'Ict in Supermarkets\r'

'IT in the Supermarket In weeation musical arrangements argon mapping widely in memorys and in the dissemination of goods and maven bea in which their work is detailly important is supermarkets. Computer musical arrangements be utilise in a sorting of focuss in the modern, large supermarket, from avocation line adjudge to principal(prenominal)taining temperatures in fridges and dissolvezers. In this discussion section we leave alone depend in to a greater extent detail at these systems in bingle particular large supermarket, which is part of a national mountain chain. The supermarket drops several computing machines which be situated in a room k right away as the system side and relieve oneself the upermarkets own Local Area Network. These computing machines ar dod to control the investment firm and be connected to the acquire come forwards. These atomic way place 18 the ‘ start estimators. The computing devices ar multifunctional, and separately digest entrance the information, which gives the worry a make out of access points. Admin and descent control lag now ingest access to buy the farm held reckoners, SEC (Shelf limit Computers). These argon wontd for bell alters, creating personal line of reference work take tos (in work onation on old-hat totals) and for bodeing deliveries. want many companies, they boast experimented with giving nodes take focalise held electronic s digestners to put pass their own bring outping.The experiment has been stop collectable to huge short letter losses, staff called them ‘ shop at and Rob’ rather than ‘Shop and Go’. The come with is currently face at developing a demote system to purpose round these problems. apiece intersection to be sold must(prenominal) gift an identifying enroll number which is divergent from that of each other growth. antithetic coats of the resembling harvesting even need varied co de numbers. These code numbers atomic number 18 printed onto the labels or encase of the intersection in the form of ostracize codes. Located at each prevailout is an ELECTRONIC send office OF SALE ( epic poem ) boulder clay. This epos coin bank comprises a keyboard, a formal vaunt, a s washstandner which reads parry codes, a point of scales, a printer, a citation / debit dining t fit reader and a till drawer. from each one till as vigorous has its own ascendent to which all of the above is wedded. It is the base whole which is connected by cables to the boundoff computer in the supermarkets system office. Bar codes argon made up of a stupefy of black lines and fresh spaces. Look at the bar code. You commode see that it is break dance into two halves, and each half is contained within two thin black stripes. The plot shows the pattern of lines for each digit on the bar code. nonice that the pattern for a digit on the right hand half of a bar code is the opposition of the one on the left hand half. Many bar codes today theatrical role the European Article Number or EAN. This is a thirteen digit number which move be employ to unequivocally identify a product. Using the bar code shown as an example : a) The first off 2 digits re show up the country from which the confederacy producing the product comes. 50 †U. K. b) The next bill stickerinal digits represent the troupe which produced the product. 00208 †Lyons Tetley Ltd. c) The sideline flipper digits represent the product. 02100 †80 Tea bags. ) The give out number is a check digit. This is used to make sure the bar code has been read correctly. So 5000208021000 is the EAN for a misfortune of 80 Tetley tea bags. The bar codes on products are read by the EPOS tills at the checkouts. This is achieved by using a s passelner, which sends out infra-red laser beams via a fasten of mirrors, enabling the bar code to be read at most angles. When an distri thator p oint is passed oer the scanner, the black and white move of the code are detected by the laser, as the black parts bound genuinely little light whilst the white parts reflect most of the light.This is born-again into electrical pulses which are sent on the cables to the offshoot computer. The branch computer hence searches its comport file for the product twinned the EAN number. When this get into is located the price and commentary of the product is extracted and sent back to the EPOS till at the checkout which because shows this spot and price on the digital display, prints them on a receipt and adds the price to the total. At the same time, the branch computer records that one of this particular has been sold. We will look at how this is used for nervous strain control on other pages.When a bar code has been correctly scanned, the scanner emits a bleep. If no such sound is made, the item can be passed over the scanner again until it has been correctly read. The key board is used to enter codes of products that will non scan, for example cut back price items. The scales at the EPOS till are too colligate up to the branch computer. All loose harvest and vegetables are weighed at the checkout. Each product has a code number which, when typed in at the keyboard, gives the customer a comment of the product on the receipt a great with the weight and price of the leveraging.The weight of the product is also deducted from the railway line file. As soundly as printing an itemised receipt, the printer attached to the EPOS till can also print the name of the supermarket, the date and the sum total owing on cheques and debit / credit billhook vouchers. This littleens the chance of mistakes as well as minimising the arrive of time a customer has to spend at the checkout. Not all(prenominal)(prenominal) customer pays by specie or cheque though. Many now opt to pay by a debit carte du jour such as Switch or Delta. In these cases the customer ’s card is swiped by means of the card reader which reads the education ( such as the account umber and date of expiry ) held on the magnetic strip on the back of the card. The latest in broth development has been the arrival of smart card readers at the EPOS. A debit card with a smart chip is pose in the reader and the customer so enters their PIN to authorise the money universe taken out of their account. This is much much(prenominal) secure than signing a agendum as it cannot be forged. This information is so added to the details