Misplaced Pages

#628371

89-466: The IBM Series/1 is a 16-bit minicomputer , introduced in 1976, that in many respects competed with other minicomputers of the time, such as the PDP-11 from Digital Equipment Corporation and similar offerings from Data General and HP . The Series/1 was typically used to control and operate external electro-mechanical components while also allowing for primitive data storage and handling. Although

178-822: A COBOL compiler was available as part of the software package sold to the Marine Corps with the Series/1, most Class I and Class II systems development was in EDL . In the middle 1980s, the ADPE-FMF equipment was gradually phased out in favor of IBM-PC class microcomputers running off-the-shelf software and Marine Corps developed applications written in Ada . In May 2016 the United States Government Accountability Office released

267-530: A marketing strategy and offers. Some point of sale vendors refer to their POS system as "retail management system" which is a more appropriate term, since this software is not just for processing sales but comes with many other capabilities, such as inventory management, membership systems, supplier records, bookkeeping, issuing of purchase orders, quotations and stock transfers, hide barcode label creation, sale reporting and in some cases remote outlet networking or linkage, to name some major ones. Nevertheless, it

356-495: A 20- bit or 24-bit segment or selector-offset address representation to extend the range of addressable memory locations beyond what was possible using only 16-bit addresses. Programs containing more than 2 bytes (65,536 bytes ) of instructions and data therefore required special instructions to switch between their 64-kilobyte segments , increasing the complexity of programming 16-bit applications. Point of sale The point of sale ( POS ) or point of purchase ( POP )

445-642: A POS machine may need to process several qualities about a single product, like selling price, balance, average cost, quantity sold, description and department. Highly complex programming is involved (and possibly considerable computer resources) to generate such extensive analyses. POS systems are designed not only to serve the retail, wholesale and hospitality industries as historically is the case. Currently POS systems are also used in goods and property leasing businesses, equipment repair shops, healthcare management, ticketing offices such as cinemas and sports facilities and many other operations where capabilities such as

534-492: A POS system. Vendors and retailers are working to standardize development of computerized POS systems and simplify interconnecting POS devices. Two such initiatives were OPOS and JavaPOS , both of which conform to the UnifiedPOS standard led by The National Retail Foundation . OPOS ( OLE for POS) was the first commonly adopted standard and was created by Microsoft , NCR Corporation , Epson and Fujitsu-ICL . OPOS

623-487: A built-in camera and as payment terminals using built-in NFC technology or an external payment card reader. A number of POS companies built their software specifically to be cloud-based. Other businesses who launched pre-2000s have since adapted their software to evolving technology. Cloud-based POS systems are different from traditional POS largely because user data, including sales and inventory, are not stored locally, but in

712-475: A button for every menu item. By pressing the [Grill] button, a second or third order could be worked on while the first transaction was in progress. When the customer was ready to pay, the [Total] button would calculate the bill, including sales tax for almost any jurisdiction in the United States. This made it accurate for McDonald's and very convenient for the servers and provided the restaurant owner with

801-436: A check on the amount that should be in the cash drawers. Up to eight devices were connected to one of two interconnected computers so that printed reports, prices, and taxes could be handled from any desired device by putting it into Manager Mode . In addition to the error-correcting memory, accuracy was enhanced by having three copies of all important data with many numbers stored only as multiples of 3. Should one computer fail,

890-451: A cloud-based POS are instant centralization of data (important especially to chain stores), ability to access data from anywhere there is internet connection, and lower start-up costs. Cloud based POS requires an internet connection. For this reason it important to use a device with 3G connectivity in case the device's primary internet goes down. In addition to being significantly less expensive than traditional legacy point of sale systems,

979-486: A cost-effective method for remote support of the distributed mainframes using inexpensive ASCII terminals and modems, or IBM PCs equipped with light pens (emulating the 3278/9 terminals). The Series/1 was selected for this application due to challenges with MVS/VTAM and the 37x5 supporting straightforward non-SNA/SDLC communications. These Series/1 systems were connected to the mainframe using the Series/1 to System/370 channel attach module, and connected to non-IBM systems using

