Tesco redesigns scales software to cut waiting

Supermarket giant Tesco has cut customer waiting times at its fresh food counters by 60 per cent after redesigning the software that runs its scales systems.

As part of an application development programme, the company has replaced its previous system, which was based on ageing technology that simply weighed and costed produce and printed labels.

'The scales and printers were, in some cases, 15 years old, and should have gone with the Ark,' said Mark Green, Tesco business development manager. 'They were slow and unreliable, and did not capture any data.'

Tesco has developed a scales application using Microsoft .Net architecture. The firm used specialist .Net skills from IT consultancy Conchango.

The software connects into Tesco's IT infrastructure and feeds back supply and waste information into the sales system via a Windows 2000 server. It has been designed to provide a familiar look and feel.

Green says the system is continually being adapted. 'We're improving the system from three angles: removing manual tasks, focusing on the supply-chain and understanding our product flow, and linking into the web site.'