Stock turn is up, total stockholding is down and customer service levels are on the increase at the discount retail chain Game. These improvements are up largely due to the Oracle database software that the company first deployed 15 months ago - ahead of the current wave of retailers implementing data-warehouses to help them analyse information says Vijay Panday, IT Director. Game has some 65 000 line items, and serves approximately one million customers a year, through its 26 stores across the country. He says the software has helped the company make more intelligent decisions. "We`ve taken good decisions based on information we had from the dataware-house which we wouldn`t have been able to make otherwise," he says "We check our nationwide stockholding regularly." Game declines to quantify their investment, but Panday says it has been worth every cent. "We weren`t thinking in terms of pay back then," he says, "but I estimate the system paid for itself in six to eight months." In addition to the data-warehouse, Game has implemented a fully automated order generation and stock replenishment system linked to the point-of-sale. Oracle has emerged as a world leader in database software, which, Panday admits, was one reason Game opted for Oracle`s solution. But it wasn`t the only reason. "We are moving applications from the mainframe in response to the Year 2000 problem," says Panday, referring to an inherent defect in many computer systems which use abbreviated forms of the date, causing programs to incorrectly assume that 1 January 2000 is in fact 1 January 1900 with unpredictable consequences. The data warehouse is unrelated to the Y2K problem. They are currently implementing RETEK, utilising an Oracle database which will address the Y2K problem. "We looked at all the big database vendors, but chose Oracle because the skills are available locally, there is good local support and their products had the best fit with our business. Oracle isn`t bleeding-edge technology," he says. "They`ve implemented the best in the world." The decision also fits well with their hardware choice. Oracle has strong ties with Hewlett Packard - the company that supplied Game`s computer equipment. "Our MD is very tough on stock," says Panday. "At the same time, we don`t let customers walk out of the store without being able to get what they want. We have to have stock on the shop floor." The data-warehouse will go a long way to providing the intelligence Game needs to satisfy both seemingly contradictory needs. When pressed to quantify the benefits, Panday says he stopped calculating them after a while. "What matters is the quality of the information we have been able to get from the system. "You had to go through a lot of paper in the old days to find slow or fast moving stock," says Panday. "Our business is about reacting quickly. Time to market is what it`s all about." While Game is seeing benefits in streamlined stockholding, this is magnified by the reduction of direct costs in the information technology department. We believe that the Oracle system, says Panday, will be significantly cheaper to run than the mainframe. "For every ten people in an IT department running a mainframe, you can assume only two in the open systems environment. "This is partly because we have now implemented a packaged solution, we anticipate that the quality of tools available from Oracle will contribute to the existing people becoming more productive. "Oracle has made a very big impact on our business."
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