SECTION 10

#1732787184629

1068-421: A database before commercial implementation complicates the development. POS system accuracy is demanding, given that monetary transactions are involved continuously not only via the sale window but also at the back end through the receiving and inputting of goods into the inventory. Calculations required are not always straightforward. There may be many discounts and deals that are unique to specific products, and

1157-491: A decade back. These systems are usually designed for restaurants, small and medium-sized retail operations with fairly simple sale processes as can be culled from POS system review sites. It appears from such software reviews that enterprise-level cloud-based POS systems are currently lacking in the market. "Enterprise-level" here means that the inventory should be capable of handling a large number of records, such as required by grocery stores and supermarkets. It can also mean that

1246-579: A document that covered the need to upgrade or replace legacy computer systems within Federal Agencies. According to this document, the Air Force's Strategic Automated Command and Control System still uses Series/1 computer to "coordinate[...] the operational functions of the United States' nuclear forces, such as intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear bombers, and tanker support aircraft." This system still used 8-inch floppy disks , however

1335-455: A full-fledged inventory management system, including the ability to provide FIFO (First In First Out) and LIFO (Last In First Out), reports of their goods for accounting and tax purposes. In the hospitality industry , POS system capabilities can also diverge significantly. For instance, a restaurant is typically concerned about how the sale window functions: whether it has functionality such as creating item buttons, various discounts, adding

1424-400: A keyboard & mouse), it is far more common to utilize touchscreens as they allow for faster response and better customization for the retailer. In the past, most IBM systems used a primarily keyboard-based interface, and NCR previously used side-keys on their displays before touchscreens were widely available, similar to their ATM products. The POS system software can typically handle

1513-401: A loyalty scheme for customers, and more efficient stock control. These features are typical of almost all modern ePOS systems. Retailers and marketers will often refer to the area around the checkout instead as the point of purchase ( POP ) when they are discussing it from the customer's perspective. This is particularly the case when planning and designing the area as well as when considering

1602-402: A major data center can fail completely, such as in a fire. On-premises installations are therefore sometimes seen alongside cloud-based implementation to preempt such incidents, especially for businesses with high traffic. The on-premises installations may not have the most up-to-date inventory and membership information. For such contingency, a more innovative though highly complex approach for

1691-471: A modular real-time multi-tasking multi-user operating system. A wide range of POS applications have been developed on platforms such as Windows and Unix. The availability of local processing power, local data storage, networking, and graphical user interface made it possible to develop flexible and highly functional POS systems. Cost of such systems has also declined, as all the components can now be purchased off-the-shelf. In 1993, IBM adopted FlexOS 2.32 as

1780-400: A myriad of customer based functions such as sales, returns, exchanges, layaways, gift cards , gift registries, customer loyalty programs, promotions, discounts and much more. POS software can also allow for functions such as pre-planned promotional sales, manufacturer coupon validation, foreign currency handling and multiple payment types. The POS unit handles the sales to the consumer, but it

1869-418: A notable strength of cloud-based point of sale systems is the ability to switch to a different product, by a different developer, without having to purchase new hardware. The many developers creating new software applications help to ensure that the system is supported for longer than a typical legacy POS system. A number of noted emerging cloud-based POS systems came on the scene less than a decade or even half

SECTION 20

#1732787184629

1958-463: A payment, payment terminals , touch screens, and other hardware and software options are available. The point of sale is often referred to as the point of service because it is not just a point of sale but also a point of return or customer order. POS terminal software may also include features for additional functionality, such as inventory management , CRM , financials, or warehousing . Businesses are increasingly adopting POS systems, and one of

