Pick sees Carl Zeiss into the future

Optical lens and spectacle frame specialist Carl Zeiss has relied since 1983 on Pick Systems software to run its integrated financial, order processing and stock control system. The system has expanded with the company from a modest system to one which now controls more than 200 000 stock items.

In 1983, Carl Zeiss took over a company running Pick systems, inheriting its existing IT infrastructure. This - allied to the fact that a competitive system could not cope with the large volumes of lenses being moved and sometimes took days to process transactions - led to a decision to stay with the Pick system.

Volker Antes, deputy managing director of Zeiss`s ophthalmic division, says that the number of permutations in both lens and spectacle frame divisions equates to an enormous stockholding. This, considered together with the fact that the laboratory handles between 1 500 and 2 000 transactions daily and the frame division processes about 400 transactions per day for approximately 1 200 customers meant that Zeiss required a robust and reliable system that could handle its processing requirements.

"Pick was the only system capable of handling the huge numbers of stock items," he says.

Pick VAR Pienaar & Partners has provided Carl Zeiss with its computer systems solutions throughout, providing hardware, software, installation and consulting services.

The original hardware configuration comprised a Reality system with 32k of memory, four screens, three printers and disk drive large enough to store Zeiss` database. In 1991, to manage Zeiss` growing processing needs and to add on-line processing capabilities the hardware was upgraded to a 486 server and more terminals were added.

This was followed in 1995 by the implementation of SCO Unix 3.2, and linking the organisation`s Cape Town, Bloemfontein and Pretoria branches to head office in Randburg via Diginet lines.

Since then the system has been expanded to include 17 users and 14 printers. While the local operation`s parent company in Germany is implementing SAP`s R/3 enterprise resource planning package, Antes says that the Pick system delivers all the functionality required without costly investments in hardware, software and implementation services.

The hardware running the system now comprises a Pentium 100 with 32Mb of RAM and 2Gb disk drive. This configuration supports the entire Carl Zeiss financial and operational management systems.

The Pick system requires minimal computing resources, with the entire stock file occupying a mere 8Mb. Furthermore, among the functions the system provides are job control and a full accounting system.

Future plans include migration to Pick`s D³ open systems database management system

Plans to link customers to the database electronically are underway, with about 45 percent of business volumes being handled on-line, although at present only 15 percent of the customer base is connected.

Implementing D³ will enable Zeiss to integrate its system with the Microsoft Office products also in use. This will permit viewing of company reports in Word or Excel formats which will provide greater reporting flexibility.

In addition to being the only system capable of handling the Zeiss` tremendous stock volumes, Antes says the Pick solution delivers numerous other benefits.

"One of the key advantages is the effective stock management it facilitates plus it enables us to run our entire operation - including order input, purchase ordering, automatic reordering and currency conversions in on-line real-time mode.

According to Pienaar & Partners` Diets Nieuwoudt, Zeiss has experienced downtime only once in the 15 years that the Pick system has been in operation, and that was caused by hardware failure.

"The beauty of the Pick database is that it is able to run really complex systems without demanding frequent hardware upgrades," adds Nieuwoudt.

Based in Germany, Zeiss is represented in more than 80 countries worldwide. Group turnover is DM6-billion annually.