station |
Glacier Computer LLC specialises in customising rugged tablets for niche forklift and warehouse applications.
Ron D'Ambrosio, president and chief executive officer, notes that customers have been using the products for eight years. "They are not apt to change. Once the product is made for them, they will have to come back to us."
During the 2009/10 economic slowdown, D'Ambrosio saw Glacier's core market in fixed-mount forklift computers fade. His solution was to expand the firm's product line to include rugged tablets.
During 2012, he saw the warehouse market rebound in a different mode. "Instead of traditional fixed-mount devices, we found customers now wanting tablets, mostly driven by price."
Among its products, Glacier's T710 rugged tablet computer has two docking solutions with multiple applications for connecting to a forklift, a cart or a vehicle. "Docking options are an important part of that mix," Glacier notes.
The T710 is sealed from dust and particulates and can withstand a water bombardment of 12.5 l (3.25 gal.) per minute from a nozzle.
Glacier uses RAM mounting systems from National Products Inc of Seattle, Washington. "RAM uses a patented rubber ball and socket design that fits most forklifts," Glacier says.
Glacier Computer has 16 employees. The New Milford-based firm engineers, manufactures and repairs its products at a plant in Amherst, New Hampshire. D'Ambrosio projects 2013 sales will be 15% higher than those for 2012.
He observes that major changes have occurred in the forklift-related computer industry. Acquisitions of numerous mid-sized mobile-computing system companies thinned the competitive ranks of firms supplying devices for use with forklifts.
Global corporate entities Honeywell International Inc of Morris Township, New Jersey; Motorola Solutions Inc of Schaumburg, Illinois; and Panasonic Corp of Osaka, Japan have major technological input on what ruggedised systems are available for warehouse and distribution applications.
At one time, as many as 30 companies competed in the market, D'Ambrosio says.
Now, some of the remaining niche players include mobile device manager Soti Inc of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada; retail-oriented Point of Sale System Services Inc (PSS) of Shirley, Massachusetts; and harsh environment-focused Citadel Computer Corp of Amherst.
Honeywell says it is producing its 10th generation of vehicle-mount computers, including applications for forklift and truck computers.