2047-494: A registry tweak solution has been found for this. POS systems are one of the most complex software systems available because of the features that are required by different end users. Many POS systems are software suites that include sale, inventory, stock counting, vendor ordering, customer loyalty and reporting modules. Sometimes purchase ordering, stock transferring, quotation issuing, barcode creating, bookkeeping or even accounting capabilities are included. Each of these modules

2136-487: A remote server. The POS system is also not run locally, so there is no installation required. Depending on the POS vendor and the terms of contract, compared to traditional on-premises POS installation, the software is more likely to be continually updated by the developer with more useful features and better performance in terms of computer resources at the remote server and in terms of fewer bugs and errors. Other advantages of

2225-473: A service charge, holding of receipts, queuing, table service as well as takeaways, merging and splitting of a receipt. These capabilities may be insufficient for a spa or slimming center which would require, in addition, a scheduling window with historical records of customers' attendance and their special requirements. A POS system can be made to serve different purposes to different end users depending on their business processes. Often an off-the-shelf POS system

2314-434: A service. After receiving payment, the merchant may issue a receipt , as proof of transaction, which is usually printed but can also be dispensed with or sent electronically. To calculate the amount owed by a customer, the merchant may use various devices such as weighing scales , barcode scanners, and cash registers (or the more advanced "POS cash registers", which are sometimes also called "POS systems" ). To make

2403-717: A similar fashion, later 68000-family members, starting with the Motorola 68020 , had 32-bit ALUs. One may also see references to systems being, or not being, 16-bit based on some other measure. One common one is when the address space is not the same size of bits as the internal registers. Most 8-bit CPUs of the 1970s fall into this category; the MOS 6502 , Intel 8080 , Zilog Z80 and most others had 16-bit address space which provided 64 KB of address space. This also meant address manipulation required two instruction cycles. For this reason, most processors had special 8-bit addressing modes,

2492-542: A specialized x86-based computer running Windows Embedded or Linux ), a method for employee input, cash drawer, receipt printer , barcode scanners (which may incorporate a scale), and an interface for processing Card payments and Processing Customer Information (a Payment Terminal ). It can also include a conveyor belt , checkout divider , wireless handheld scanners, integrated card processing systems, and customer-facing displays to display totals and show advertisements. While some systems use typical PC interfaces (such as

2581-413: A user to adjust the inventory of each product based on physical count, track expiry of perishable goods, change pricing, provide audit trail when modification of inventory records is performed, be capable of multiple outlet functionality, control of stocks from HQ, doubling as an invoicing system, just to name some. It is clear that POS system is a term that implies a wide range of capabilities depending on

2670-706: Is a COM -based interface compatible with all COM-enabled programming languages for Microsoft Windows . OPOS was first released in 1996. JavaPOS was developed by Sun Microsystems , IBM , and NCR Corporation in 1997 and first released in 1999. JavaPOS is for Java what OPOS is for Windows, and thus largely platform independent. There are several communication ways POS systems use to control peripherals such as: There are also nearly as many proprietary protocols as there are companies making POS peripherals. Most POS peripherals, such as displays and printers, support several of these command protocols to work with many different brands of POS terminals and computers. The design of

2759-492: Is completed the shorter the queue time which improves customer satisfaction, the less space it takes, which benefits shoppers and staff. High-traffic operations such as grocery outlets and cafes need to process sales quickly at the sales counter so the UI flow is often designed with as few popups or other interruptions to ensure the operator isn't distracted and the transaction can be processed as quickly as possible. Although improving

IBM Series/1 - Misplaced Pages Continue

2848-450: Is inadequate for customers. Some customization is required, and this is why a POS system can become very complex. The complexity of a mature POS system extends to remote networking or interlinking between remote outlets and the HQ such that updating both ways is possible. Some POS systems offer the linking of web-based orders to their sale window. Even when local networking is only required (as in

