ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Carr Gottstein Foods has pulled the plug on its mainframe computer and is relying on open systems architecture to enhance store-to-corporate communications.
The retailer is now running all its administrative programs, including purchasing, financial analysis, retail pricing and inventory management, on a combination of client/server and personal computer-based systems.
The decision to disconnect the mainframe was made following a re-engineering project at Carr Gottstein that analyzed internal corporate department operations and identified a host of inefficient practices, said Larry Walsh, manager of retail technology, management information systems and electronic data processing.
"Every time we ran the numbers, we found the single greatest return on investment was to unplug the mainframe. We'd been spending $20,000 a month on various hardware and software [applications], maintenance and leases," he said.
Switching from a mainframe to a client-server and PC-based system has also boosted MIS staff productivity. "There would be a lot of labor just to run the mainframe, a lot of tape-hanging, a lot of reports to distribute," Walsh said.
The retailer now has streamlined software applications that can be easily accessed by corporate personnel. The next goal is to build links for store-level officials.
"One of the things we'll be working on the rest of the year is assimilating the new [corporate] systems into the business. We'll be training our people how to use the systems and empowering them with better query tools and ways to get at that information," Walsh said.
Store officials will be able to access corporate accounts payable information and launch queries from their own terminals.
