(FORTUNE Magazine) – MAPINFO

Look out, Rand McNally. MapInfo is navigating its customers through a whole new world of computerized mapping and data reference. The company produces mapping software combining geographic and demographic information, as well as features allowing users to convert their in-house data to map form. "Mapping is a powerful metaphor for viewing and analyzing information," says Chief Executive Brian Owen, 39. More companies are catching on, and industry analysts say the mapping software market is growing more than 50% a year.

That growth caught the eye of Microsoft. Last November the company signed a licensing agreement to include MapInfo's technology in upcoming versions of its Office and Excel software products.

MapInfo software is available in 16 languages, including Hebrew, and it is sold in some 40 countries, China among them. The main package sells for $1,295 and includes U.S. and world geographical boundaries, and basic population and zip code data.

Users can transfer their own geographic data onto the software maps, arranging customers by zip code, say. More detailed options can be bought separately, like street maps, population forecasts, and Census Bureau demographics on income distribution. Many customers use the software for sales and marketing, while others customize the products to their needs. Browning-Ferris, for example, uses MapInfo software at 80 locations across the U.S. to chart the most direct routes for its thousands of waste-hauling trucks and to find out the speed limits and weight restrictions of specific roads. The company plans to expand its use of MapInfo products later this year, putting them to work in Canada and Europe. Eastman Kodak's customer service folks use the software's quick reference maps to help buyers of its new Photo CDs find the nearest outfits that can put processed film onto a disk. Fidelity Investments employs MapInfo software to locate potential buyers of mutual funds for its commercial bank clients.

MapInfo was founded in 1986 by four students from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, where the company is located. Brian Owen signed on as CEO after several years of running divisions of software makers Legent and Oracle. David Benhaim, an analyst at First Albany, expects net income for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1996, to surge 47%, to $6.9 million, on a 45% rise in revenues, to $61.8 million. The stock traded recently on Nasdaq at $23, or 20 times Benhaim's estimate of 1996 earnings per share.

BUILDERS TRANSPORT

With its fleet of 2,900 tractors and 6,000 trailers, Builders is picking up speed in the trucking industry. The company, whose trucks carry all kinds of freight for all kinds of customers, has rebounded sharply from a money-losing period in the late 1980s. A 1989 proxy fight gave control to shareholders Stanford Dinstein, 46, now CEO, and David Walentas, 56, chairman. The two set out to cut costs and replace an aging fleet. Since 1991 profits have risen steadily.

Builders, which operates out of Camden, South Carolina, hauls goods throughout the Eastern and Midwestern U.S., and into southern Canada. Its two largest divisions are its short-haul flatbed and dedicated trucking lines. The flatbeds mostly carry loads like aluminum, steel, and construction materials for Georgia-Pacific, Alcoa, and others. In dedicated trucking, Builders gives customers like Sonoco Products exclusive use of part of its fleet. John Larkin, an analyst at Alex. Brown & Sons in Baltimore, expects that net income in 1996 will rise 17%, to $7 million, on a 10% increase in revenues, to $350 million. The stock traded recently on Nasdaq at $11.50, or nine times Larkin's estimate of 1996 earnings per share.

ARDEN FASTENERS

Working out of nine warehouse centers, Arden distributes industrial fasteners like clamps, plugs, nuts, and bolts to manufacturers of light and heavy equipment. Since 1972 the St. Paul company has grown by taking on the role of inventory source for its customers, freeing them from the costs of stockpiling those items. In recent years Arden has also gotten closer to its customers with value-added programs such as helping them manage inventories and find the fasteners they need at the best prices. Arden now has more than 7,000 customers, including Navistar and Caterpillar. The company went public last February at $12 a share. The stock soon climbed to $16, then fell to a recent $6.50 on news of lower profit margins. Still, Kenneth Salmon, an analyst at C.L. King in Albany, New York, considers the stock a buy since it is selling at only eight times his earnings estimate for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1996. He expects net income for that year to rise 33%, to $5.6 million, on a 22% increase in revenues, to $107 million.