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Locus Technologies introduces On-Demand billing model for its environmental software

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., 12 May 2005 — Locus Technologies, the industry leader in environmental information management, announced today a new “On-demand” pricing model for its popular analytical data management software (EIM™). This is the first truly on-demand solution for the environmental industry, allowing clients to pay for environmental software, much like one would pay for electricity. Up until now, the most common means for procuring software was to buy a shrink-wrapped product or develop an in-house proprietary system. Both of these approaches are expensive and usually require the involvement of IT departments to administer the system and apply upgrades and bug fixes. The Locus way negates the need for such work and, instead, allows users to access their data and any needed software over the web. Clients pay for only what they use, typically on a per-record basis.

Locus’s on-demand model is an innovative, low-risk, and flexible solution for laboratories, consultants, regulatory agencies, and clients. With little up-front investment, clients can rid themselves of the headaches of administering their own systems and begin using EIM’s versatile and proven set of tools to manage and view their data, typically within 24 hours from placing an order. These tools, which include a flexible and powerful data loader and state-of-the-art data visualization and charting modules, have won widespread praise from engineers, geologists, managers, chemists, and other environmental professionals.

In the software industry, the “on-demand” movement is beginning to take root in an ever growing number of fields as companies move away from expensive, customized products that they own and manage toward standardized, componentized, and lower-cost services that are obtained from an external provider. In the Locus On-demand model, customers can use the On-demand service for one site or all sites in their portfolio. The customer decides how much, what they need, and how much they pay.

Locus’s President and CEO, Dr. Neno Duplancic, said, “The appeal of the model to our customers stems from a combination of cost savings, convenience, ease of use, and simply better data management practices. Customers also benefit from a rolling upgrade program; standardization of data management practices across sites, divisions, and consultants; the ability to query across many sites; and ultimately, ownership of their own data. We are particularly excited about this business model and our ability to serve the consultant sector of the environmental industry. Consulting firms will be able to directly identify data management costs on a per-site and by-use basis. This will allow them to parse these line item costs back to a project at a very cost-effective price.”

Locus announces exciting new SVG functionality for geological data

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., 6 October 2004  — Locus Technologies (Locus), the leader in environmental information management, today announced that it has expanded its award winning, web-based Environmental Information Management™ (EIM™) system to include the ability to generate on-the-fly boring logs and soil profiles using the Scaleable Vector Graphics (SVG) format. SVG supports dynamic, high-quality graphics that can be generated from real-time data and displayed in a web browser.

Previously, geological data needed to be entered into various expensive software applications to display the information, but did not have the ability to correlate geological and analytical information. These data types had to be downloaded, merged, and analyzed as precious time was lost and consulting hours piled up. The new SVG application, an integrated module in Locus’s EIM, is completely web-based to instantly deliver, sort, and assemble information into highly nuanced reports, boring logs, cross sections, charts, and maps, including raster image overlays, and pictures. Beyond the usual display of boring log data, the log can also display soil and groundwater analytical data and provides interactive drill-down capability for in-depth analysis. Best of all, report-quality geotechnical logs can be printed out with the click of a mouse, further streamlining a previously inefficient process. Much of the system’s power and ease of use is in the speed and flexibility with which it delivers information. Unlike other image formats, SVG image resolution is scalable and does not degrade with enlargement.

“SVG provides a highly suitable tool for real-time display of subsurface data with incredible speed,” says Dr. Neno Duplancic, President and CEO of Locus. “Locus has successfully used SVG for the basis of EIM’s mapping module, and we are excited to bring SVG to the display of complex geotechnical data through boring logs and soil profiles. Furthermore, all of this exciting functionality comes without the need to store large image files on the server end,thus minimizing storage and Internet traffic requirements. By exploiting this exciting new web-based technology, Locus intends to stay at the forefront of web-based display of environmental information by putting inexpensive GIS capabilities on every desktop,” adds Dr. Duplancic.

