IBM Executive Briefing Center

STCR had another opportunity to visit IBM’s Executive Briefing Center in Research Triangle Park, NC with some of their customers.  Retail Industry Experts were brought in to present and discuss the trends of the grocery industry.  The purpose was to learn more about the innovations of IBM Retail Store Solutions (RSS) and how our customers can benefit from them. 

A few facts about IBM Retail Store Solutions are:

·       Retail Store Solution established in 1972
·       2 Million + POS shipped and installed
·       65% of the Top Retailers use IBM
·       17 year Leader in POS patent (5,896 patents in 2010)
·       40% of staff has 10+ years  with IBM
·       10 year commitment to service and support on products once introduced
·       Improvement in EFF increased about 35% which saves about $25/machine a year

The group was taken on a tour of the RSS Development and Test Lab.  We have always known IBM designed their Retail Store Solutions to exceed industry standards and for years we’ve touted this higher standard but this brought things to a whole new perspective. 

The facility is the size of a football field end-zone to end-zone.  Half of it is filled with equipment running and diagnosing all of IBM’s Retail Software.  All customer issues in the US go through this facility.  The other half of this facility is where these machines are put to the physical test.  Needless to say this is really impressive. 

One station had Touch Screens where gallons of water were tossed at them, while another station had these units placed under containers that dripped gallons of water over them and still another had a pinball machine test performed on it to ensure the screen picks up movement.  The printers are constantly printing and cutting to simulate several years of wear and tear.  The terminals are electrically shocked and exposed to extreme temperatures (-40 – 140 degrees).  Cash drawers loaded with nuts and bolts were mechanically opened and closed at various points to simulate a cashier’s habits.  Dirt was replicated and deposited in machines to simulate years of accumulation and put into a device that accelerates use. 

At the end of the day we were give the special treat off seeing the infamous “Cloud” (a computing model providing web-based software, middleware and computing resources on demand).  This 60,000 sq. ft. facility has advanced software analytics which allow the facility to adjust and anticipate client data and energy workloads.

This tour was a little over an hour but what an impression it left.  It reinforces our belief that IBM Retail Store Solutions are the best and STCR is the right company to bring it to you.   If you are interested in visiting the IBM Executive Briefing Center please contact your sales representative at (607) 757-0181.