I have learned the role of information systems in a business and there is a great example to show how that business is supported by information systems.Wal-Mart is the world's largest and most profitable retailer.The Wal-Mart culture is built on obtaining the most current information about what customers want, getting the best ideas from employees about how to run the stores well, and sharing some of the profits with employees.And the information systems is very useful to run the stores thoughtfully which can increase speed and productivity.
A point-of-sale system--a essential information technology for the Wal-Mart's growth. It is a computerized system that identifies each item sold, finds its price in a computerized database, creates an accurate sales receipt for the customer, and stores this item-by-item sales information for use in analyzing sales and reordering inventory. It can help Wal-Mart handling information efficiently and those information can avoid overstocking, since they know what product is selling slowly and prevent some of the product out of best before.
Moreover, the technical basis of the point-of-sale system is the bar code scanner. Bar code scanners make it possible to record the sale of each item and make that information available immediately for both reordering and sales analysis. The use of bar code scanners made it unnecessary to stamp the price on every item that can reduce the costs. A point-of-sale system can achieve operational excellence which is one of the role of information systems in a business.
A point-of-sale system--a essential information technology for the Wal-Mart's growth. It is a computerized system that identifies each item sold, finds its price in a computerized database, creates an accurate sales receipt for the customer, and stores this item-by-item sales information for use in analyzing sales and reordering inventory. It can help Wal-Mart handling information efficiently and those information can avoid overstocking, since they know what product is selling slowly and prevent some of the product out of best before.
Moreover, the technical basis of the point-of-sale system is the bar code scanner. Bar code scanners make it possible to record the sale of each item and make that information available immediately for both reordering and sales analysis. The use of bar code scanners made it unnecessary to stamp the price on every item that can reduce the costs. A point-of-sale system can achieve operational excellence which is one of the role of information systems in a business.
Wal-Mart use telecommunications to link directly from its stores to its central computer system and from that system to its supplier's computer.This allows automatic reordering and better coordination.A point-of-sale system can know exactly what is selling well, while using of telecommunications can coordinate closely with suppliers . Those can help computer save money and compare with other competitors for ensuring survival. Many goods arrive and leave without ever sitting on a shelf in its computerized warehouses. Therefore it only use 10% of the floor space to used as an inventory area, compared other industry use 25% . This two systems also can promote competitive advantage for Wal-Mart.
Good description of Walmart's link with its suppliers. This system is called Retail Link, and thru this, suppliers can directly access their sales information and inventory information from Walmart's point-of-sale systems. In this way, suppliers can directly manage the replenishment of their own inventory on Wal-Mart's shelves, based on real-time customer demand.
回覆刪除