E-Commerce Print-on-Demand, NOAA

Commercial mariners are required by law to purchase nautical charts from Coast Survey. They also must update their charts and report back to Coast Survey as they discover new underwater obstructions, such as sandbars. "Waterways are very dynamic," says Dave Enabnit, Coast Survey's technical director. "Charts can be out of date almost as soon as they are printed."

In the past, mariners were forced to rely on whatever charts were in stock at Coast Survey. New charts weren't printed until a particular stock had run out, leaving mariners stuck with old data and causing potentially hazardous situations.

In January 2000, Coast Survey contracted with Software Performance Systems Inc. to create a way for mariners to get accurate charts whenever they needed them. Now, mariners can place orders online or by phone, and then the most current information is pulled from government computers for those charts. New charts are only printed when there is a demand.

Under the old system, Coast Survey's charts cost $17.50 each. Now they cost $20. And while this is a bit more expensive, Enabnit says mariners are ecstatic that their charts are more up to date. Coast Survey has also improved the durability of the charts, using specially coated paper.

All told, Enabnit calculates that the project, which cost about $1.25 million, will save commercial mariners about $35 million every year.