2937-480: Is interlinked if they are to serve their practical purpose and maximize their usability. For instance, the sale window is immediately updated on a new member entry through the membership window because of this interlinking. Similarly, when a sale transaction is made, any purchase by a member is on record for the membership window to report providing information like payment type, goods purchased, date of purchase and points accumulated. Comprehensive analysis performed by

3026-416: Is sometimes called 16-bit because of the way it handles basic arithmetic. The instruction set was based on 32-bit numbers and the internal registers were 32 bits wide, so by common definitions, the 68000 is a 32-bit design. Internally, 32-bit arithmetic is performed using two 16-bit operations, and this leads to some descriptions of the system as 16-bit, or "16/32". Such solutions have a long history in

3115-503: Is the term POS system rather than retail management system that is in vogue among both end-users and vendors. The basic, fundamental definition of a POS System is a system which allows the processing and recording of transactions between a company and its consumers, at the time in which goods and/or services are purchased. Early electronic cash registers (ECR) were controlled with proprietary software and were limited in function and communication capability. In August 1973, IBM released

3204-433: Is the time and place at which a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer , indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice for the customer (which may be a cash register printout), and indicates the options for the customer to make payment. It is also the point at which a customer makes a payment to the merchant in exchange for goods or after provision of

3293-451: The 386SX , which is a 32-bit processor with 32-bit ALU and internal 32-bit data paths with a 16-bit external bus and 24-bit addressing of the processor it replaced. In the context of IBM PC compatible and Wintel platforms, a 16-bit application is any software written for MS-DOS , OS/2 1.x or early versions of Microsoft Windows which originally ran on the 16-bit Intel 8088 and Intel 80286 microprocessors . Such applications used

3382-690: The Intel 80286 , the WDC 65C816 , and the Zilog Z8000 . The Intel 8088 was binary compatible with the Intel 8086, and was 16-bit in that its registers were 16 bits wide, and arithmetic instructions could operate on 16-bit quantities, even though its external bus was 8 bits wide. 16-bit processors have been almost entirely supplanted in the personal computer industry, and are used less than 32-bit (or 8-bit) CPUs in embedded applications. The Motorola 68000

3471-490: The Marine Corps Finance Center , Kansas City, Missouri , at Marine Corps Base Quantico , and at Marine Corps Logistic Base Albany, Georgia . These offices specialized in (respectively) financial, personnel and logistical applications. The 'Class I' systems were classified as mainframe systems – and the Series/1 systems that provided field input to them – that were maintained at and distributed from

3560-441: The ergonomics is possible, a clean, fast-paced look may come at the expense of sacrificing functions that are often wanted by end-users such as discounts, access to commission earned screens, membership and loyalty schemes can involve looking at a different function of the POS to ensure the point of sale screen contains only what a cashier needs at their disposal to serve customers. The advent of cloud computing has given birth to

3649-513: The integer representation used. With the two most common representations, the range is 0 through 65,535 (2 − 1) for representation as an ( unsigned ) binary number , and −32,768 (−1 × 2 ) through 32,767 (2 − 1) for representation as two's complement . Since 2 is 65,536, a processor with 16-bit memory addresses can directly access 64 KB (65,536 bytes) of byte-addressable memory. If a system uses segmentation with 16-bit segment offsets, more can be accessed. The MIT Whirlwind ( c. 1951)

IBM Series/1 - Misplaced Pages Continue

3738-520: The zero page , improving speed. This sort of difference between internal register size and external address size remained in the 1980s, although often reversed, as memory costs of the era made a machine with 32-bit addressing, 2 or 4 GB, a practical impossibility. For example, the 68000 exposed only 24 bits of addressing on the DIP , limiting it to a still huge (for the era) 16 MB. A similar analysis applies to Intel's 80286 CPU replacement, called

