NEWSLETTER

Volume 3Issue 1

Winter 2007

WHAT'S INSIDE:Page 2:• Project Life

Cycle

Page 3:• Traffic Flow

(continued)• Scale Ramps• Restarting Your

Server• New Additions

Page 4:• Recent Updates• Converting

Reports to PDF

Geoware Inc. 101 Randall Drive

Unit BWaterloo, Ontario

N2V 1C5

1.800.900.4252(sales)

1.800.387.4876(support)

www.geoware4.com

1

WASTE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

CONTROLLING TRAFFIC FLOW• Do your operators rely on

yelling and hand waving todirect vehicles on and off thescale?

• Do you have concerns about thelegality of load weights andzeroing of the scale?

• During high traffic periodswould operators like to initiateprocessing of the next vehiclewhile the current vehicle isleaving the scale?

• Do occasional or temporarystaff have difficultly achievingthe same processing volume aspermanent operators?

• Do your customers complain of processingdelays during periods of reduced staffing orwhen operators are multi-tasking?

If you answered “yes” to any of the abovequestions, you may want to consider the benefitsof GEOWARE Traffic Control. Vehicle trafficflow is a significant aspect of effective siteoperations. As part of this larger goal ofmaximizing traffic flow, GEOWARE TrafficControl is designed to maximize the processingcapability of a scale, while respecting theintegrity of the weighing process.

System Elements

GEOWARE Traffic Control is a systemconsisting of both hardware (GEOWARE TrafficController and traffic control devices) andsoftware (GEOWARE Traffic Control Module)subsystems. The software is run on the

GEOWARE scalehouse server and/or on one ofthe GEOWARE workstations. The GEOWARETraffic Controller is designed to accommodateenough traffic signals and barrier arm gates for asingle bidirectional lane (scale). Each controllercan drive up to four red/green signal lights andfour barrier arm gates – one for each end of thescale and two for vehicle queues farther awayfrom the scale. Each controller can accept inputsfrom up to four loop detectors and up to four footswitches. Thus, GEOWARE Traffic Control maybe configured to control virtually any signal light/gate combination, including signal-only or gate-only configurations.

The Benefits of Automated Traffic Control

With GEOWARE Traffic Control, the status ofsignal lights and gates is directed by the state ofprocessing in GEOWARE 4.1. For example, if ascale has both an entry and an exit gate, when theoperator completes processing the exit gate willopen. After the vehicle leaves and the scale isreturned to a zero-weight, the exit gate will closeand the entry gate will open, allowing the nextvehicle onto the scale. This control ensures thatvehicles are not allowed on the scale before it haszeroed; nor may they leave the scale before astable weight has been recorded. In addition,operators are not required to control thesesystems, which frees up their time to beginprocessing the next vehicle in line or process avehicle on another scale. GEOWARE TrafficControl increases throughput while freeingoperators from managing traffic flow.

(Continued on Page 3)

Both lights and gates are used to control traffic at thisscalehouse in Saskatoon.

The inside of a GEOWARE Traffic Controller

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WASTE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

GEOWARE PROJECT LIFE CYCLEWhat is considered a Project? GeowareInc. considers any proposal whichincludes more than $5,000 in GeowareServices to be a Project. All Projects areassigned a Project Manager who is themain contact between Geoware and thecustomer. If a proposal for work includesless than $5000 in Geoware Services thenit is considered a Basic Job and it will bemanaged by the customer's GeowareAccount Manager.

A Project's life cycle can be broken downinto the following steps:

Step 1 – ProjectNeed Identified

The first step in anyproject is identifyingthe need forGeoware relatedwork. The workmay be identified bythe customer, it maybe identified byGeoware's SupportDepartment, or bythe GeowareAccount Managerfollowing interactionwith the customer.This work mayinclude:• Performing an upgrade to the latestversion of GEOWARE,

• Installing GEOWARE at a new facility, • Purchasing additional GEOWAREmodules to support new functionality(traffic control, automated processing,remote displays, additional scales, etc.),

• Configuring GEOWARE on newhardware, and much more.

Step 2 – Scope of Work Outlined

Once the project need is identified, adetailed understanding of the Scope ofWork is required in order for a GeowareAccount Manager to complete a ProjectProposal and budget. The Scope of Workcan be completed by the customer orGeoware can be retained to outline theScope of Work on the customer's behalf.The Scope of Work may include anoutline of the project need, the impact ofthe project on the current operation, thetechnical requirements, the hardware

requirements, and the need, if any, forsoftware customization. The Scope ofWork may go through a number ofrevisions.

Step 3 – Project Proposal

Following the development of the Scopeof Work, a Geoware Account Managerwill complete a detailed Project Proposaland budget. A copy of the proposal willbe sent to the customer for their review.The Proposal is then accepted or declinedby the customer.

