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Rio Tinto Iron Ore deploys mDrover™ on handhelds from palmOne



palmOne with Yambay's mDrover reduces costs and increases productivity at Rio Tinto

SYDNEY, Australia, Dec. 08, 2003 – For many mining maintenance workers, handhelds from palmOne, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLMO) have become an indispensable part of their toolkit. Rio Tinto, a world leader in finding, mining and processing the earth's mineral resources, has deployed handhelds from palmOne coupled with Yambay's mDrover? application at one of its largest operations to improve and accelerate processes for its workers, reducing costs and increasing productivity.

Hammerslely Iron (a subsidiary of Rio Tinto Iron Ore) is responsible for 60 per cent of Australia's iron ore production and aims to implement world-class maintenance practices to become the industry leader in cost, productivity and safety performance.

Due to varying paper processes, errors were creeping into the data records created by the mobile workforce; forms were not being taken to the point-of-work, hand-written notes went missing or were illegible, and the time spent processing and inputting the data created delays that resulted in extended maintenance processes and increased costs.

To address these pressing issues, Hammersley Iron turned to Australian developer Yambay's mDrover mobile maintenance solution deployed on handhelds from palmOne.

The mDrover configuration has allowed operator-maintainers to view the information needed to complete their work. By syncing collated data on their handhelds to the back-end system, workers now have a comprehensive range of information containing feedback against jobs and fault reports. A holistic implementation process has been adopted that involved updates to both master data and business processes.

"The handhelds from palmOne were chosen for their size, long battery life, ease of data input and screen visibility in daylight," says Andrew Stamp, director of Enterprise Applications at Yambay. "The handhelds from palmOne have also survived the harsh operating environment well, often being carried in toolboxes across the site."

Record maintenance processing time and costs
Two years since the first mobile maintenance implementation, Hammersley is achieving its desired goals. The business has seen significant improvements in quality, quantity and timelessness of jobs and fault reports. "We now have access to consistent timely information that can be cross-referenced against work orders, which enables us to plan and solve problems more efficiently," observed Daryll Gallaghan, maintenance scheduler.

These benefits have led to almost a ten per cent reduction in annual maintenance costs and record production levels. Hamersley Iron's maintenance manager, Neil Smith, commented, "The mDrover application on handhelds has been central in our migration to greater planned maintenance."

Hamersley Iron is now implementing the mDrover on handhelds from palmOne across its operations and using the mobile-infrastructure to deploy additional handhelds from palmOne and Yambay solutions, including safety and production.

About Hamersley Iron
Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd, a member of the Rio Tinto Group, is a leading supplier of iron ore. Hamersley employs approximately 2000 people in Western Australia, and exports close to 70 million tonnes of iron ore a year to the global iron and steel industries. More information is available at: http://www.hamersleyiron.com.au.

About Yambay
Yambay was founded in 1997 and pioneered development of software applications for handheld devices designed to meet the demands of enterprises seeking to mobilise core business processes. This focus has seen the business deliver numerous solutions for work dispatch and management for a wide range of sectors with clients including BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Woodside Energy, and Toyota.

More information is available at: www.yambay.com.

About palmOne, Inc.
palmOne, Inc., delivers what matters most to customers -- whether a single consumer or company of thousands -- improving their personal lives and professional productivity through mobile devices and solutions.

palmOne is the name adopted in October 2003 by Palm, Inc., when it spun off PalmSource, Inc., maker of the Palm OS® platform software, and acquired Handspring, Inc. Uniting the Zire™, Tungsten™ and Treo™ subbrands, the creation of palmOne launched a new, stronger market leader in handheld computer and communications hardware and software solutions.

More information about palmOne, Inc., is available at http://www.palmOne.com/asia.

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