With the Tesco IT team involved at all levels of this project, they have the capability of providing ongoing support and training in-house, and security that the system met 100% of their expectations. The system was up and running by the end of July 1998 and today work is nearing completion on extensions that will deliver features and benefits beyond those envisaged at the start of the project. As Tesco grows, the system will handle all levels of expansion, and create a knowledge base that can be used for testing new markets and formats. The automated process permits the transfer of some executive management functions to an administrator level. With this user-friendly environment, and training, operators have acquired cross-functional skills that enhance their personal value to Tesco. Merchanidising
Visual Technology's application, Retail FOCUS, was devised as a visual application for retail space management, delivered on the desktop in a client server environment. The ProStore derivative delivered to Tesco incorporates the core technology of a fully integrated database management system, linked into their existing and other distributed enterprise wide data sources. An inherent feature of this system is that planning stores laid out in two-dimensional mode can afterwards be visualised in 3D. The object technology used in this system provides the links into equipment profiles and product layouts, so that future transfer into computer models and Virtual Reality can be delivered for each store. The strengths and weaknesses of each store can be evaluated from these models which provide an easy to understand representation of each plan, for people without building or design expertise. This feature will reduce the time needed to visit and walk round stores.	Emerging network technology can now provide the links for local store managers to work in concert with the central planning function, and ensure that local variations from proposed plans can be reviewed and recorded on an interactive basis. The dynamic two-way link between the in-store equipment and the Intactix Intercept Planograms means that changes made within merchandise profiles are automatically reflected in the modifications and updates required for equipment carrying the merchandise. This feature has significantly shortened the store planning and fitting cycle. Reports can be generated for both the store and the equipment fitters to eliminate misunderstandings and reduce the time required implementing plans. The variances between what the equipment can carry, and what the merchandiser has specified for his category or department within each specific store, are reported automatically.
Store Planning
The solution is not a simple CAD library of drawings. It is an object oriented database application which generates intelligent objects that know what they are and where they are within the store model. The space planner can take the architectural plan of individual stores and easily generate the computer layouts of equipment and merchandise. This delivers large gains in productivity by comparison to conventional systems. The opportunity to run multiple "what if" scenario plans for each store speeds up the planning cycle. Any special, seasonal and market promotions can be stored within the database and then simply recalled and re-applied from this enterprise "knowledge base". Once a store has been fully planned the schedules of equipment and their layouts are produced automatically as standard reports. Physical departments can be created either as part of the total store plan or merchandised in isolation, thus creating opportunities for mixing and matching different plans within an individual store. The creation of say, a hot food department complete with equipment can be fast tracked in the Tesco system. This semi-automated store planning system, with automatic updating of layouts and equipment is viewed as delivering a significant benefit to Tesco. When you add to this integrated and automatic reporting and analysis for store requirements, and very accurate square footage and product-specific linear footage recording, it represents the realisation of the working system demanded by the Tesco specification.
Equipment
For any retailer, it is of huge benefit to know what total inventory by type equipment is available for either merchandising or recycling within the enterprise. To know its location is an added bonus. The rules and bounds within the planning process dictate the type of and specification of equipment for merchandising. Whether it is chilled, ambient or any other type of equipment, will determine where it can be placed within the architectural and ergonomic store layout. In addition to these rules it is possible to incorporate health and safety rules dictated by legislation and always subject to modification. These rules bases form a bespoke requirement which can be imbedded within the planning process and used as a control mechanism, flagging any attempts to misuse equipment or profiles.	The inventory of equipment available in each individual store is maintained within the system, so that it is a simple matter to list all stores with a specific fixture type. This facility is another feature of the intelligent object Visual Technology database architecture. The power of this database approach is illustrated in the way it was able to import the existing equipment library and extend this with new and customised units. It is even possible to build equipment from components held within the intelligent object database. The ability to highlight discrepancies at a very early stage can eliminate misunderstandings, prevent delays, and reduce cost overruns on both new builds and refits.
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