role of it in walmart

8/9/2019 Role of IT in Walmart

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Getting and Sharing Information

Accessing and Sharing Information

Role of Information Technology in

Walmart


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1.Getting and Sharing Information Capturing Information

1.Use of Barcodes

2.Use of RFID tags

3.Electronic scanners

Processing Information

1.Data mining

2.Data warehouses

3.Data mart

Protecting Information

1.Network security

2.Use of Biometrics


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2.Accesing and Sharing Information

Internal Access and Sharing

1.Executive information system

2.Intranets

External Access and Sharing

1.Electronic data interchange

2.Extranets

Sharing knowledge

1.Use of DSS


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Barcodes

Bar code is a visual pattern that represents numerical data byvarying the thickness and pattern of vertical bars.

1. Ensure accurate pricing 2. Improve efficiency

3. Reduce Shrinkage

4. Improve communications


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RFID(Radio Frequency Identification)

Tag

RFID tags contains minuscule microchips that transmitinformation via radio waves and can be used to track the numberand location of the objects into which tags have been inserted.

Wal-Mart deployed radio frequency identification (RFID)technology on Jan. 1, 2005.

A RFID system consists of three main components: a tag, a reader,and a computer system.

Typically, RFID tags are made by joining a radio antenna with amicrochip and then surrounding the two with a protective case.

These tags can then be attached individually to the physical

product itself or to the product packaging. While the useful information is stored inside of the tag, it needs a

reader to detect, collect, and decode the information.

Finally, a computer system is used to interpret, filter, and store thecollected data in a meaningful way.


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Benefits of RFID technology

Preventing theft. Reduce check-out time.

Automatic check-out (no cashier required).

Adding sensor tags to perishable items such as fruit. Wal-

Mart can track just how long a crate of bananas has been in

transit and can ensure that its sold when the fruit is ripe.

No more out-of-stock items.


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Data mining

Data-Mining tools are the software tools you use to query

information in a data ware-house. These data- mining tools support the concept of OLAPthe

manipulation of information to support decision- making.

OLAP is an online application processing query.

Wal-mart uses a global leader in business intelligence software,

Hyperion. They use Hyperion Essbase OLAP technology to build an advanced

merchandise planning and reporting system. Hyperion's Essbasetechnology will help Wal-mart create a scalable system that willdeliver budgeting, forecasting and planning tools to internationaloperations. Analysts at Wal-mart look for increasing sales in someregion.

The soft ware for data mining is being provided by many companies,currently the largest producer of the software is SAS. However Wal-Mart uses Accrue, they purchased NeoVista who was the initialsupplier of the software for Wal-Mart.


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Data marts

A data mart is a subset of a data warehouse in which only afocused portion of the data warehouse information is kept.

The CEO may need to see all of the information he can also lookat each section and get individual reports.

Originally Wal-mart did use data marts.

They started out with many small data marts, its first being in IBMDB2 and the second in IBM VM/SQL.

Eventually the Teradata system was introduced and enabled Wal-mart to manage all of the information into one database so they

built a big data mart.

The POS table at Wal-mart was 1.2 billion records. Within a sixmonths of this, Wal-mart then decided to turn it into a datawarehouse with several tables over 500 million rows.


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Network security The four principles of network security are confidentiality, authenticity,

integrity, and availability. Confidentiality means that information can be obtained only by those

authorized to access it. Wal-Mart use s a technology called SecureSockets Layer (SSL), which encrypts sensitive information before it issent over the Internet.

Authenticity means that information really comes from the source itclaims to come from.

Integrity means that information has not been altered. Wal-Mart has firewalls set up to help protect threats against authenticity and integrity.

Availability means simply that a service or resource is available when its

supposed to be. In order for Wal-Mart to get orders to its customers ontime they have an IDS which watches network traffic for intrusionattempts and reports them. Intrusion detection and prevention systemswork by having information about many different types of networkattacks and matching an attack in progress.


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How biometric payment works

To set up an account,customers scan their fingerprint at an in-store kiosk, enter their phone number, and then submit checkingand credit card account information.

To make a purchase, they place their finger on a scanner at theregister, enter their phone number, and choose how they want to

pay (credit, debit, or checking).

The benefits to customers are twofold.

1)It offers a speedier checkout70% faster than traditionalforms of payment (unless the reader can't identify your finger, so

keep those hands clean.)2)It enhances security of nearly 10 million cases of identity

theft annually, according to 2003 Federal Trade Commission survey,13% occurred during a purchase transaction.


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EDI(Electronic Data Interchange)

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the process of using computersto exchange business documents between two companies, called"Trading Partners", in place of traditional mothods like paper or faxdocuments.

Specifically, EDI is the structured transmission of data betweenorganizations by electronic means and is used to electronicallytransfer business documents from one computer system to another.

WalMart encourages its business partners to use EDI because of the decreased human interaction and errors, eliminating costs of physical file storage, reduced management time, and reduced transaction time realized with EDI.

For smaller companies wishing to do business with WalMart, thebenefits of EDI and the ability to have WalMart as a customer orsupplier, can be outweighed by the high costs of software acquisitionand implementation, high costs of annual license fees which arerequired for continued use, and the high costs of communicationcharges when using aValue Added Network (VAN) to transmit

documents.
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http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mS2us38EMQw/T8Mm6uGXL-I/AAAAAAAAAI8/lpXcsvhtJ6o/s1600/Picture1EDI.png


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DSS(Decision Support System)

DSSAn information system that helps manager understand specifickind of problems and their potential solutions.

The effectiveness of decision makers rather than on increasing theefficiency of data storage and retrieval ,is on improving in All categories

and types of DSS focus. some of the benefits of the DSS that were sitedby alter, turban , udo and guimaraes and others were :

DSS improves individual productivity.

It improves the decision quality and speed up problem solving.

It improves interpersonal communications. It improves decision making skills.

Increase organizational control.


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The type of network Wal-Mart uses

The type of interface Wal-Mart uses

The type of media Wal-Mart uses The type of communications software Wal-Mart uses

The type of connecting devices or components Wal-Mart uses

The type of system software which is used by Wal-Mart


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role of it in walmart

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