A & P Helps to Build Oracle Retail (Retek) Grocery Functionality
Founded in 1859, The Great Atlantic and
Pacific Tea Company (A&P) is the nation's
oldest supermarket chain and one of North
America's 10th largest. The Company operates
in 16 states, the District of Columbia,
and Ontario, Canada under the following
trade names: A&P, Waldbaum's, Food Emporium,
Super Foodmart, Super Fresh, Farmer Jack,
Kohl's, Sav-A-Center, Dominion, The Barn
and Food Basics.
The Challenge
A & P agreed to work with Oracle Retail (Retek) and IBM
to develop RMS v10.0, the first version
of Oracle Retail (Retek) software to incorporate complete
grocery functionality. A & P estimates
that it will take approximately two years
for them to fully convert over to Oracle Retail (Retek).
During this two-year period, A & P will
gradually convert functions over to Oracle Retail (Retek),
and move them off from their legacy system.
The challenge that they face is to maintain
only one set of item master data information,
but to have that data available to both
systems.
The Solution
Active Intelligence was
assigned the task to design, develop,
test, plan and implement a strategy to
enable the embellishment of legacy item
information, and then to ensure the back
and forth flow of that information between
legacy and Oracle Retail (Retek). In order to accomplish
this function, Active Intelligence developed
user input screens in Oracle Forms to
enable personnel to embellish the legacy
database, and then Active Intelligence
map the data and set up the appropriate
mechanisms to allow data to flow between
the two systems. Once, the initial embellishment
of the item data was accomplished, all
future item updating would take place
in Oracle Retail (Retek), with data flowing back to legacy
via the Active Intelligence built appropriate
mechanism. Active Intelligence also provided
Retail Functional SME during the CRP,
Technical leadership, Architect and SME
in the areas of RMS and RDW, led all Design
stages and Development effort of Interfaces
and Conversions for the implementation
of RMS and RDW, designed, set-up and configured
the Oracle Retail (Retek) Batch Process environment, provided
RMS Operational Reports Design and Development,
and provided RMS, Data Model, Batch Architecture
and Oracle Retail (Retek) Development Standards training.
As Robert Nachbauer, of A & P explains,
"Active Intelligence has worked with us
since the beginning of our program to
upgrade our supply chain and infrastructure.
They are a true partner focused on the
success of the project in whatever roles
and responsibilities that they undertake."
Active Intelligence continues to work
closely with A & P to define new ways
in which we can assist in the implementation
of Oracle Retail (Retek), version 10.
