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Ganso Food Implements Advantech’s POS System to Improve In-store Service Efficiency and Inventory Management

5/16/2022
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Interview with Wang, Director of Ganso Food

Enabling customers to purchase merchandise anytime and anywhere is one of the most important goals for companies in the retail sector. However, with the increasing number of physical stores and online channels, data related to merchandise, sales, and members can become scattered, causing management problems. Ganso Food, a renowned retailer in the food industry that operates in China has experienced these problems.

Ganso Food was established in Taiwan, and entered the Chinese market in 1993, gradually expanding its business there. At present, it operates about 650 physical stores in over 100 cities in China. Ganso Food has also embraced e-commerce, operating on about nine different online channels. With so many sales channels and service points, the company had an urgent need for stronger IT capabilities to manage people, merchandise and stores.

Therefore, Advantech and Ganso Food came together to develop the strategy for smart development. They redesigned its IT structure in 2015, and implemented the SAP ERP system to integrate all online and offline data, consolidating all merchandise and member data ona single platform. In 2017, Ganso Food further updated its POS software and hardware by adopting Advantech’sUPOS-211 POS system and various peripherals. The UBX-310 host computer was implemented to combine all in-store data, integrate data with its headquarters’ ERP system as well as improve the efficiency of in-store services.

ERP and POS are key for successful process optimization

According to Wang, Director of Ganso Food, online orders are delivered from its stores directly to customers. In the past, staff had to evaluate which store was most suitable to process an order. Now, thanks to the integration of online and offline data, the ERP system will automatically send the order to the store that is closest to the customer’s location. Staff at the store can check the order on the POS system, complete the process of packaging and dispatching the goods, and then update inventory data on the POS system, which is sent back to the ERP system. This greatly improves the accuracy and timeliness of inventory data.

Of course, the optimization of operational processes cannot be done through the ERP system alone; the upgrading of POS systems at store locations is also of critical importance. As Ganso Food had managed physical stores for many years, the functions of its POS software were lacking, and hardware performance was insufficient as well. As a result, the POS equipment could only be used as a cash register, and was unable to deliver additional features.

Therefore, Advantech and Ganso Food worked in collaboration to update the POS software and hardware equipment and improve in-store operation efficiency in 2017. The company decided to adopt Advantech’s UPOS-211 POS system due to outstanding stability, complete certification, a wide variety of peripherals and excellent performance compared to its cost. In addition, the system’s compact and lightweight design allowed for efficient space utilization at service counters.

Wang pointed out that the performance boost in POS hardware not only brought improvements for in-store operational efficiency, but also increased added value. Applications that were not able to run on the old POS system (such as remote management) are now operating smoothly on Advantech’s UPOS-211.

Advantech provides excellent services to strengthen collaboration with partners

One of the aspects that impressed Ganso Food the most in this process was Advantech’s service quality. According to Wang, Advantech does not just sell machinery and equipment to customers; it anticipates customer requirements and needs. For example, GansoFood’s IT structure is managed centrally at headquarters, and did not have IT personnel in stores to assist insetting up the POS system. Advantech therefore pre-loaded required software on the POS system, which made it plug-and-play, allowing Ganzo Food’s IT personnel to remotely set up parameters and calibrate the system,eliminating the need to be physically present to complete these tasks. This greatly reduced the burden on the IT team and also lowered costs.

Advantech’s comprehensive products and high-quality services persuaded Ganso Food to continue its collaboration with Advantech. Having implemented the POS equipment, Ganso Food also chose Advantech’s sensors to collect and monitor in-store water and electricity usage data to avoid waste. In one particular case, a Ganso Food store noticed a water leak with this IoT sensing technology, allowing it to step in at an early stage to repair the leak and deal with a problem that may have gone undetected if Advantech’s sensors had not been present.

In the future, Ganso Food and Advantech want to explore the possibility of collaborating in the following fields: implementing digital signage solutions for real-time monitoring of factory productivity data and improve management efficiency, or cold chain management solutions to monitor in-store freezer temperatures and manage distribution. Indeed, with help from Advantech’s comprehensive software and hardware solutions, Ganso Food is building an efficient management model from the factory to store.

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