Advertorial Sample
Businesses can have confidence in Rinehart Engineering
Rinehart Engineering delivers solutions to keep their customers on the edge of technology
by Gary Maxwell
Originally published in Connections 2000
When you think of high tech corporations what comes to mind? Silicon Valley? Or how about
Austin, Texas or Boston, Massachusetts? All of these locations are recognized as established
or up and coming hotbeds for technological development. Well, now you can add Glen Rock, Pa
to that list, because there is a company right here in our own back yard that is on the cutting
edge of technology. That company is none other than Rinehart Engineering.
Founded in 1976, this privately owned company was originally located in York and then moved
to New Freedom in 1984. In 1996,to accommodate growth, it relocated to the current location in
Glen Rock.
Rinehart Engineering epitomizes modern innovation. In fact, the company's interior was custom
designed by the company itself: from the programmable logic-controlled geothermal heating and
cooling system, to the access controls prevalent in several areas of the building. These are but
a sampling of the different kinds of technology for which Rinehart Engineering develops software
applications. The company's products can be found in a wide array of settings -- from
government agencies such as the US Treasury Department, to small service companies -- all
the way up to large utility companies, manufacturers and distributors.
Professional relationships with proven technology leaders such as Compaq, Oracle, Intermec,
Gyyr, Water furnace and Cabletron allow the company to offer a wide array of services such as:
Software development for client/server and web based applications
Database design and management
Bar code labeling, scanning and data capture
Industrial controls, PLC and SCADA systems
Client technical and end user staff training
Hardware configuration and installation
Administration of hardware and software maintenance contracts
Project financing
Rinehart Engineering's key areas of experience are in access control, labor tracking, time and
attendance, production scheduling, shop floor data collection, sales force automation, statistical
analysis, shipping and receiving, and inventory management.
"We've developed a 'diversity by design' business model here at Rinehart Engineering," said
Deb Rinehart, Business Manager. "Because our customers come from different industries, it is
important to us to maintain a staff with a broad scope of expertise. Our staff doesn't have a
chance to become complacent because with each project assignment the customer and their
requirements change, presenting new challenges."
Rinehart Engineering capitalizes on using Oracle tools and databases to implement
applications. With Oracle's database technology and Rinehart Engineering's expertise and
demand for quality, the products provide a positive return on investment for the client for many
years.
The company's newest developments are in the areas of Labor Tracking, Sales Force
Automation and Service Dispatch.
Labor Tracking is an area where the technology developed by Rinehart Engineering really
Labor Tracking is an area where the technology developed by Rinehart Engineering really
shines. Typical uses are in manufacturing, distribution, service industry and anywhere a
business wants to eliminate paper time cards or job tickets.
Time cards are replaced with bar code or proximity cards that are presented to the time clock
when the employee reports to work, out and back again from lunch, and again at the end of the
day. The system can support from 1 to 255 reporting devices. The same cards are used to
record direct labor against jobs. The clocks reside on the network but do not increase network
traffic, because these clocks do not "poll." They sit quietly and wait for a card to be presented.
When they get read they "wake up" and send the data to the host for recording in the Oracle
database. These clocks can be installed at a single site or in multiple sites connected over a
wide area network. Should the connection or server go down, the clocks store the data locally
until the connection is reestablished so that the data can be transferred to the host.
Since the data resides in an Oracle database, the transactions are available to be used by
other applications such as access control and shop floor data collection, just to name a few.
Sales Force Automation was originally developed in 1991. The reengineered version of the
application takes advantage of new technologies such as cell phones and Oracle database
replication. The application is designed using the Intermec 6110 Pen Key handheld computer.
The 6110 is ruggedized, contains a 220 MB PCMCIA card, a cellular modem and is weather
resistant.
The application was developed with the sales person in mind who visits customers and takes
orders on the spot. When the salesperson leaves the customer's site the order is sent to the
main office via his cell phone. The order is processed as though it was entered at the corporate
office. The customer often receives his shipment the next day.
Remote Service Dispatch is the latest product under development at Rinehart Engineering.
