Progress Software and BGN Pioneers Retail Automation With World

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Progress Software and BGN Pioneers Retail
Automation With Worlds First Live Item-Level
RFID Deployment in an SOA Environment
Mark Palmer
Vice President General ManagerApama Products
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The Role of the Progress Family of Products

• OpenEdge Rapid time to market for business
  applications
• Apama Real-time automation and inventory
  visibility
• Sonic SOA-based connectivity for the distributed
  enterprise
• EasyAsk Turning browsers into buyers

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Progress Software and BGN Pioneers Retail
Automation With Worlds First Live Item-Level
RFID Deployment in an SOA Environment

• Selexyz Dutch Bookstore

Jan Vink
Chief Information OfficerBGN (The Netherlands)
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Selexyz largest bookseller in Holland
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Company Overview BGN

• 1 Bookseller in NL (18 market share)
• 2 Dutch internet bookseller
• 16 Large consumer stores, 26 campus stores
• 3 Customer target groups
• Consumers 60
• Businesses 10
• Students 30
• Annual sales gt 220 million (2005)
• Net profit 4.3 million (2005)
• 750 employees
• Shareholders publisher, 2 VCs, andthe
  management
• Our oldest store dated 1753

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A Short History

• 1998 Perfect year, shareholders decide to divest
• Consultant advised to invest in one group
  philosophy
• Investments in
• New software application
• Central distribution warehouse
• Remodeling two stores
• 2000 Almost bankrupt
• 2001 March
• No investments allowed
• Focus on cash flow
• Sells off bleeder
• New management with retail knowledge
• 2002-2004 Results improve (negative wk)
• Reduction employees 35
• 2005 Best year in history (T2G)

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To Manage Information in Real Time

• Customer Satisfaction
• Increase Supply Chain Accuracy
• Link product - customer - internet
• Information improvement for customer
• Natural language, self-servicecapabilities
• Inventory
• Stock reliability
• Tighten store, supplier and corporate inventory
  information
• Leadership
• Central infrastructure is ready for new business
  process improvements
• Real-time management information

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Changing Application Environment
Change Natural Search Processing
Change Transactional Processing
BGN Legacy Systems
Accidental
Architecture
Change Event Stream Processing
Change Open Database Processing
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Changing Application Environment
Progress EasyAsk
Progress Sonic ESB
BGN Legacy Systems
Progress Apama
Progress Open Edge 10x
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Changing Application Environment
Progress EasyAsk
Progress Sonic ESB
Service Oriented
BGN Legacy Systems
Progress Apama
Progress Open Edge 10x
Architecture
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Extend the Business Case
Radio Frequency Identification
Stock
Customers
Internet
Individual marketing Self service Participation
Brick click Redesign integration
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Why RFID?

• Every single copy a unique identification
• By using kiosks customer knows in-stock position
  and location of book
• Exact location in each store always known
• Exact in-stock position near real time
• Very fast and simple receiving process
• Returns are send to the correct supplier
• Semi automated replenishment process
• Reduce out-of-stock
• Real time customer order process

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Challenges We Faced Before We Started

• All parties inclusive our own staff were
  skeptical
• Market claimed it could not be done
• Finding the correctpartners
• We wanted to be fast
• Privacy sentiments
• Price of tags
• HF or UHF

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Just Go for It

• We attended the RFiD now! conference in
  NL,Oct05
• We were amazed that nobody jumped at it
  (opportunities)
• Books are simple, average price is high
  (justification)
• We outsourced distribution to one party CB
• Sheer luck brought us CaptureTech
• Salesmanship made Progress join in
• UHF Gen2 came to the market on time
• We did not look at obstructions but
  oversimplified on purpose

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Barcoding vs. Tagging

• New Situation
• Tag-ID is unique
• Reliable stock
• Link with CRM-system

• Existing Situation
• Barcode is not unique
• Uncertain stock level
• Operational focused

Partnership between CB and BGN
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Integrating Supply Chain into Retail
Centraal Boekhuis
selexyz
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Store Receipt Check
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Apama Benefits in the Event Driven Process

• Apama transforms event signals(RFID receipts)
  into real-time business updates and opportunities
• Decreases manual error and labor savings in
  unpacking and sorting
• Directs Special Order books to a holding shelf
• Identifies and addresses reconciliation errors
  immediately, for example
• Post-dated orders when actual activity has been
  lost or no longer reconcilable
• Receipts, overages, shortages reported or tracked
  within central application
• Invoice matching with quoted costs and settlement