Innovative & Award Winners Section, Web-Based EIM Solves Data Management Chaos

ENR Magazine

23 December 2002 — When the Lucchini Group of Italy embarked on acquisition strategy to become the largest long-steel products company in Europe, it acquired the environmental liabilities of steel plants across Europe.

Lucchini’s acquisition of France’s Ascometal in 1999 was a centerpiece in its growth strategy. However, the company also gained ownership of a number of sites – some originating from the time of Napoleon – that had been the subjects of many environmental investigations. Lucchini needed to quickly digest and organize the data from these studies to ensure compliance with emerging European Union environmental laws and regulations.

 

Enter Locus and the Internet
Lucchini recognized the benefits of the Internet for managing their burgeoning amounts of environmental data. To meet their need, Lucchini turned to Locus Technologies who was building the first Web-based, enterprise-level environmental information management system (EIM) to server companies such as FMC, Union Pacific Railroad, Philips Semiconductor, Waste Management, and Schlumberger, and its alliance partner, Alstom Power.

Instead of leaving data and reports buried in offices across Europe, Locus’ EIM system and LocusFocus provided Lucchini with a central repository that can be accessed via the Internet any time, from anywhere. “Lucchini cut its environmental costs and standardized its information management processes by deploying LocusFocus,” said Dr. Francesco Caforio, director of Lucchini’s environmental programs in Paris, France. “The system has also provided us with due diligence cost reduction on the M&A front.”

EIM has the capabilities engineers, scientists, and managers require: access to lists of methods and chemicals, a planning module, forms for entering field data, a utility to upload electronic data deliverables (EDDs), and an extensive reporting and plotting module. However, it also has less common components, such as a calendar module for viewing information on sampling events and uploaded EDDs, emailing capabilities, an electronic data verification and validation module, a customizable EDD loader, and a flexible cross-tab report writer.

The system also include eGIS-SVG, a new way to view site maps and data, based on scalable vector graphics, the emerging standard developed by the World Wide Web Consortium for viewing graphical information over the Internet.

 

Electronic Glue
Communications technologies, such as XML and Web Services, can knit the different parts of fragmented environmental business into a more coherent whole. “The key,” said Mr. Chris French of Honeywell, a company that recently entered into Beta testing of Locus’ EIM system, and itself a leader in applying digitization to all its business processes, “is to standardize, automate and centralize the fragmented array of company-wide and outside consultants information systems, utilizing metrics to quantify the business case. Our six sigma examination shows substantial variability in the quality, efficiency, and cost of current “silo” data management systems. Pilot testing has shown the potential for substantial downstream cost savings by digitizing and standardizing the process through the adoption of systems such as LocusFocus.

Mobile Computing Improving EH&S Management

EH&S Software Online

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 1 January 2001 — Mobile computing has been around for a long time, but EH&S professionals are just beginning to realize its potential. Judging by the recent increase in the number and variety of applications, the EH&S software industry has embraced mobile tools as an integral component of the future of EH&S automation. But the market still seems to be a few years behind the technology.

Most of us think of mobile computing in terms of laptops or notebooks, or those Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) that are nothing more than a battery-operated Rolodex and appointment calendar. Despite the computer industry’s continuing efforts to make lighter, more portable, and more powerful tools, most people continue to view these devices as an extension of the desktop with limited potential for hardcore field work. We listen to the rhetoric about new capabilities for data entry and retrieval using a variety of handheld devices, but remain skeptical that these promises can actually be realized.

Meanwhile, many analysts are predicting an increase in the use of mobile computing, especially in the business sector. According to IDC, the market for smart handheld devices will grow from 12.9 million units in 2000 to over 63.4 million by 2004. These include devices like PDAs, smartphones, keypad handhelds, and pen-based notepads. Some offer wireless access to the Internet or to a local area network (LAN), while others can be used in the field to collect data, then transported back to the office to upload the data to a PC.

According to an article in PDA News, companies that incorporate handheld computing devices into their daily business operations have experienced “greater efficiency and faster fulfillment of client requests due to: reduced double handling of information; greater interaction with ordering systems; and a reduction in the number of mistakes made due to keying errors.”.

