Hardware for the CSO Inventory System
To provide a fully functional and efficient inventory system to
Collective Supermarkets Owners, we designed a state-of-the-art
networking system with many personal computers and other hardware. The
actual size of the system can be expanded as need. Also, 10th Level
Solutions has acknowledged the importance of having a high performance
but low cost system, so the hardware coming with CSO inventory system is
all the best in their categories and is very cost-efficienct.
The CSO inventory system will use a Pentium Pro class system as
the center file and processing server. It is equipped with 64 MB of RAM
and a huge hard disk as secondary storage to store all transactions,
inventory records as well as personnel information. There will be a tape
drive installed to archive information onto tapes for auditing
purposes. The major function of this server is to keep track of the
inventory records, updating on-line databases for both personnel and
inventory information sent in from other work stations. Personnel
information is also recorded on this server, changes can be made to
update information on an employee. The server also prepares order
forms as inventory runs low, then head managers can authorize the order
and it will be sent off to the warehouse. The Pentium Pro server is
very powerful, such that it can handle all transaction requests from all
work stations simultaneously to keep the system performance at a
maximum. The current system will print out the order form and it will
be sent out by courier. In the future, CSO can automate this part of
the system by purchasing an add-on system and installing necessary
inter-store networking hardware.
Cryix 5x86 133mhz class personal computers are used as primary
work stations for positions like cashiers and stockers. These systems come
with 20 MB of RAM. The computers have Windows installed and connect to
the in-store local area network (LAN). Each work station can attach a
barcode scanner to speed up operations, but the current system did not
come with this option. Touch screen monitors can also be added to these
work stations to increase the usability of the system. Users can learn
the operation of the system in a very short period of time thanks to
the specially designed user interface. The advantages of these
work stations are that they are relatively fast and cheap, hence highly
flexible for possible enhancements. We believe the system is good
enough to handle daily tasks for most employees.
To further increase the productivity of mobile positions like
stockers and managers, hand-held computer units can be purchased to
allow employees better access to the system while they are working in
different corners of the store. The units allow for instant access and
modification to information. These portable units are able to communicate to
the server through a wireless network.
The CSO inventory system will use twist-pair cable as the backbone
on the in-store LAN, which is relatively low cost and reliable. Novell
Netware will be the networking software used to run and administrate
the network. If the portable computers mentioned above are added to the
system, information can be updated between the portable units and the
server by an infrared network installed store-wide to link up the
portable units and the LAN.
In the future, if CSO decides to upgrade the system to automate the
sending of an order form, we can provide options like modem connections,
ISDN communication lines or other networking systems.