Department of Energy (DOE) contractors Fluor Daniel Hanford, Inc. of Richland, Washington, Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, Inc., and Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corporation of Oak Ridge, Tennessee (ORNL), have highlighted their years of collaboration on a software project through the execution of an exclusive license agreement with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) on May 20, 1997. The agreement to commercialize the Automated Transportation Management System (ATMS) software program is especially important because of the serious down-sizing of Hanford over the past several years and the promising job creation potential this technology transfer success has for the local community.

A unique software program, the ATMS was developed cooperatively between Hanford and Oak Ridge to better manage voluminous and dynamic freight shipments. This comprehensive software tool enables users to stay on top of cost, scheduling, and routing variables on which their profits can depend. It has the potential to save transportation management costs for at least eight thousand companies worldwide.

Commercial companies will use the ATMS as an information management tool that can better manage the shipping of their inbound and outbound freight. As an alternative to paper-based systems, the ATMS increases productivity by reducing manual labor, automatically performing pre-payment audits of freight bills, and evaluating relative costs of transport routing using a variety of carriers. The software integrates shipment planning, rating and routing, bill of lading preparation, tender acquisition and storage, packaging support, and filling out hazardous materials (HAZMAT) shipment documentation.

The ATMS has proved itself as a state-of-the-art transportation management tool at all the major DOE sites. Currently, the system links these sites to DOE Headquarters over an intra-DOE web connection. Prior to ATMS, some of the DOE sites and their contractors utilized either a combination of off-the-shelf or “home grown” software products to assist them in their day-to-day transportation operations. Also, most DOE field offices and contractors performed a majority of their daily administrative tasks manually. This process was very labor intensive and tedious. With the ATMS performing as a “suite” of tools, it is able to automate much of the routine labor-intensive traffic management tasks, such as data input into the Shipment Mobility/Accountability Collection (SMAC) historical data base. It also audits freight invoices, preparation of shipping documents, and provides rate and route information to transportation specialists and procurement agents so they can utilize the most cost effective carriers to transport DOE’s freight. The ATMS product is contributing directly to DOE environmental and restoration activities by allowing the DOE and its contractors to have better control over their $30 million dollar commercial transportation bill.

Currently, a majority of transportation management software products are PC-based and outbound-shipping oriented. The ATMS is currently written in the ORACLE language with a UNIX operating system and runs on Sun Sparcs 20 work station, thereby making the system more powerful and robust enough to handle significant inbound as well as outbound-shipping volumes.

When the announcement of the license award to SAIC was made, Dennis Claussen, Transportation Program Manager of DOE’s Richland Operations said, “Our efforts to cut costs and save taxpayer dollars at DOE sites can now be put to use in the private sector through licensing this valuable software product.” Claussen went on to say, “This license agreement represents an important element of DOE’s commitment to use public/private partnerships to help develop new commercial business.”

The licensing of the software to the private sector is also in keeping with the Hanford Site’s economic transition goals and that of its Management and Integrating Contractor, Fluor Daniel Hanford. When commenting on the negotiations with SAIC to focus its software product development efforts in its Richland, Washington, office and actively work to involve other local firms in the commercialization of this product, David Greenslade of Fluor Daniel’s Hanford Office of Economic Transition said, “The agreement with SAIC will provide new job opportunities in software development and transportation management services in the Tri-Cities Region.”

Greenslade credits Jim Portsmouth of Waste Management Federal Services, Inc., Northwest Operations, and Steve Teeters of Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, Inc., for their years of programmatic and technical leadership in the development of ATMS. Furthermore, he credits Chris McKinney of the Office of Technology Transfer at Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corporation for his tremendous professional effort in dealing with inter-contractor complexities in a timely manner.

Information for this story was provided by David Greenslade, Office of Economic Transition, Fluor Daniel Hanford, Inc.