Remote Service Dispatch consists of application software that maintains information in an
Oracle database on the customer's host. The technology required for Remote Service Dispatch
is a natural extension of Rinehart Engineering's Remote Sales Force Automation products. The
product is designed for service providers who dispatch trucks and service personnel to
service their clients. Some typical users of Remote Service Dispatch are HVAC, application
repair and security system repair service providers.
Remote Service Dispatch will be offered in several flavors, from a simple data entry form to
automate job ticket data entry in batch mode, to real time dispatch where the service person's
next job is automatically dispatched when he or she closes the current job ticket. Key areas of
expertise used to develop this product include wide area wireless IP communications and
Oracle database replication.
Using Remote Service Dispatch, Rinehart Engineering's customers eliminate redundant manual
entry of hand written job tickets. The service person enters job ticket information into the
hand-held device, and the information is replicated to the host when the two databases
synchronize. Touch screen capability allows the service person to capture a customer's
signature with the completed job ticket.
The Real-Time Dispatch feature allows Rinehart Engineering 's customers to maintain Rolling
Truck Inventories. Rolling Truck Inventories allow dispatchers to dispatch repair orders to
service personnel who have the necessary repair parts on the truck. This eliminates
unnecessary travel.
Remote Service Dispatch may be integrated with Rinehart Engineering's Labor Tracking
application. Employees time may be captured directly from the field terminal, made available for
reporting, and interfaced with the customer's payroll service provider.Planned enhancements
include truck maintenance capability.
Rinehart Engineering offers Remote Service Dispatch equipment , software and application
Rinehart Engineering offers Remote Service Dispatch equipment , software and application
development services to accommodate customer's specific requirements. For customers with
fewer than 15 service vehicles, Rinehart Engineering offers Remote Service Dispatch services
where the customer may lease vehicle equipment and Rinehart Engineering provides access to
a secure Oracle database.
What makes these remote applications so unique is the use of replication. Database replication
synchronizes the Oracle databases on the hand-held devices with the Oracle database on the
customer's host. Unlike upload and download techniques, Oracle replication insures data
integrity -- not to mention a single repository for data, making it accessible to all software on the
customer's system that has the ability to interface with an Oracle database.
In addition to developing software applications, Rinehart Engineering integrates third-party
software products to solve customer requirements. "Developing software is not always the
answer to a customer's requirements," said Jason Marshall,Programmer/Analyst. "Product
integration has become a very important service. Many times a customer will have a
requirement that can be satisfied with a third-party product. However, creating isolated islands
of data is not the way to build a company-wide information system."
Integration includes locating a product that meets the customer's requirements, working with
the software manufacturer to determine the level of integration that can be achieved with their
product and then seamlessly integrating the product into the customer's IT environment. A
good example of the company's integration services is bar code label printing.
The need for these services became apparent several years ago when a Rinehart Engineering
customer had a requirement for label printing software. "When we looked at what it would take to
adapt our existing software for our customer the cost became prohibitive," said Brad Rinehart.
"The alternative was to locate a third-party product. We discovered an excellent product with
features that exceeded those of our existing label printing software, plus an architecture that
allowed us to integrate this product into the customer's manufacturing application."
Today, Rinehart Engineering provides bar code labeling printing solutions by integrating
Intermec printers with this third-party label printing application.
This third-party application allows Rinehart Engineering to deploy enterprise-wide label printers
via a customer's local or wide area network. The customer may print to these label printers from
personal computers, thin clients or dumb terminals. For certain applications, Rinehart
Engineering can reconfigure the label print server to read data directly from an Oracle database.
In addition,using Oracle tools, Rinehart Engineering can seamlessly integrate many popular
customer MRP/ERP applications with the label print server.
Rinehart Engineering's slogan is "Innovative Solutions for Enterprising Customers." That is just
what they deliver: solutions that keep their customers on the edge of technology. In fact,
Rinehart Engineering is looking to better service their current customers and expand their
customer base by teaming up with a professional partner who shares the drive and desire to be
first in new innovations. Qualified developers who share this vision should look no further than
Glen Rock, Pa when seeking employment opportunities. Businesses who are unsure of where to
turn in this age of technology can "Have Confidence" in Rinehart Engineering to deliver because
innovative solutions are their specialty.