IBM

The International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), based in Armonk, New York, is the world’s largest supplier of information technology products and a major system integrator. In 2007, the company generated sales of 98.6 billion US dollars. IBM is doing business in 170 countries and has over 330,000 employees. IBM Deutschland GmbH, the group’s largest national subsidiary in Europe, has a workforce of 23,000 and more than 40 local offices across Germany.

IBM offers a wide range of e-business solutions for retail and the consumer goods industry. These include high-performance wireless applications, checkout and kiosk solutions as well as comprehensive consulting services for its clients in the area of IT strategy, IT planning and supply chain/process optimization. For more than 20 years, IBM has been the market leader in checkout systems for the retail trade.

IBM appreciates the importance of new technologies and business models and constantly strives to improve its clients’ processes. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a key part of many IBM solutions. In the context of retail and logistics, RFID supports the end-to-end optimization of entire supply chains, creating a ‘consumer-driven supply chain’ – one that is based on the needs of customers. IBM also offers RFID solutions for companies from other sectors such as the pharmaceutical and automotive industries. In addition, IBM is extensively involved in developing new standards for RFID technology, for instance as part of its work with the standardization organization EPCglobal. IBM co-chaired a working committee which finalized the standardization of the EPC Information Services (EPCIS). EPCIS allows manufacturers and retailers to record, store and process product- and process-related data in a standardized way, regardless of the hardware and software used.

As a Platinum Partner of the METRO GROUP Future Store Initiative, IBM Deutschland GmbH developed a technology master plan for the former Future Store in Rheinberg, Germany. It includes a solution for networking RFID applications, merchandise management systems and checkout systems. All RFID-based devices and applications communicate via an IBM WebSphere RFID Premises Server, irrespective of their individual technical specifications. IBM developed this extremely versatile solution as part of the METRO GROUP Future Store Initiative and then pioneered its integration into a working retail environment. IBM also supports the seamless integration of hardware and applications into (wireless) local area networks. A number of departments of the real,- Future Store in Toenisvorst, Germany, are equipped with IBM Information Terminals. The terminals assist both customers and employees by providing information specific to their needs, offering a new shopping experience for consumers and access to useful information for staff.

IBM is proud of its outstanding strategic partnership with METRO GROUP and the initiative’s other partners. The real,- Future Store proves that RFID technologies have already made the leap from the laboratory to everyday life.

With its Pecuron payment terminal, IBM has created a solution for the point of sale that revolutionizes – and greatly simplifies – the payment procedure at the checkout. Once customers have registered their purchases at a reading device, they receive a checkout receipt indicating the amount to be paid. They then settle this amount at the Pecuron payment terminal. Customers can either pay for their purchases in cash or use a debit card or credit card. Future versions of the terminal will support payment via an NFC (Near Field Communication) interface and other innovative payment modes. The Pecuron benefits retailers in many ways: it separates the scanning and payment processes, thereby ensuring a higher level of flexibility, shorter waiting times and, in turn, improved retail processes. And it accepts large amounts of small change while automatically verifying the authenticity of banknotes. Additional services, such as voucher printing, can be integrated at request.

As profit margins in the retail sector are lower than in other sectors, preventing the theft or loss of goods is of great importance. IBM has developed efficient solutions for ensuring that articles that have not been registered or incorrectly identified are billed correctly at the checkout. To this end, the company has combined digital video camera monitoring (Video Smart Surveillance) with a product identification system that automatically identifies and bills even hard-to-read items at the bottom of the shopping trolley. Another benefit of this solution: it also supports the monitoring of relevant parts of the store – such as incoming goods areas or storage areas – with the aid of photoelectric beams. If the software registers a movement that has been classified as illegal, it triggers a signal, enabling staff to take immediate action.

The Retail Integration Framework is a software architecture comprising a suite of software solutions for seamless IT integration. It supports the RTI communication standard established by the Association for Retail and Transaction Standards (ARTS). Its preconfigured business services and middleware comprising industry-specific extensions offer fast, flexible and cost-effective implementation. The Retail Integration Framework is the first fully functional SOA (service-oriented architecture) solution for the retail sector. Its IT components can be coordinated in such a way that basic applications (spreadsheets, word processing) are combined to form key services (setting up user accounts, executing orders etc.). The framework offers retailers many competitive advantages: for example, the system enables data to be exchanged securely between individual outlets and headquarters in real time and supports the efficient control of enterprise resource planning (ERP) processes.

The IBM Workforce Management software lets companies optimize their workforce deployment while ensuring a high-level customer service. The solution helps users answer the questions that are central to the successful and cost-optimized management of retail operations, including: How much time do employees spend on specific activities? How can shift handovers be rendered more efficient? IBM Workforce Management offers many advantages: the software helps optimize working processes, thereby increasing the time that store staff can spend looking after customers. Work performance can be improved by monitoring selected quality criteria; at the same time, personnel costs remain constant. IBM also offers individual consulting to retailing companies that wish to improve their personnel deployment.

Klaus Peise
Partner – Retail und Supply Chain Management
IBM Global Business Services
Phone: +49 211 4762 396
E-mail:  peise@de.ibm.com
 www.ibm.de

Joachim Riegler
Manager Marketing – Retail, Consumer Goods, Transport & Tourism
IBM Deutschland GmbH
Phone: +49 69 6645 1515
E-mail:  riegler@de.ibm.com
 www.ibm.de