Federal Express SuperTracker

Federal Express SuperTracker

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Description
This is a Federal Express SuperTracker handheld barcode scanner, first introduced in 1986. The SuperTracker is a critical part of FedEx’s Customers, Operations, and Services Master On-line System (COSMOS) used to track packages and confirm deliveries. Customer agents, couriers, and sorting personnel use the SuperTracker to scan barcodes on packages as they move through the Federal Express system. Providing information about a package’s location, status, and movement became an integral part of delivery companies, with every major carrier implementing a package tracking system.
Reference:
Carl Niehls, “Custodial Package Tracking at Federal Express,” in Managing Innovation: Cases from the Services Industries, ed. Bruce R. Guile and James Brian Quinn (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1988), 57–81.
Object Name
scanner
date made
1986
Physical Description
plastic (overall material)
rubber (overall material)
metal (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 4.4 cm x 19.3 cm x 4.2 cm; 1 23/32 in x 7 19/32 in x 1 21/32 in
ID Number
1993.0228.01
catalog number
1993.0228.01
accession number
1993.0228
Credit Line
Gift of Federal Express
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Computers
Computers & Business Machines
American Enterprise
Exhibition
American Enterprise
Exhibition Location
National Museum of American History
Data Source
National Museum of American History
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Comments

Hi, I was one of the designers. At the time it was cutting edge with the latest surface mount chips! The keyboard was conductive rubber made in Hong Kong and the whole unit was manufactured under contract by Kyocera in Japan. I was the mechanical engineer designing on a very early version of Autocad.

Mike S Beard

Thu, 2019-02-14 09:29

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