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Stocking Store Shelves
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Customer Search and Notification
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Progress EasyAsk Search Merchandising

• Natural Language Search Engine
• Text Search Engine
• Guided Search Refinement Navigation Engine
• Advanced Merchandising Marketing Manager
• Federated Search Question/Answer
• Ultra High-Speed Data Store

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Progress EasyAsk User Interface Experience
Generated with EasyAsk Natural Language Query
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OpenEdgeNobisBack Office Application
Centraal Boekhuis
OpenEdge RFID Services
BGN Central
BooksTagged Packaged
Sonic Enterprise Service Bus
EasyAskNaturalLanguageSearch
ASNProcessing
Info
Advanced Shipping Notice Issued
BooksShippedto Store
selexyz store
Customer Self-ServiceKiosk
Shop Staff Inventory Access
Sonic Enterprise Service Bus
RFIDTunnelat store
Apama ESP ASN Reconciliation
OpenEdgeAtlasStock Tracking
CaptureTech RFID Gate
Customer OrdersAwait Pickup
Cash Register
Store Shelves
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Pitfalls

1. It solves all your existing IT problems
2. Expectations to high
3. Its a technological trick
4. It will automatically change
5. RFID solves your BP black holes
6. Smart shelving is the only RFID solution

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Changing How BGN Does Business
The Old Way
The New Way

• Ad-Hoc Customer Self-Service
• Customers need the help of employees for advice
  and guidance
• Ad-Hoc Special Order Processing
• Special order shipments not identified shipped
  with general inventory
• Special order handling is ad-hoc and error-prone
• Inventory Identification is Estimated
• Individual books not identified
• Identification is by number of books shipped,
  validated only by random test
• Estimated Inventory Management
• Books unpacked by hand
• 2,000 books a day makes shipment validation
  impossible
• Shipment errors are hard to detect

• Accurate Self-Service
• Selexyz shoppers have real-time insight into the
  availability of a book
• RFID tags will help customers and staff find
  individual books more easily
• Automated Special Order Processing
• Special customer orders and general inventory
  receipts handled automatically
• Eliminates labor intensive ad-hoc process
  improves shopper experience
• Inventory Identification at the Book Level
• Books are tagged and tracked at the individual
  level
• Random tests eliminated
• Automated, Accurate Inventory Management
• Shipment from Centraal Boekhuis handled
  automatically
• Errors handled immediately

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Partners Involved

1. Centraal Boekhuis
2. Progress Software
3. CaptureTech
4. BGN

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Results for Now

• We opened the first smart store end of April
• 2nd smart store to be opened beginning of October
• We processed 40,000 books in a few hours
• Kiosk gives exact information on availability and
  location of titles
• If not on-stock Order at kiosks
• Daily check on item level the receipt of books
• We scan the stock (manually) weekly
• Daily shrinkage is traced on item level
• Special orders (9 of business) are identified
  before they go to the shelf

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Achievements

• We will implement RFID throughout BGN in 2007
• Reliability stock from lt 60 to gt 96
• Additional sales growth 12(order
  possibility)
• PR worldwide Est. gt 600.000
• Improved intake process 100 checked (lt 10 min)
• Daily shrinkage is reduced by 60
• Costs are visible Better ABC

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Next RFID Project selexyz dominicaner

• Historical Building
• Traditional Product
• Innovative Technology

• Results 2006
• Two SmartStores launched (incl. security)
• New selexyz brand introduced
• April in Almere
• October in Maastricht
• Fully automated
• Every book in store will be tagged (100k)

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2007 selexyz Plan

• 16 consumer stores upgrades to smart stores
• 80 of total stock tagged (gt 2 million books)
• Retail store processes RFID-covered (incl.
  anti-theft)
• Brick and click concept activated
• Full natural search engine capability
• Automated stock replenishment fast movers
• Pilot Loyal customer program based on RFID
• Concept Develop smart displays

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Progress Software and BGN Pioneers Retail
Automation With Worlds First Live Item-Level
RFID Deployment in an SOA Environment
Lisle Holgate
Senior DirectorEasyAsk Products
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The Role of the Progress Family of Products

• OpenEdge Rapid time to market for business
  applications
• Apama Real-time automation and inventory
  visibility
• Sonic SOA-based connectivity for the distributed
  enterprise
• EasyAsk Turning browsers into buyers

Unique Shopping Experience
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