TouchStar Technologies - TouchPC Touch-Screen Computers

TouchStar's range of TouchPC touch-screen computers are used in businesses and industries requiring robust field automation, including fuel distribution, on-board sales on airlines and trains, van sales and field service organisations. The solutions, which incorporate both standard and bespoke software as well as a range of integrated peripherals such as scanners, printers and credit card readers, are designed to increase productivity, improve accuracy and save time.

RUGGED, HAND-HELD COMPUTERS

TouchStar's headquarters are in Manchester, from which it supplies and services its own range of TouchPC rugged, hand-held computers and application software to business users around the world. TouchStar’s sales base extends principally across five worldwide locations, including the UK, USA, mainland Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Current users benefiting from TouchStar solutions include BP Amoco, Shell, NHBC, Air Products, GNER, Eurostar and over 40% of the world's airlines including Qantas, Lufthansa, Swissair, Saudia Arabian Airlines and Britannia Airways.

PORTABLE, TOUCH-SCREEN COMPUTER SOLUTIONS

As the aviation industry has become ever more competitive, the need for the airline operators and their partners to become operationally efficient has grown immensely.

When an aircraft is on the ground it is not generating income for the airline and, as such, fast and efficient turnaround of the aircraft is key to a profitable operation. A major part of this turnaround is the cleaning of the aircraft for the next flight.

The worlds airlines spend huge sums of money creating brand loyalty to ensure customer retention, one of the major intangibles that a passenger will consider when flying with a particular airline is the cleanliness of the plane – an unclean environment is a sure fire way to loose a customer.

GROOMING SOLUTIONS

ASIG is a major ground-handling provider working with many of the leading airlines around the world. When ensuring that their aircraft cleaning services for British Airways at Heathrow (London, UK) were as efficient as possible, they turned to TouchStar to provide a grooming solution to enable them to rapidly and efficiently monitor the quality of the cleaning process.

Through the implementation of a number of TouchStar Atlanta 8000 mobile computers combined with the QAStar software solution that has been specifically designed for inspection application – ASIG is now able to more closely monitor the performance of its 500+ cleaning personnel.

The solution is based around TouchStar’s philosophy of touchscreen-based, simple to use, solutions that result in immediate business benefits.

The implementation of the solution has enabled ASIG to check the quality of the cleaning process and then to immediately produce a number of reports covering; pass/fail/fixed rates, resource performance, cleaning timings, costs and other management information. This information is then systematically fed back into the British Airways system such that overall performance can be easily and quickly analysed, resulting in huge cost savings for both companies.

THE BUSINESS BENEFITS OF MOBILE COMPUTERS

• Up to date information enabling critical decision making to reduce costs
• Effective quality control with improved information
• Cost savings due to removal of the need to re-enter data
• Elimination of paperwork
• Improved accuracy
• Improved reporting allowing fast and informed decision making
• Value added services for the customer enabling significant competitive advantage and a greater potential for new customers.