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TWENTY YEARS AGO, THEacronym"GIS" (GeographicInformation System) was unknown,and paper maps were often the onlyresource or navigation.Fast orwardtwo decades.Navigating systemsarelight yearsahead,GIS s omnipresent,and mapping information is utilizednot just for streetdirections,but for amultitude of corporateapplications.

Making the world a little smallerand bringing thosehighwaysandbyways into clearerfocus, and usableform, is the missionof AmericanDigital Cartography nc. (ADCi)- a tiny company, unassumingly4 6 I N S I G H T . [ r d . c ho i o

located n a small, dark office space ndowntown Appleton.

Basedon their name, one mightthink ADCi createsmaps. nstead, hecompany "slicesand dices"map dataprovided by global companies,such asNAVTEQ and TeleAtlas,and licensesit to end users o accommodate heirspecificneeds."The majority of people have some"sort of interaction with navigationaldata every day.Now more and morebusinesses re using GIS informationl'saysBarb Wenninger, ADCi's directorof salesand marketing.

Clientsaround the globe, such as

Barb Wenninger, vice president of salesand marketing;Jim Reid,president;an dJoe Roehl,vice president of AmericanDigital Cartography,say companiesaround the world are inding innovativeways of using digital mappirlg data.

school districts, utility companies,stateand local municipalities and corporateaccounts, ely on the data for manyapplications.

The Milwaukee MetropolitanSewerage istrict (MMSD), forexample,usescustomizeddata oservicewastewater reatment to 28communities."I t orovidesus a realcurrent

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Whent's imeto sharpenhepencil...Alberls& Heling undestands hechallengesfgettingesultsuringoughtimes. 1r inancialdvicehat ligns ikyourcompany'seeds,rust he 1calteam hat's eady0make difference.WikAlberts Heling,t'sallab1utaluedpartnershipsndeal esults."Morepeople ealtze

the value of mappingThe return oninvestment rom uslngthis data s veryquick."

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view of the communities,"saysDonNehmer, capitalprogram businessmanager or MMSD. "We only usea small portion of the da ta set,sothey make it very easy or us. They'vesavedus a bunch of internal timeand headaches."

Suchcustomized data s not onlytime saving, t's cost effective,as well.According o ADCi PresidentimReid, anecdotal esearch ndicates t's50 times more costly or companies ocreate heir own mapping data."There'sno such hing asaperfectdata setl'he adds."It'salwayschangingi'

MAPPINGCOURSEADCi was ounded n 1988with rathermodest,accidental rigins,accordingto Reid, who hasbeenwith thecompany 14years.

The founder was asked o createa map of bicycle rails n the area,but back then, "therewasnt muchmapping softwarel'Reid says.Thefounder usedAutoCAD software oaccomplish he task.

Initially, ADCi focused on makingdigital map data affordableandaccessibleo civil, environmentaland utility engineers.Most digitalmapping wasperformed only in large,institutional settings,using UnitedStatesGeological Survey(USGS)datain an obscure ormat.

As technology progressed, o, oo,did ADCi and its target audience.Engineers reno longer h icontinued"w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m

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sers f GIS data.and more peopleare

of innovative ways o use heWenninger. I think

more critical applicationsadds, More people realize

of mapping . The return onfrom using his data s

of ADCi's clients. he floor

M a r c h o t o

cleaning firm StanleySteemerInternational, for example, icensesNAVTEQ data for the entireUnited Stateswith a Mobile AssetManagement icense."The mapping application wehave needs resh data to keep upwith new streets eing developedaround the countryi' said TomIuncewicz, assistant T director withStanleySteemer nternational. "I t is

helpful in that new roads show upafter an update that may not havebeen here before.which cuts downon the crew's ime contacting he basefor directions or fighting with a papermap or map book."

Technologyhas gotten better, asterand more efficient - effectively cuttingdown ADCi's lead time for deliveringmap data to customers, rom aboutsix weeks o about six hours. Also,hardware has gotten more costeffective.Reid saysADCi purchaseda server13 yearsago or $100,000;twasreplacedust a few years ater foronly $12,000.INCREMENTATROWTHADCi, which has only six employees,has $3 million in revenue and hasshown continued growth over the pasteightyears,Wenninger says. We'reanextremely ean companyi' she adds.

Last year,Reid sayssales ncreased30 percentover the previousyear,and he expectsa 20 percent ncreasethis year."We continue to get better atwhat we dol'he says,adding thatmaintaining solid partnerships andreturn customershas been akeybusiness sset. bout 85 percentofADCi's orders arerepeatbusiness.

Reid adds hat keepingADCi's focusvery targeted- and not branching outinto other realms, such ascreating heirown maps - has aided the companysbottom line aswell. "The kiss of deathfor a small business s to do so manythingsl'he says.

ADCi has come a long way fromthose bicyclemaps 20 yeaib ago,but.Reid believes he future of mappingand navigational datawill provide evenmore opportunities."I think mapping is ust going to getbiggeri'he says. The'wherd questionis so bigl' 0

AmericanigitalaftographyFormorenformation,isitwww.adci.com.

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