What we have is an opportunity to lead.

Brothers and sisters, let me tell you a story 'bout transforming one of the oldest human activities: the family farm.

What I'm talking about is the rhythm and mojo of making things happen. Baby, technology has the ability to transform.

Some people see Pennsylvania as the old industrial state of steel, iron, railroads and coal. Others know we were all that and are so much more all that and so much more. We are the innovators, the keepers of the Ben Franklin DNA of intellectual curiosity, drive and can-do.

Pennsylvania has many companies that lead industries on a global basis.

One of those companies is ZedX of State College, founded in 1987, uses incredible technology, innovation and know-how to transform the family farm into the family technology center.

At a time when family farms are struggling, ZedX and its technologies give them a fighting chance to survive. Pennsylvania leaders and farmers should pay attention and get engaged.

ZedX is recognized as a leading IT solution provider for the precision agriculture industry. Precision agriculture uses such technology as GPS, sensors, satellites and Geographic Information System (GIS) to assess and understand variations. ZedX became one of the leading developers of integrated information technology for decision making for the agricultural, environmental and energy sectors. It was the first company to develop high-resolution, raster weather databases that are compatible with GIS programs.

"The younger people are starting to get hold of these farms and they have a much different attitude to technology. They Twitter, they've got smartphones, they're always on the computer. Precision ag is gonna ride that wave," ZedX President Joe Russo told Wired magazine in October.

When we talk about broadband and infrastructure investment, we're talking about tying these investments into sustainable business models that help people. Getting family farms broadband so they can access cutting-edge technology like ZedX's not only makes sense, it protects the environment, eliminates sprawl and keeps Pennsylvania green.

Kelly Lewis is president and chief executive officer of TechQuest Pennsylvania, operated by the Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania.

To read part 3, click here.
To read part 2, click here.
To read part 1, click here.

Businesses provide many different types of fulfillment. Some fulfill by keeping shelves properly stocked, and then delivering from that stock. Some businesses go a step further and manufacture or assemble those products. Others provide professional services such as engineering, case management, analysis or legal services.

The fundamental problem of fulfillment can vary in complexity, but the premise is always the same: The business has to organize and deliver resources of some kind to their customers. It's the age-old adage of providing supply to meet demand.

Believe it or not, automating the process often is more alike than different. If we're offering professional services, then the "products" we are selling are simply self-renewing; every new hour means an employee has another hour of product (their time) to put up on the shelf. If we are producing those products ourselves, we have some sort of assembly process to organize. Finally, whenever we are selling physical products, we have to have a purchasing function to replenish those products as they are sold.

Therefore, let's assume that for most businesses we can generalize these operations at a high level as delivery (or scheduling), assembly and replenishment. In turn, each of these three processes involves some sort of logistical challenge, and herein we find the opportunity for automation, and the return on investment of that automation.

In this phase of the business, the benefits of automation can be more quantifiable. For example:
• What is the value of a 10 percent increase in manufacturing workers' productivity?
• What is the value of a 10 percent increase use of service workers (i.e. increased billable time)?
• What is the value of a 10 percent increase in use of a piece of equipment?
• What is the value of a shift reduction or reduced overtime?
• What is the value of needing to maintain 10 percent less stock?

Unfortunately, most people consider automation of this phase of the business to be the most challenging. The nuances of scheduling human beings with variable schedules in projects with equally variable schedules can be complex. Similarly, the notion of routing work in process through even a simple manufacturing environment becomes very complicated when a particular part is out of stock unexpectedly, or a certain customer's order is suddenly given "rush" status.

Because this appears on the surface to be complex, few organizations put any significant effort into automating it. They simply push all of the order information, or all of the scheduling information, to a human. That human usually is a person with decades of experience who knows all the nuances of the various "gotchas" that any given process can throw out. This person then jumbles the information around and makes the best decisions they can. Because there is no way to know whether something better could have been achieved, management usually accepts this as being "the best we can do."

The thing to remember about automating these processes is that the computer doesn't have to direct every single detail of the process. I highly recommend people to consider the value of simply providing better and more timely information to the human who makes the decisions. Rather than making decisions based on last night's data, why not update those decisions based on real-time data, or by looking at exceptions that are delivered in an automated fashion? That alone will usually yield a percentage increase in key metrics like utilization and productivity. Additionally, the value of self-directing purchasing or giving management insight into service delivery can be invaluable, especially during an economic downturn.

Next week I'll look at the billing process.

Treff LaPlante is president and chief executive officer of Carlisle-based WorkXpress.

My demo Motorola Droid was sitting on my desk when I arrived to work this morning. Thank you, Verizon.

I've spent about three hours with the Droid; it's my first time using an Android device.

Below are my first impressions.

Hardware:

• Feels heavy, sturdy, well-built;


• design is very rectangular; doesn't look modern; and


• slide-out keyboard has tiny keys, which work with my tiny hands, but might not for others.

Interface/operating system:

• Very intuitive; barely a learning curve;


• interface isn't as colorful or attractive as that of the iPhone; and


• signing into Google account, setting up Exchange e-mail account was a breeze (although now I can't seem to access my Outlook, but that could be user error at this point).

And, of course, the pulsating red eye and the phone's computerized alien voice occasionally announcing its own name certainly appeals to the nerd in me.

But I have weeks worth of testing ahead, so stay tuned.

What do you think about the Droid?

Andréa Maria Cecil is managing editor at the Central Penn Business Journal. She is a 31-year-old native New Orleanian who is obsessed with how gadgets and technology can make you more efficient.

On the heels of Los Angeles' 140 Characters Conference, Seesmic founder Loïc Le Meur gives us "30 predictions for the future of Twitter."

Among them are:

• Twitter will replace SMS for millions of people;


• Twitter might replace chat for many people, too;


• public e-commerce status updates won't work because buying things is very intimate;


• live reviews of any place and product will deeply influence it;


• promos by brands and retailers will have big success for last-minute deals;


• talking to shops and restaurants via Twitter will become standard and will get opt-in coupons as we enter a shop, based on location;


• Twitter won't display ads in your main feed;


• other revenue opportunities, such as pro accounts for businesses, will pop up;


• there will be a few alternatives for niche search, such as brand monitoring.

Check out Le Meur's video:





What are your Twitter predictions?

Andréa Maria Cecil is managing editor at the Central Penn Business Journal. She is a 31-year-old native New Orleanian who is obsessed with how gadgets and technology can make you more efficient.

- I don't see Twitter integrating advertising, either, as that's the founders' decision--so it should stick.
- I agree that Twitter or some other startup will offer what coTweet is doing for free.
- I think he should have evaluated the impact that foursquare might have on restaurants and businesses.
- Lastly, I don't think Twitter will eliminate IM, SMS, etc., as there will always be people who don't have an interest in Twitter.