Upp Technology stays on cutting edge

Technology continues to change our lives, from the way we access and retrieve information to enhancing communication, managing resources and offering an ever-expanding pool of entertainment options.

But at Upp Technology Inc. in Downers Grove, the outcome of one of its premier products may indeed save lives.

Headquartered in Downers Grove, Upp Technology Inc. is a global provider of IT staffing services, specialized software and innovative technology solutions that are sold to Fortune 500 companies, federal, state and local governments and businesses in nearly every major industry. The company has been providing integrated inventory and resource management software products for more than 25 years.

Naperville resident James Buishas has been with Upp for 20 years and became both its president and CFO in February of 2008. Buishas said he has always had an interest in the health care field and that after earning an undergraduate degree in public health, he was looking for a company that would finance his advanced degree.

"I fell into a technology company that helped finance my MBA, and was also capable of delivering consulting talent," Buishas said. "My job as president here is to run the company from a financial standpoint and maintain its financial integrity and control its assets. I also head up this division that offers consulting to companies and government groups located throughout the country."

One of the company's most significant products is its IRMS software -- an inventory and resource management system which Buishas said could be utilized in the event of a national emergency. Using scanner guns and radio frequency equipment, the technology could manage names, addresses, medications and location of a virtually unlimited number of those affected in a given area.

The technology is the brainchild of Carl Brewer, who is president of the company's software division. Brewer said he was "the original designer and architect" of the software which first emerged about 20 years ago.

"The software started as a 'supply chain solution' that later grew to a type of inventory system for pharmacies and then to state public health and state pharmacy supplies and finally to emergency management," Brewer said. "We are now capable of managing a 12-day supply of inventory in the event of a national emergency. We have certain 'wizards' in place within the software that handle those supplies and state distribution."

Brewer said the software combines many of the features of Google, MapQuest, online phone books and more as the scanner technology can track people, their location and significant patient information.

The software is already in use in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Vermont and Delaware as well as the District of Columbia.

Brewer said his primary responsibility involves "baby sitting" his creation virtually every day, one that would be vital in the event of any sort of CBRNE -- a chemical, biological, radioactive, nuclear or explosive attack.

"We do quarterly updates of the IRMS software and offer a major release each year," he said.

Independent companies, Buishas said, like Dart -- a warehouse company in Naperville -- are using the IRMS software to manage inventory. The product, he said, continues to "morph."

"In the last five years, the use and application of this software has become more significant," Buishas said.

"There are 550 sites worldwide that are using it, and for businesses, the competition among those who are offering inventory software is strong. But when it comes to emergency management, there are only one or two other companies like ours that are doing it."

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