Carrefour adopts Cisco-Atron wireless real-time management solution to accurately manage the competitiveness of locked terminals
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Carrefour adopts the Actron wireless real-time management solution based on automatic identification technology and Cisco wireless network to achieve precise store management and maintain a leading position in the highly competitive retail industry.
The Carrefour Group, established in 1959, is the pioneer of the hypermarket format, the largest retailer in Europe and the second largest international retail chain group in the world. Now it has more than 11,000 operating retail units, and its business scope covers 30 countries and regions in the world. In 1995, Carrefour opened its first hypermarket in China, and now it has opened more than 60 branches in China.
As a leader in the retail industry, Carrefour is well aware of the importance of computer network technology for maintaining competitive advantages, and actively adopts network communication technology to improve management levels in business operations and achieve rapid growth in performance. With the rapid development of business in China, Carrefour has also brought new business concepts and excellent professional management techniques into every branch.
In order to lock in the competitiveness of the terminal, Carrefour has very high requirements on the management of its stores. In each store, Carrefour requires standardization to achieve accurate replication of the store and warehouse management model. The traditional management mode of the retail industry relies on manual operation, and it is difficult to adapt to the increasing demand for goods circulation and inventory control. Therefore, it has become a necessity to apply advanced computer network communication technology to realize the automation of store and warehouse management.
The rapid development of wireless communication technology and its integration with automatic identification technology provide a good opportunity for retailers to improve their management level. The application of wireless network technology in the retail industry is very wide. For example, in terms of data statistics, whether you use a barcode scanner or an RFID scanner to obtain data, it can be instantly uploaded to the server through wireless access, so that it can be carried out at any time and any place. Real-time data collection and accurate and fast transmission improve work efficiency.
Wireless real-time management solution
Carrefour chose Beijing Ai Genesis Technology Co., Ltd., which has a leading advantage in wireless real-time management solutions, to improve the management level of stores and warehouses. Aitron wireless real-time management solution is based on automatic identification technology and Cisco wireless network, with commodity bar code technology as the core, fully using Cisco wireless network communication technology and wireless handheld computer terminals, combined with C/S or B/S software development system architecture.
Xie Zhaohui, general manager of Aitron, introduced: “For users in the retail industry, Aitron’s solution is very suitable for establishing an automated real-time supermarket hypermarket management system. As a Cisco partner, we integrate advanced Cisco wireless network technology and automatic identification. The technology has proposed its own unique solutions, thereby gaining a leading competitive advantage in the retail industry market. “Aichuang is also the general agent of PSC, a provider of barcode technology and equipment in China.
The wireless local area network (WLAN) does not require a cable medium, so that various terminals on the network are mobile, and can quickly and conveniently solve the network connection problem that is not easy to achieve using wired methods. The Cisco Aironet 1200 series access point (AP) has established an enterprise-level standard for a secure, manageable, and reliable wireless LAN. At the same time, it can also provide a smooth way to migrate to the future high-speed wireless LAN technology, thereby providing Investment protection. Cisco’s sales engineer Wu Xiaogang introduced: “Aironet 1200 has established a wireless infrastructure that can provide users with maximum mobility and flexibility. It allows users to uninterruptedly connect to all locations where wireless access is deployed. Internet resources. “
On top of the flexible network infrastructure, Actron has built a wireless management system for Carrefour, including major functional modules such as receipt management, cargo location management, inventory management, price change management, and price inspection management, which basically covers Carrefour’s stores. Functions required in operations. The system is based on the client/server (C/S) structure. The warehouse management server software runs on the host server, and the corresponding warehouse data collection client software runs on the RF handheld terminal.
The system application takes centralized service as the core, and for the needs of warehouse management, there is no need for communication between mobile nodes, and the wireless RF network topology is used as the access node connection type inside the site. The operating area of the RF mobile terminal covers every corner of the store, and it is required that the mobile terminal can maintain real-time communication with the server host at any place inside the store. Therefore, in the system network architecture, it is necessary to ensure that the installed AP points can cover the entire store with full wireless signals. If the area of the store is large, when designing the wireless network, you can make full use of the wireless RF technology’s network expansion capabilities and seamless roaming features to combine multiple AP points for the wireless signal of the store, that is, by setting multiple AP nodes , To achieve full coverage of the signal, and the adjacent APs are mutually redundant, which improves the reliability of the wireless network. At the same time, considering that the office area of a large warehouse store may not be in the same area as the store, and it is inconvenient to use a wired network connection, a wireless bridge can be used between the store and the office area to make it a unified network system, which is convenient for network expansion and tear down.
