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Itronix sells 1,000 GoBook laptops to Air Force

Spokane’s Itronix Corp. has sold about 1,000 of its rugged computers to the U.S. Air Force, allowing maintenance crews to speed up work on military aircraft at bases around the country.

Tom Sowa
Staff writer

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=030304&ID=s1494722&cat=section.business

Itronix, with offices on Spokane’s South Hill, is providing the Air Force with its ultra-rugged GoBook laptops, plus versions of its handheld Tablet PC. So far, the units are being deployed at 50 air bases nationwide, but not currently at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane.

This sale and deployment are part of a focused effort to simplify the way Air Force crews handle aircraft repairs and maintenance.

Itronix started shipping the computers to the Air Force last year. The 1,000 units will generate roughly $5 million in revenue for the company over a period of years, said Itronix Vice President Vince Menzione.

In return, the Air Force will see big benefits from streamlined and much quicker repair schedules, he said.

Up until now, air base maintenance crews have needed to consult stacks of books or manuals to deal with specific problems. Usually, they have had to move from one hangar to another or a distant flight room to get those answers, according to Menzione.

To simplify, the Air Force has adopted what it calls POMX — point of maintenance initiative — which uses modern technology as a way to save time and increase productivity.

Last summer, officials at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas were among the first to deploy Itronix laptops equipped with CD-ROMs that include all relevant material needed by maintenance teams.

The computers let maintenance crews stay where they’re working, next to aircraft, instead of stopping to consult with others or travel to another base location. The laptops and handhelds are all equipped with special networking software developed by Telos, a partner of Itronix.

For instance, Nellis maintenance crews now make requests for aircraft parts by entering orders on an Itronix GoBook, saving time spent going to a nearby work center to file a written parts order, Menzione said.

The networked computers also allow managers and base officials to get instant updates on how all repair projects are proceeding, he said.

Menzione said the Air Force is talking about ordering at least another 1,000 Itronix units for other air bases nationwide, potentially adding another $8 million in revenue for the company.

By improving turn-around time, the integrated wireless POMX system is considered one of the Air Force’s major technology focuses, said Rick Peyton, an avionics technician with the Air Education and Training Command, based in Randolph, Texas.

“The wireless local area network laptop is convenient and saves time. With point of maintenance at technicians’ fingertips, it will cut transit time in half, thus saving the Air Force money. This might not sound like a lot, but when you add up the time of 139 maintenance technicians, it is a lot,” Peyton said in a news release.

It’s not clear when or if Fairchild will receive some of the POMX units, Menzione said. Fairchild has ordered and currently uses some Itronix units, “but they’re not part of this order,” he said.

The Itronix laptops and tablets have been tested to withstand extremes of heat, dust, water immersion and cold temperatures. Itronix also has sold the units to dozens of companies needing them for service workers, rescue crews and mobile teams.

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