Federal Express SuperTracker

Object Details

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.

The device has a black plastic case with a rounded pointer protruding from one side. the tip of the pointer is clear plastic or glass. One side of the instrument has a keyboard with white plastic keys. each key has a letter of the alphabet on it. Ten keys also have digits marked above them, another has a "." marked above it. there also are "SP", "CLEAR", "SHIFT", "GO", and "MODE" keys, as well as four unmarked keys. There is a small display window and an "ON" key (this is on the back side). The object is marked on the front: FEDEX (/) SUPERTRACKER."

The object fits into terminals 1993.0228.03 and 1993.0228.04.

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.

Credit Line

Gift of Federal Express

1986

ID Number

1993.0228.01

catalog number

1993.0228.01

accession number

1993.0228

Object Name

scanner

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

See more items in

Medicine and Science: Computers

Computers & Business Machines

American Enterprise

Exhibition

American Enterprise

Exhibition Location

National Museum of American History

National Museum of American History

Record ID

nmah_1398551

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a2-abc5-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa