The Practical Handbook of Computerization for Distribution Managers

Back in 1983 I was chatting with Dick Coleman, publisher of Traffic World magazine, when he unexpectedly proposed that I write a column for the magazine on computer applications in the transportation/physical distribution industry. "But, Dick, I don't know all that much about computers," I protested. "You use one, don't you?" he asked logically. Yes, I did; I'd been running my consulting business with it for two years. But that didn't, I explained, make me an expert. "Think about it," he said. That's typical Coleman; he drops these studiedly casual ideas and just lets them lay there until you pick them up and wind up doing just what he wanted you to do all along. Sure enough, the longer I pondered the notion the more it appealed to me. OK, I wasn't a computer expert (I'm still not). But I was a computer user, in the transportation/distribution field; maybe from that perspective I might have some useful things to say to other transportation/distribution users and would-be users of computers. Thus was born the "Computer Software for Transportation" column. The first one appeared in the April 11, 1983, issue of Traffic World, and it's been a once-a-month schedule ever since. And thus, too, was ultimately born this book.

1: The Computer and the Transportation/Distribution Manager.- 1. The Computer as a Management Tool.- What Computers Do Well.- 2. Computers as Information Providers.- The Value of the Tool.- Assembling Decisional “Parts”.- Information and Transportation.- 3. The Computer and Time Management.- “On the Road”.- In the Office.- “Undoable” Work.- The Computer as a Time Manager.- 4. Distribution Modeling Techniques.- 5. Transportation Cost-Finding and the Computer.- ICC Standards.- Complexity of ICC Form Costing.- Limitations of Costing Software.- 6. Computerization of Transportation Rates—A Viewpoint.- The Tool Shapes the Handiwork.- ZIP Rates & Co.- The Drawbacks.- Consequences, and Alternatives.- And Another Viewpoint.- 2: The Computer and the Transportation User.- 7. The Manager and the Technician.- Technicians and Managers.- How the Computer Fits In.- The Technician’s Tool.- The Manager’s Need.- 8. Demands on the Computer User.- Disillusionment at Home.- ... and Sometimes in the Office.- Whither the “Revolution”?.- The Need for Skill.- Learning How It Works.- Of Power and Complexity.- The Meaning of “User-Friendliness”.- The Point of Diminishing Returns.- The Consequences of Complexity.- 9. You Don’t Have to Be a Programmer.- The Mystique of Expertise.- Computerization Without Fear.- A Better Way.- 10. Be Your Own Computer Expert.- Expertise v. Results.- Who’s the “Expert”?.- Some Simple Criteria.- The Tale of the Artist’s Pig.- 11. Keyboardphobia.- The Roots of Keyboardphobia.- The Dictates of Technology.- The Limitations of Keyboard Alternatives.- Some Keyboarding Aids.- The Dvorak Keyboard.- 3: The Computer in the Organizational Structure.- 12. Justifying Computerization to Higher Management.- Why Computerize?.- Approaches to Cost-Justification.- Obstacles to Cost-Justification.- 13. “Selling” Computerization to Higher Management.- Problems With a Demonstration.- Doing It Right.- 14. MIS-Management and Mis-Management.- A Tower of Babel.- Microcomputers and Colinos.- The Limits of MIS.- Eliminating the Middleman.- 4: The Start-Up Process.- 15. The Problems of Starting Up.- The Computer Arrives.- Mastering Your System.- Data Input.- Some Ideas for Easing the Transition.- A Personal Lesson.- A Semantic Misunderstanding.- 5: Computer Security.- 16. The Failings of Security.- The Fallacy of Passwording.- A History of Break-Ins.- Improving Security.- 17. Computers and Foreign Travel.- 6: Computer Software in General.- 18. A Guide to Programming “Languages”.- 19. Word Processing.- Neatness Counts.- A Key Office Tool.- What Word Processor?.- Important Features.- A Curious Addendum.- 20. Spreadsheets.- 21. Data-Base Managers.- 22. Free Software—How to Get It and Use It.- 7: Specialized-Applications Software.- 23. Some Rules for Buying Software.- 24. Shopping for Software—A Personal Approach.- 25. The Meaning of “User-Friendliness”.- A “Do-able” Job.- Screen Displays.- Inputs and Errors.- Other Features.- How Feasible?.- 26. User Manuals and Their Problems.- 27. Aftermarket Support for Software.- 28. Things to Watch Out for With Software.- Operating Speed (or Lack Thereof).- Displays.- Coded Input/Output.- User Manuals.- Confusing Commands.- “Vaporware”.- 8: Software Copying.- 29. About Piracy.- What’s Legal.- ... and What’s Not.- An Easy Crime.- 30. The Importance of Backups.- A Personal Story.- The Lost Chapter.- “UNERASE” & Co.- Learning From Experience.- Care About Backups.- 9: Some Lessons From Experience.- 31. Using a RAM Disk.- Why a RAM Disk?.- Eliminating the Mechanics.- How to Use the RAM Disk.- Getting a RAM Disk.- Some Cautions.- 32. “Bugs”.- 33. Monochrome Screens and Their One Color.- 34. Modems and Telephone Lines.- 35. Planning for System Upgrades.- The Un-Adaptability of Software.- New Hardware Developments.- Minimizing the Burden of Upgrading.- Appendix A: How Computers Work (and Other Details).- Appendix B: “Ports” and “Peripherals”.- Appendix C: A Primer on Binary Math.- Appendix D: Hex Codes—An Explanation.- Appendix E: All About ASCII.- Appendix F: Open and Closed.- Appendix G: Computers and Numbers and Errors.- Appendix H: EDI.