Despite these advantages and recent advances in technology, EH&S applications for mobile computing have evolved more slowly than the industry as a whole and have yet to achieve broad acceptance in the market. But that’s all about to change. If you’ve been following the EH&S Software News over the past few issues, you may have noticed that the number and variety of information systems that include applications for handheld computers or PDAs is on the rise. With the right combination of software and hardware, you can now track hazardous materials, record sampling data, audit EHS compliance, or retrieve material safety data sheets (MSDSs) whenever and wherever they are needed, anywhere within your facility or out in the field. Following are some examples.

Hazardous Material/Waste Tracking
Handheld computers/PDAs are helping Penn State Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) personnel enhance field operations and automate government-mandated record keeping [www.psu.edu]. Harold L. Brungard III, a member of Penn State’s hazardous waste (HazWaste) management staff, has been participating in the field tests of the new paperless system. He estimates that the PDAs are saving 5 to 10 hours a week of data entry time as well as improving data management accuracy. Brungard explains that the HazWaste staff respond to between 75 and 150 requests to collect and manage hazardous waste each month. The materials include flammable solvents, corrosives, toxic materials, and other hazardous wastes. On average, the team picks up about 500 containers and more than 15,000 pounds of waste each month.

With the new system, University personnel who want to dispose of waste material, visit the University’s EH&S website where they complete an online form to send information about the waste electronically to the EH&S department. The information from a completed form is then loaded into a database. The HazWaste staff uses the database to generate an itinerary for their daily collection rounds. They can also download information from the database into their 3-Com Palm III computers and edit this information while en-route.

The Rockwell Science Center developed a prototype, called EnvInv, for inventorying hazardous materials using a PDA.  According to Corinne Clinton Ruokangas, a member of the technical staff, “PDAs serve as low-cost information collectors – providing a level of accuracy and feedback not available with paper forms – and support the automatic transfer of data to workstations and central databases. She suggests that “PDAs can also be used as handheld manuals” to display diagrams, suggest scheduling and routing locations, and provide maintenance or diagnostic information to a user in environments where laptops may not be feasible.
They can provide “remote access to reference materials which may be hyperlinked.”

Data Collection in the Field
PDAs are particularly helpful for recording data in the field. Several software developers are now offering products to meet these needs. For example, EarthSoft recently announced the development of Pocket EQuIS, for collecting and managing data at the point of generation [www.earthsoft.com]. Similarly, FieldWorker Products Limited offers FieldWorker Pro, which allows relational data collection projects to be developed on the desktop or on a mobile device. Field workers can refer to images stored on the device’s desktop, or link data to a specific image, then connect to a GPS receiver to create point, line, and polygon geographic information. The company claims the product can be used with a variety of mobile devices, from laptops to palm tops to smart phones [www.fieldworker.com].

Potential data collection applications extend to just about any EH&S-related activity, such as natural resources inventories, water testing, and air emissions monitoring. For example, Two Dog Forest Inventory Software, by Foresters Incorporated, is a software suite with data collection, processing, and inventory capabilities. The product is used on handheld and desktop computers to inventory forests and to collect data on flora, fauna, and other site attributes in support of multi-resource inventories and certification.

DataPort, a hand-held data entry unit by AllMax Professional Solutions Inc. targets the field data collection needs of municipal and industrial wastewater and water treatment facilities. These devices include built-in scanners and fit in your pocket. Users can download data (e.g., material inventories or meters/gauges that must be monitored) from a PC to the DataPort device, then use the device to print barcode labels, scan barcodes,
enter field data, and upload the information back to the PC.

LEADERS™ LDRS by Environmental Monitoring Service is fugitive emissions software based
on a relational database. Features include LEADERS FieldSmart™ handheld software and DeskSmart™ desktop software.

Taming Environmental Data

“Taming Environmental Data” by Neno Duplancic and Gregory Buckle.  Originally published in Civil Engineering magazine, August 1992.