The next boost in wireless communication will be generated by large production industries. The Yankee Group estimates that more than 60 percent of wireless enterprise revenue will be generated from enterprises with over 500 employees in 2007. Production companies often have distributed premises and a large group of mobile employees. And like any other service group, these employees need fast and accurate access to information.

With experience of the workshop with LKAB in mind, Swedish steel company SSAB and Luleå University of Technology started an academic project in January 2004. The task is to identify how SSAB can cut costs through smart wireless communication.

Henrik Vuorinen, manager at the coke plant, SSAB says: "Large production industries have a constant need for better wireless communication solutions. As things now stand, there are hardly any such solutions. It seems as if application developers have forgotten about us."

Although maintenance employees are probably the most mobile of the bunch, Vuorinen believes other groups of employees will also benefit from the mobile solutions. He says: "A control room employee, for instance, who has to leave the room momentarily, could still keep track of the situation if properly equipped."

Safety aspects must also be addressed. Vuorinen says: "Several areas near the blast-furnace are hazardous due to gas. Therefore, it would be advantageous if department control managers could be notified automatically when others enter the high-risk zones. They could thus keep track of people in any given area at all times. If a situation arose necessitating evacuation, they could react much more quickly."

Vuorinen says he lacks smart devices that gather information in one place. His staff currently uses ordinary mobile phones, walkie-talkies and fixed-line phones, but he would gladly replace them with a single device. "I would really appreciate a walkie-talkie function where, by pressing a single button, I could reach my entire unit. Today, I have to call everybody separately."

He also wants better mobile phones or smart devices that can withstand rough, dusty, dirty and hot industry environments. Vuorinen says the industry would happily pay for such products and does not understand why handset manufacturers stopped producing industry phones.

The industry sector is a cash cow with many opportunities. With common solutions and platforms there is money to be made and saved. It is now up to developers of applications and mobile devices to find the industry-specific solutions.

Karin Hanson