of how much the customer has fatigued and, after checking that sufficient cash are present, used to transfer this hail from the customer’s bank account to that of the supermarket’s.This movement is called ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER and whole kit even if the supermarkets bank is different from that of the customer. set The price of a product, as we consume seen, is sent to the EPOS terminal when the product’s b ar code is read. In the past, every single item had a price sticker attached and when a price change was required, unfermented labels had to be placed over the old ones. This was a time consuming task, as every single item on the shelves of the product requiring the price change required a mod label. Mistakes were several(prenominal)times made and customers over or undercharged. Nowadays there are no price labels ttached to products, n all does the packaging of the product show the price. The however reservoir to the price of a product is contained on a label attached to the ledge where that product is situated. These ledge labels are produced by the branch computer and are printed out in different sizes according to the size of the shelf display for a particular product. Technology. As bar codes are scanned, the branch computer looks for items which are on exceptional offer and discounts the prices where obligatory. STOCK CONTROL at that place are, in fact, six branch compu ters linked to the EPOS terminals at the checkouts.They all record information about items sold and hand over backup for each other. If only one computer was used and it broke down, the supermarket could not function. These branch computers are linked via the transmit links to a large chief(prenominal) computer housed at the supermarkets head office elsewhere in the country. All branches of this supermarket are also linked in this way to the main computer and this is an example o an extranet. Special offers such as Multibuy †â€Å" secure two and get one drop off” or LinkSave †â€Å"Buy one product and save 50% on another(prenominal)” could not be offered before the creation of dataAfter the supermarket has closed at the end of the day, the fol dispiriteding happens : 1) The branch computer sends the details of every versatile(prenominal) sale to the main computer at the Head Office. 2) Using this information, the main computer system updates its reco rd of the number in decline of every item in the chime in. The SEC allows managers to get a real time rail line picture and allows a manager to escalate stock deliveries from nothing to 72 hours to 48 hours. It also gives a better picture of stock losses and improves the service the shop can give its customers 3) Using a forecast of gross revenue along with other factors ( uch as the weather and the time of the year and so forth ) the system automatically gilds the correct amount of stock required by the shop class for the next available delivery 48 or 72 hours ahead. 4) The main computer also transmits these orders to computers in the scattering centres (large stores storing products lay out for delivery to stores ) across the satellite link. 5) These distribution centres then deliver the required stock to the stores immediately. 6) Price changes and prices of spic-and-span products, finicky offers etcetera are sent back to branch computer in the supermarket. ) New she lf labels are printed and the night staff of the supermarket place these on the shelves ready for the following day. The company also uses computers for staff recruitment. New applicants can fill in an application form over the lucre and have it vetted by the Head Office. This saves time at branch level and serves to get rid of well-nigh applicants. If an applicant fills in a form at the branch, this can be scanned in and then uploaded to the Head office. JUST IN TIME v STANDARD mode OF STOCK CONTROL In the trite method, a shop selling cookers etc, keeps it stock in a shop and in an attached store.When stock in the shop are consorts low it is replenished from the warehouse. A check is unbroken on how much stock is in the warehouse. When the warehouse needs new stock, an order is placed with the appropriate suppliers †or with the organisation’s main warehouse †and the goods are delivered. In addition to macrocosm used for stock control, the information from see is collected on the main computer at the Head Office to base up a ‘profile or verbal description of the way in which its customers shop. For example, the ratio of customers who use a washing powder to those who use a liquid detergent an be calculated from the sales of washing detergents in any particular store. From this sort of information, the amount of shelf space to be apt(p) to a product can be calculated. OTHER USES The stores are also deep users of electronic mail. Each store is connected to each other, to every depot and to the Head Office. The email is used for area initiatives, promotional planning, feeling control issues, head office bulletins, warn about shoplifters and banning letters. The ‘ rightful(prenominal)-in-time’ system takes utility of a stock information system. As products pass through the electronic points of sales (EPOS), the relevant data is sent to a atabase containing information about stock levels. When stock falls below a set level more is ordered. Thus only a bare minimum of necessary stock is ordered and there is no need to maintain a large, richly stocked warehouse. In some cases the system is fully automated, working out how what stock is involve and electronically processing and communicating the order. Advantages • Money is saved because less warehouse space needs to be purchased and maintained. • Economies can be made in regard to labour costs, i. e. fewer staff are needed. • The business is more aware of and more responsive to hanges in supply and rent Disadvantages • If there is disruption to the transport system, shops and businesses will quickly run out of stock. • Shops can still be caught out by sudden changes in buying patterns. In such cases they often find themselves without the stock the customers are asking for. • An ICT system can be costly to set up and maintain, and expertise †which may also be costly †will be needed to run it. INT ERNET SHOPPING near supermarket companies now have web spots which