3827-627: The 1960s, especially on minicomputer systems. Early 16-bit computers ( c. 1965–70) include the IBM 1130 , the HP 2100 , the Data General Nova , and the DEC PDP-11 . Early 16-bit microprocessors , often modeled on one of the mini platforms, began to appear in the 1970s. Examples ( c. 1973–76) include the five-chip National Semiconductor IMP-16 (1973), the two-chip NEC μCOM-16 (1974),

3916-816: The 1990s, offering an alternative to limited displays like two-line VFDs used in the IBM 4683 . The performance of the employees using the POS devices, a controllable cost for the business, depends upon the ease of learning, ease of use, and level of employee experience with it. Although experienced employees work more quickly with mechanically keyed entry , some systems favoured adopting GUI technology for ease of learning or for ergonomic factors. The key requirements that must be met by modern POS systems include high and consistent operating speed, reliability, ease of use, remote supportability, low cost, and rich functionality. Retailers can reasonably expect to acquire such systems (including hardware) for about $ 4000 US (as of 2009) per checkout lane. Reliability depends not wholly on

4005-490: The Department of Defense planned to update some of the technology by the end of the 2017 fiscal year. In June 2019, the retirement of the 8-inch floppy drives was completed, and they were replaced by a "highly secure solid state digital storage solution" ( floppy disk hardware emulator ). 16-bit A 16-bit register can store 2 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on

4094-520: The Feature-Programmable Multi-line Controller and Adapter. Internally, IBM used banks of Series/1 computers as communications front end systems on their IBM Information Systems commercial network although back end processing was done with System/370 architecture computers. Also, in some IBM locations, the Series/1 was employed for building access security using ID card readers. The United States Marine Corps

4183-622: The IBM 3650 and 3660 store systems that were, in essence, a mainframe computer used as a store controller that could control up to 128 IBM 3653/3663 point of sale registers. This system was the first commercial use of client-server technology, peer-to-peer communications, local area network (LAN) simultaneous backup, and remote initialization. By mid-1974, it was installed in Pathmark stores in New Jersey and Dillard's department stores. One of

4272-485: The IBM integrated DI/DO digital in/out card. The Series/1 was a good work horse for its day and was operational around the clock in an industrial environment. Severn Trent Water Authority used a number of Series/1 computers running the RPS operating system to collect and process river telemetry outstation data. It polled each outstation every 6 hours and fed data to applications running on their ICL 2900 mainframe. Unusually,

4361-474: The POS machine must quickly process the differences and the effect on pricing. There is much complexity in the programming of such operations, especially when no error in calculation can be allowed. Other requirements include that the system must have functionality for membership discount and points accumulation/usage, quantity and promotional discounts, mix and match offers, cash rounding up, invoice/delivery-order issuance with outstanding amount. It should enable

4450-579: The Series/1 by an emulator . Although the Series/1 is underpowered by today's standards, a robust multi-user operating environment (RPS) was available along with several additional high level languages for the RPS OS. The EDX operating system was originally ported from the System/7. Series/1 was also the first computer that IBM supported for Unix . Systems without an operating system were intended for users needing dedicated applications that did not require

4539-454: The Series/1 provided customized interfaces to diverse (and generally non-IBM) minicomputer-based hospital systems using asynchronous or binary synchronous communications then commonly found in the laboratory, pharmacy, and other departments. Where necessary, the Series/1 also provided batch connectivity to a centralized TCAM host at SMS headquarters in Malvern, PA. Finally, the Series/1 provided

SECTION 50

#1732787184629

4628-486: The Series/1 uses EBCDIC character encoding internally and locally attached EBCDIC terminals, ASCII -based remote terminals and devices could be attached via an I/O card with a RS-232 interface to be more compatible with competing minicomputers. IBM's own 3101 and 3151 ASCII display terminals are examples of this. This was a departure from IBM mainframes that used 3270 terminals and coaxial attachment. Series/1 computers were withdrawn from marketing in 1988 at or near

