Europe's Largest Retailer in Electronics Chooses SOLID

SOLID Server KEEPS STOCK AND CASHES IN
FOR EUROPE'S LARGEST
ENTERTAINMENT ELECTRONICS RETAILER

Media Markt and Saturn are well known names with more than 190 shops in 5 European countries selling entertainment and consumer electronics and software. The Media Markt outlets concentrate on hardware such as computer hardware, TV’s, VCR’s, even washing machines, while the Saturn shops sell computer software, music CDs, and video films.

Saturn Media GFI, the IT company of Media Saturn Group, chose to implement the retail network's Goods Management and Point Of Sale systems with SOLID Server. SOLID Server is also embedded in several IT administration tools developed by Saturn Media GFI. In 1998 the number of SOLID users will rise to 2.500.

Benefits of Using SOLID Server

Saturn Media GFI used SOLID Light Client to develop its Point of Sale system for their vast network of retail shops in Europe. Hans-Joachim Deeg, Director of IT Department at Saturn Media GFI says: "We implemented our Point of Sale solution with SOLID Light Client and believe that the combination of the Light Client and the SOLID Server database with its small footprint, standards compliance, and care-free reliability make this an excellent solution for embedded systems developers. Our customers, the individual retailers, need a reliable, care-free solution. They are concentrating on their business, selling electronics, and do not have the time or interest for administrating databases. SOLID proved to be the solution for this requirement, too."

Goods Management System

Two separate Goods Management systems keep track of all products sold in Saturn and Media Markt outlets. Retailers use the Goods Management systems for processing orders to suppliers, for stock management, and for obtaining statistical data.

All information about products, pricing, availability, and warehouse circulation is hosted in a SOLID Server database. The systems are client/server applications running on SOLID Server for Windows 95 and Windows NT. They are developed in the 32bit Centura Developer 4GL.

Point Of Sale System

The POS system's database can be accessed from a local point of service with the SOLID Light Client, which has a minimum footprint of 33 kB. This makes SOLID Light Client ideal for an embedded system. The POS application is written in Microsoft Visual C++ and it supports Point Of Sale hardware from Olivetti, SNI, and IBM running DOS.

Currently the Goods Management and POS applications have 1.300 users, and by the end of 1998 the number will rise to 2.500 users.

IT Administration Tools

For the administration of Media Saturn Group's IT infrastructure Saturn Media GFI developed new applications powered by Solid. The retail shops have Windows NT servers running SOLID Server, and the LAN of each outlet is connected to the central network of Saturn Media GFI in Ingolstadt.

Internal Goods Management: For goods management an Intranet solution on SOLID Web Engine was provided, supporting online ordering from retail shops. Through this application the internal customers, that is, the retail shops, can order goods and services from the IT company, for example, a new workstation or a new software license.
Support and Maintenance: Within the IT company support and maintenance issues are handled through a web-based workflow application for problem and task tracking, written in Microsoft Visual C++, running on SOLID Web Engine.
System Management: The status of network servers and applications is checked by a system management application, automatically recording problem information in a SOLID Server database.

Media-Saturn Group

Media Saturn Group is a German retailer of consumer and entertainment electronics, CD’s, video films, and software games with more than 190 retail outlets in Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland, and Hungary. In 1996 the turnover of Media Saturn Group was DEM 7.63 billion and it employed 10.244 people. Metro AG, owner of Media Saturn Group, in 1996 ranked among the eight largest companies in Germany.

Media-Saturn-Holding, located in Ingolstadt, Germany, is a financial holding company consisting of several subcompanies as service providers to other units of Media Saturn Group. Saturn Media GFI, a subcompany of Media-Saturn-Holding, provides other subcompanies of the holding with a homogenous IT infrastructure.