Step 4 – Proposal Acceptance

A Proposal is considered to be accepted byGeoware with the issue of an officialPurchase Order for the proposed work.The Purchase Order should be sent to theattention of the customer's assignedGeoware Account Manager.

Step 5 – Project Initiated and GeowareProject Manager Assigned

If the decision has been made to proceedwith the project and a purchase order hasbeen received, the next step is for theProject to be initiated internally by thecustomer's Geoware Account Manager.The Account Manager will present thescope of work in the next internalGeoware Project Planning and StatusMeeting. Following the review of thescope of work, a Geoware ProjectManager is assigned and this individualthen becomes the main contact for allProject related communication. TheGeoware Project Manager will be

responsible for ensuring that the Project isdelivered on schedule and within thebudget.

Step 6 – Geoware Project Plan

The Project Plan step includesdocumenting all project details includingthe roles and responsibilities of bothGeoware resources as well as thecustomer's project resources. Acorresponding project schedule will alsobe included in the Project Plan. Once theProject Manager has completed the Project

Plan a meeting willbe set-up betweenGeoware and thecustomer to reviewthe details outlinedin the plan.

Step 7 – ProjectPlan Approval

The Project Planmust be formallyapproved by thecustomer in orderfor the project tomove to thedeployment step.The Project Planmay go through a

number of revisions prior to receivingformal approval from the customer.

Step 8 – Project Deployment

Once the Project Plan has been approvedall involved parties will proceed with theirassigned tasks. Geoware project staff mayinclude a Project Engineer, DatabaseSpecialists, Application Specialists,Developers and Training resources.

Step 9 – Project Close-out

Through-out the Life Cycle of the Projectall project related issues arecommunicated to the Geoware ProjectManager. Once the Project has beencompleted and all the identified issueshave been addressed the Project Managerwill then formally close the Project. Oncethe Project has been formally closed allGEOWARE related issues must beaddressed through the Geoware SupportDepartment or the client's AccountManager.

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WASTE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

TRAFFIC FLOWContinued from Page 1

Manual Traffic Control via GEOWARE 4.1

Occasionally, operators need to override the automated status ofgates and/or lights. A feature introduced in GEOWARE 4.1allows the operator via an on-screen graphical interface to changethe state of a traffic control device. For example, the operator mayopen a gate or change a light simply by clicking on thecorresponding icon. This on-screen control in conjunction withthe front panel controls on the GEOWARE Traffic Controlleroften are sufficient to meet the manual traffic controlrequirements for simple signal(s)-only traffic control systems.

Manual Override of Traffic Control

In traffic control systems with barrier arm gates or for thosesystems with bidirectional signal lights, it is generally beneficial,if not necessary, to provide a means to manually override theGEOWARE Traffic Control. For these situations we offer amanual control and monitor panel that is remote from theGEOWARE Traffic Controller. This panel is mounted near theoperator and can be wired with flexible cable so that it can bemoved out of the way when not needed.

If you would like more information about GEOWARE TrafficControl, please contact our sales team at sales@geoware4.com.

A LESSON LEARNED: SCALE RAMPS

After deploying a number of systems with GEOWARETraffic Control,we have found that installing ramps too closeto scales has a number of disadvantages. Although thecapital cost is higher, we recommend considering level scaleapproaches when installing or replacing scales for thefollowing reasons:• Ramps near the scale require vehicles to queue at the footof the ramp instead of the edge of the scale, therebyintroducing a multiple-second delay to the processingcycle.

• In the long term, the fuel required for every vehicle to goup the ramp results in additional costs and reduced airquality.

• Long ramps may complicate automated traffic control asthey introduce a zone where the vehicle position isunknown.

Scale ramps are one of many items to consider when makingchanges to a facility. In upcoming newsletters, we will beaddressing other elements of site design such as reducing theimpact of wind on scale performance and accuracy.

MORE NEW ADDITONS TO GEOWARE

Once again, GEOWARE has grown! Richard Shi wasrecently hired as our newest Oracle DatabaseSpecialist. Richard holdsa degree in computerscience. He hasexperience as a Unixadministrator with afocus on Oracle databaseadministration andprogramming for a largeIT company in China.Welcome to the team,Richard.

Congratulations to Ciprian and Emma!Best wishes go out to our other Oracle DatabaseSpecialist, Ciprian, and his wife, Emma, on the birthof their son. Mattias Caleb, born on January 5, 2007,is their first baby.

RESTARTING YOURSERVER

GEOWARE customers often call to request the proper procedureto use when there is a requirement to shutdown or restart a server.As it can be damaging to the system to just turn a server off,please follow the following procedures for QNX or Linux.

