Point Of Sale Solution: Ace Hardware Implements Robust Point Of Sale And Inventory Management System

Solving the problem of real-time links between retail outlets point-of-sale systems and headquarter inventory databases.

Just a few years ago, if someone went into their local Ace Hardware store and bought a new cordless drill, it would have taken several days before corporate headquarters was aware of the sale. With 5,100 stores stocking more than 65,000 parts in 50 states and 70 countries, it was hardly a model of modern efficiency.

While huge home improvement warehouses were multiplying and making life difficult for smaller, independent hardware stores, Ace — the 80-year old Oak Brook, Illinois-based cooperative of independent stores — found a competitive edge through technology.

The helpful hardware folks at Ace helped themselves with the implementation of a more current and robust point-of-sale and inventory management system. Eagle Vision is the new system that will provide them with a real-time link from the stores' pointof- sale system to the inventory database at headquarters. This was also an opportunity for Ace to move from their current system, PACE, which was running on UNIX, to a LINUX operating platform as an interim step to the final goal of Eagle Vision.