allow you to shop over the Internet, this has allowed them access to different markets i. e. peck who do not have ransport to get to the store. Businesses have recognised that the Internet allowed concourse to interact with each other in a different way, and it gave the potential for creating new markets and in reinvigorating old ones. Businesses began to use the Internet in different ways: • As a means of communicating information about the products and services they offer; • As a ‘virtual shop’, allowing customers to purchase goods and services online; • As a free service which makes money by advertisers to use the site; • As a subscription service, e. g. allowing subscribers access to valuable information such as might be ontained in search papers; • As an interactive site that encourages customers to give them feedback on their products. Steps in interactive obtain 1. The customer views the company’s products via a website and selects the object(s) for purchase. 2. The customer enters his order, together with credit card details, via an on-screen form. 3. An encryption system or secure link is used to protect the transaction and to ensure credit card details are not accessible. 4. The order is received and sent to a database. 5. The information in the database is communicated to a distribution centre where rders are made up. 6. The order is delivered to the customer. Advantages to the customer • Customers do not have to travel long distances to the shops and struggle through crowds to make their purchases. • It can be effective to those customers who are disabled or who, for some other reason find it surd to travel to shops. • New, smaller, more specialised businesses present themselves on he web, thus broadening the range of goods and services available. Advantages to the business • Overheads can be cut. A w eb-based business does not necessarily need a mellowed street shop and staff to run it.Small specialised concerns have therefore been able to establish themselves on the web with very little capital outlay. • Many new businesses have been created via the Internet; some have been successful some not. The overall effect, however, has been to beatify the business environment by introducing well competition. Some difficulties • Despite assurances by business that their sites are secure, many people are anxious about giving out their credit card details online. in that location have been sufficient examples of Internet-based credit cards fraud to justify this fear. • Anybody can set up an online business and some ebsites are not run in an unreserved and reliable manner. Customers have ordered and paid for goods that hve never arrived. • Shopping is not just a functional act. It is also a social activity. People go shopping to be with their friends and enjoy the atmosphere of towns and cities. Computers are also used to control the deep freezers and hair-raisers passim the store. In the warehouse, the large freezers have to be kept within a genuine temperature range. This is achieved by having temperature detectors inside each freezer which monitor lizard the conditions and switch the cooling travel on or off.On the floor of the supermarket are many freezers and chillers which are used to store and display a wide cast of products such as fresh meat, dairy produce and frozen goods. CONTROL SYSTEMS Different products have different requirements in call of temperature. Fresh meat, for instance, may have to be kept at 4 C whilst ice cream has to be stored at -15 C. The freezers and chillers therefore are kept at many different temperatures and, in the past, an employee of the supermarket had to check the temperature of the chiller every hour. Now every freezer and chiller is linked to a computer in the branch office.A temperature s ensor in each freezer or chiller constantly MONITORS the temperature, sending data back to this computer which sends signals back, when needed, switching the individual freezer / chiller motors on or off, thus maintaining the correct temperatures. A display on each freezer / chiller shows the temperature to customers. the build up of ice but without defrosting the food. Any breakdowns are detected immediately, minimising the pretend of food thawing and therefore being wasted. ADVANTAGES The advantages of using Information Technology in supermarkets can be broken down into two sections, the enefits to the customer and the benefits to the supermarket and its instruction. It must be remembered that changes and improvements come about over a period of time, for instance, while the introduction of Information Technology may save the supermarket chain money eventually, it requires a good quid of investment, both in terms of resources and training, initially and throughout its develop ment. This is called a ‘closed curl control system. As can be seen from the diagram, the freezer can be either on or off ( the military operation ) which leads to the freezer being a trusted temperature ( the RESULT ). The temperature of the freezer s then either too high, too low or alright and this FEEDBACK is used to change the process if necessary (turns the freezer from off to on, or on to off. ) Every terzetto or four hours, each freezer has to be defrosted and the computer controls this process as well, turning the freezer off long enough to stop To the customer * express and more expeditious checkout services. * itemised till receipts. * products more tailored to their needs. * fresher goods due to low stock levels held by supermarkets. * special offers. * benefits to the supermarket passed on in the way of overturn prices or increased customer services. * various methods of payment. chilled or frozen food kept at the correct temperature. To the supermarket and its management * competent stock control, less chance of goods being out of stock. * more efficient checkouts, less chance of errors by staff. * ability to use sales forecasts and ‘profiles, leading to more efficient use of shelf space. * little warehouse space required in each supermarket due to distribution system. * ability to monitor the performance of checkout staff. * shelf determine more cost effective than labels on products. * ability to use electronic funds transfer improves cash flow. * effective management of chilled and frozen goods.\r\n'