Fedex Phils signs pact with Lopez dotcom firms

In order to achieve security and operational efficiency, FedEx Philippines has signed up the newly formed alliance of BayanMAP Corp. and FindME.com to provide mapping and global positioning system (GPS) tracking services for up to 300 FedEx vehicles.

This move is being supported by major clients of FedEx, including Intel. The contract is considered key for the BayanMAP-FindME.com alliance. Assuming favorable results from FedEx, Intel may consider using the same system for all their other delivery and logistics suppliers.

Bert Lina, chairman of the Lina group of companies which is the sole licensee of FedEx in the Philippines, said FedEx chose BayanMAP-FindME.com because of the alliance's superior technology and accurate maps.

"There will be an initial cost on our part, but over the long term, we expect significant savings as we eliminate errors and maximize the use of resources, particularly our vehicles," Lina said.

Lina signed the agreement last Thursday with Eugenio Lopez III, chief executive officer of the Lopez CommGroup; Edwin Domingo, BayanMAP president; and Ruel Kapunan, FindME.com chief operating officer.

BayanMAP Corp. recently purchased majority stake in location-based content provider FindME.com to expand its geographic information systems (GIS) capability for Web and WAP-based real-time tracking for its associated service known as BayanTrack.

BayanMAP provides GIS to enable its clients to improve precision in their marketing, sales and field asset management operations. These enabling services include data pinning and query, location finder, best route and coverage planner.

These applications are critical in target marketing, customer segmentation modeling, field asset management, property development, security and utilities maintenance and location-based services. As such, BayanMAP can be useful to key sectors of the economy such as utilities, communications, manufacturing, sales and marketing, banks, petroleum companies and government.