CSK Auto, Incorporated
Transaction Speeds Increased and Operating and Maintenance Costs Lowered by Innovative Retail Solution
Situation
CSK Auto, Incorporated is a leading auto parts retailer in the United States with over 1,100 retail stores located in 19 states. In 2003, CSK began their search to upgrade their aging point-of-service hardware, some of which was over 10 years old, for their new and existing automotive stores.
Over the years, CSK customized their legacy software to meet their unique needs and it was important that the new POS hardware solution allow them to continue using this application. CSK maintains all their POS hardware in house and they were experiencing increased maintenance costs as a result of their old systems. Consequently, they were looking for a new hardware system that was durable, reliable, and easy for their IT staff to service.
CSK required a contemporary retail solution that would combine the advantages of open architecture with flexible configuration options for upgrading and adding contemporary peripherals to their systems and a migration path for new software applications in the future.
Solution
In preliminary discussions between CSK and Ultimate Technology's account team, various options for preserving CSK's legacy software were considered. CSK's desire to reduce operating and maintenance costs for their point-of-service hardware, with the added benefit of decreasing support calls from store associates, was reviewed. Additionally, Ultimate Technology suggested an environment that would provide remote access to all of CSK's store systems for support, diagnostics and updates.
Ultimate Technology developed middleware to maintain CSK's legacy software and POS peripherals. In addition to preserving their current software application, the middleware gave CSK the support and flexibility to upgrade to contemporary peripherals and to migrate to a new software platform in the future.
To enable remote monitoring and control functions from CSK's home office to store registers, Ultimate Technology developed an emulator to run under a low-cost, easy to maintain, SUSE Linux operating system.
Ultimate Technology's 2800 Series Integrated POS System was selected for its configuration flexibility and extensive functionality. The 2800 is known for its
modular design that provides quick, simple access to key components allowing for easy service and upgrades, and reducing the customer's total cost of ownership by decreasing service and upgrade costs.
Results
"In 2004, we successfully installed the new registers at the 100 highest volume stores and all new stores opened during the year. We selected Ultimate Technology as the vendor because they were the only vendor capable of supporting our current application on the new hardware. UTC also provided the most competitive pricing of the vendors we researched. As our current supplier, we are confident that Ultimate Technology will provide quality products, competent service, and competitive pricing," said George Duckworth, Director of Store Support.
The 2800 system was easily installed by store personnel reducing CSK's deployment costs significantly. Once the new systems were installed and operating, CSK experienced cost savings in several areas and an overall improvement in maintenance logistics and support.
CSK gained the advantages of a contemporary retail solution in the 2800 that combined open architecture with flexible configuration options. This allowed CSK to continue using their legacy POS software and upgrade to contemporary peripherals where appropriate. Ultimate's technical expertise in the development of a Linux based emulator and middleware created the framework for this solution.
The switch to a Linux environment gave CSK a low cost, easy-to-maintain operating system. CSK's technical staff was already running SCO UNIX so this change did not require retraining of CSK's technical support staff. Additionally, the Linux operating system allows CSK to monitor and control functions at the register from their home office under a secure shell system. This has resulted in improved support and diagnostics, and efficient application of updates, patches, and fixes.
The use of contemporary peripherals at the point of sale has increased transaction speed while decreasing electric consumption by one-third. The integrated MICR allows checks to be processed in one pass through and the bright LCD monitors provide significant improvement in readability. CSK can now use USB powered POS scanners that require fewer electrical outlets. The 2800 system allows CSK to automatically collect asset information and run multiple sessions on every register: one register session and one parts catalog session.
"Ultimate Technology proved to be a good partner as they were able to quickly assess our technology requirements and design a solution that allows us to deploy a contemporary open hardware solution that integrates to our legacy software and provides a migration path to new software in the future," said Larry Buresh, Sr. Vice President and Chief Information Officer at CSK.