QNX1. From the Main Menu choose the Utilities option and

press <Enter>.2. From the Utilities Menu choose the Restart System

option and press <Enter>.3. The “Restart the GEOWARE System Utility” program

will run on the screen. Press <Space Bar> to scroll downto the bottom.

4. Ensure that all other users are logged off, and whenprompted enter “y” to continue with the shutdown.Entering “n” will return to the Utilities Menu.

5. As programs are safely terminated they will be listed onthe screen, and the system will shut down.

Linux – X Windows1. Press the <Ctrl>, <Alt> and <Delete> all at the same

time.2. A window will appear asking if you would like to Log

Out, Restart or Shutdown. Select the desired option andpress OK .

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WASTE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

CONVERTING REPORTS TO PDFA free program which allows you toeasily convert GEOWARE reports toPDF files is now available online. Todownload this program, visithttp://sourceforge.net/ and search for“PDFCreator”. Once installed, you canselect PDFCreator as a printer inGEOWARE to save reports. Simplypress the printer icon at the top of areport, select the page range, then fromthe Printer Name drop-down box,select “PDF Creator.” When you press

OK you will be prompted to enter someinformation about the file. Press Save,enter a file name, and press Save again.

Saving reports as PDF files is useful forviewing them outside of GEOWAREwithout the need to print. PDF files canbe emailed and viewed by anyone.Furthermore, PDF viewers have veryflexible zoom and text searchcapabilities

RECENT GEOWARE UPDATESNew reports and features continue to bedriven out to meet the ever changingdemands placed on waste managementorganizations across North America.

Geoware 4.0 The Scalehouse Services andData Warehouse applications have beenupdated as follows:

Scalehouse Services

Payment Count Report

Being able to now collect multiplepayments against a single load underGeoware 4.1 Currency Processing,administration staff needed more toolswhen reconciling payments. This newreport provides transaction numbers andtotal load counts broken out by differentpayment types.

Dynamic Filenames For Exporting

Custom transaction data export files cannow have a dynamically assigned filename that includes the time of the export.This eases the job of system administratorswhen navigating through a directory ofexport files.

Fixes were also applied to the followingreports:

Business Summary Listing

Corrections have been made so thatrepeating cities, provinces and postalcodes are now consistently displayed.

Multiple Attribute Report

A fix has been provided to correct theduplication of totals when this report is runwhen vehicle licence is a selected variate

and any corresponding registered vehicleshave been repeatedly added and deleted.

Data Warehouse

Top N Report

This powerful report has been furtherenhanced to now allow transaction datesto be selected for analysis. With thisenhancement, Geoware users can identifyand chart the top "n" days as determinedby load counts, fees or weight.

Geoware 4.1

Scalehouse System enhancementscontinue to roll out as this powerfultechnology framework grows to satisfyevolving customer requirements.

Support for Over Six Currency Types

The flexibility of the currency handlinghas gotten better, supporting over sixdifferent currency types. Organizationswith the Currency Processing Module cannow integrate informal forms of paymentssuch as tags and vouchers so thatscalehouse staff may seamlessly reconcileall payment mechanisms within onesystem.

Two-Line Outdoor LCD Displays

Being able to push information out tocustomers is a powerful tool for smoothingoperations and vehicle flow. With therecently added support for two-lineoutdoor LCD displays, the amount ofinformation that can now be increased toinclude information such as context-specific directions to appropriate thetipping area.

Configurable Tare Expiry Notification

For single scale systems processing highvehicle volumes using stored tare weights,it is important to give Geoware usersappropriate notification when tare weightsare going to be expiring Under Geoware4.1, a tare expiry notification window,configurable in days, can be defined sothat users will have sufficient notice andnew tare weight samples can be takenduring off-peak hours of operation.

User Role Permissions For ModifyingHauler of Registered Vehicles

To meet the evolving security needs ofaudit and accounting departments,Geoware now provides a user rolepermission for restricting exactly who iscapable of changing the hauler accounts ofregistered vehicles.

Daylight Savings Time (DST)

On February 6, Geoware issued acustomer-wide bulletin describing theupcoming change in the DaylightSavings Time (DST) observance andits impact on Geoware systems. AllGeoware users are encouraged to makeany necessary changes at the systemand application levels in order tominimize any disruption orinconvenience resulting from thischange. Please contactsupport@geoware4.com if you haveany questions or concerns about thisissue.

Oracle 9.2.0.7

Both Geoware 4.0 and 4.1 havesuccessfully passed compatibility testswith Oracle 9.2.0.7.

How to Update

Instructions for updating GEOWARE 4.0and 4.1 are now available on our websiteat www.geoware4.com.

To receive an electroniccopy of future newsletters,

please email:

michelleb@geoware4.com