Figure 1: Seamless information dissemination technology
Figure 2: The network topology is fully rolled out and implemented
Fully rolled out
The implementation of the project followed the progress of Carrefour store expansion. While planning to open a store, Carrefour will communicate with Ai Chuang and make preparations for stocking and implementation. Before the store is about to open, Aichuang organizes personnel to conduct measurement points on the stores and warehouses, calculate the coverage strength of AP signals, and issue test reports. According to the reports, the locations and wiring will be fixed. After installation and commissioning, personnel will be trained. The whole process usually only takes three days.
According to General Manager Xie Zhaohui, since last June, Aichuang has implemented nearly 20 stores for Carrefour. Aichuang’s high-quality branch teams across the country have fully guaranteed Carrefour’s technical needs in the process of expanding its business. .
Zong Xingyuan, Manager of Technology Department of Aitron, said: “At the beginning of the project, we did some debugging work for compatibility with the original system. After the first store was completed, the implementation of other stores went very smoothly. . So far there have been no failures, and the customers are very satisfied with us.”
Automatic management, flexible price change
Through the implementation of wireless implementation management solutions, Carrefour has achieved automation in all aspects of store and warehouse management.
For example, in the receiving process, the cashier uses the handheld terminal to check the validity of the product barcode and the legality in the back-end application system, so that the product can pass the supermarket checkout counter smoothly, and the product sent by the supplier is checked and accepted. In the receiving area, personnel can check and control various information such as item code, quantity, production place, variety, specification, packaging time, shelf life and other information one by one through the handheld terminal.
In the inventory management, through the deployment of wireless networks throughout the store, the staff of the handheld terminal can at any time query the specific location and space conditions of the items on the shelf in the inventory area, and check the inventory of the quickly sold goods through daily sampling inventory. The storage situation, space size and sales volume of items are recorded in the area, capacity, volume, and equipment limits of the system warehouse, so that historical data can be used to analyze and more effectively use the cargo space, so that the space utilization rate and merchandise The quantity of purchases and the placement of goods are adapted to sales to the greatest extent.
Flexible price change management is an important part of Carrefour’s retail management level. In retail stores, many fresh and live goods need to be temporarily adjusted in price. If they are not sold at 6 or 7 in the afternoon, they need to reduce their prices to avoid losses. In the absence of a wireless real-time management system, this work has to be done manually, and the round-trip process of forms often takes a lot of time. Now, the staff of the handheld terminal only need to scan the bar code to send the information back to the back-end system to complete the price change operation. The immediacy of wireless networks enables stores to greatly enhance business agility.
Because it is deployed in the entire business space, users often worry about the security of wireless networks. In this regard, Zong Xingyuan explained: “Wireless network technology is already a mature technology. All Cisco wireless network equipment, including APs and wireless network cards, etc. All support security certification and can provide complete security protection from the server side to the client side. In fact, by choosing Cisco products in our solutions, we can provide customers with excellent security, excellent performance, and high reliability And good scalability.”
The Aitron solution has helped Carrefour improve logistics efficiency, increase the speed of goods sales and warehouse throughput, so that Carrefour can support more stores with less warehouse space and accelerate its expansion; The real-time information collection and transmission of management and other links greatly enhances the accuracy and flexibility of the sales plan, and eliminates front-end errors; due to the use of automation technology, it also reduces the workload and complexity of employees, and improves employee production Efficiency, paperless operation has also been realized. With the help of wireless real-time management technology, Carrefour has ensured its leading edge in the retail industry.
Carrefour is centering on its core mission of satisfying customer needs, striving to become a model of the modern retail industry in every market, and always actively adopts continuous advancement of computer network technology. Carrefour will continue to cooperate with Ai Chuang, maintain its annual rate of nearly 20 branches and continue to expand its stores. As a leading Internet solution provider, Cisco will also continue to support Carrefour’s business development through its wireless network and other network solutions.
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