4717-427: The basis of their IBM 4690 OS in their 469x series of POS terminals. This was developed up to 2014 when it was sold to Toshiba , who continued to support it up to at least 2017. With increased options for commodity hardware and a more competitive market, the 1990s saw increased attention paid to the user interaction between store employees and POS systems. Touchscreens and larger displays became widely available in

4806-631: The case of a high-traffic supermarket), there is the ever-present challenge for the developer to keep most if not all of their POS stations running. This puts high demand not just on software coding but also designing the whole system covering how individual stations and the network work together, and special consideration for the performance capability and usage of databases. Due to such complexity, bugs and errors encountered in POS systems are frequent. With regard to databases, POS systems are very demanding on their performance because of numerous submissions and retrievals of data - required for correct sequencing

4895-455: The cashier switches over to the cloud system, the locally processed sale records are then automatically submitted to the remote system, thus maintaining the integrity of the remote database. Although cloud-based POS systems save the end-user startup cost and technical challenges in maintaining an otherwise on-premises installation, there is a risk that if the cloud-based vendor closes down it may result in more immediate termination of services for

4984-572: The communications link between the IBM Series/1 machines and the ICL 2900 machine used the ICL CO3 protocol rather than one of the (de facto standard) IBM communication protocols. Shared Medical Systems (SMS Corp.) in the 1980s used the Series/1 (running EDX) as a channel-attached front-end communications processor for its IBM mainframe-based MVS/CICS hospital information system. In this environment

5073-439: The company and deployed unit level. Systems developed included the waggishly named 'Standardized Wing Overseas Operation Passenger System' (SWOOPS – developed to generate Air Force passenger manifests from personnel databases) and 'Universal Random Integrity News Extract' (URINE – developed to provide names picked randomly from personnel databases for urinalysis screening), FLEAS (FLight Evaluation Administration System). Although

5162-503: The computer field, with various designs performing math even one bit at a time, known as "serial arithmetic", while most designs by the 1970s processed at least a few bits at a time. A common example is the Data General Nova, which was a 16-bit design that performed 16-bit math as a series of four 4-bit operations. 4-bits was the word size of a widely available single-chip ALU and thus allowed for inexpensive implementation. Using

5251-536: The database. Enterprise database Microsoft SQL Server, for example, has been known to freeze up (including the OS) entirely for many minutes under such conditions showing a "Timeout Expired" error message. Even a lighter database like Microsoft Access will slow to a crawl over time if the problem of database bloating is not foreseen and managed by the system automatically. Therefore, the need to do extensive testing, debugging and improvisation of solutions to preempt failure of

5340-525: The definition being applied to the 68000, the Nova would be a 4-bit computer, or 4/16. Not long after the introduction of the Nova, a second version was introduced, the SuperNova, which included four of the 4-bit ALUs running in parallel to perform math 16 bits at a time and therefore offer higher performance. This was invisible to the user and the programs, which always used 16-bit instructions and data. In

5429-453: The developer but at times on the compatibility between a database and an OS version. For example, the widely used Microsoft Access database system had a compatibility issue when Windows XP machines were updated to a newer version of Windows. Microsoft offered no immediate solution. Some businesses were severely disrupted in the process, and many downgraded back to Windows XP for a quick resolution. Other companies utilized community support, for

SECTION 60

#1732787184629

5518-409: The developer is to have a trimmed down version of the POS system installed on the cashier computer at the outlet. On a daily basis the latest inventory and membership information from the remote server is automatically updated into the local database. Thus should the remote server fail, the cashier can switch over to the local sale window without disrupting sales. When the remote server is restored and

5607-519: The early development of GM's Manufacturing Automation Protocol (MAP) Commercial applications of customized Series/1 computers included an application by State Farm as an intelligent remote terminal in agents' offices. The processing unit was built into a desk. The Kmart Corporation also used the Series/1 computer initially for its Kmart Information Network (KIN) which handled the store's ordering, invoicing, payroll, inventory, cash, and headquarters to store communications. A separate Series/1 computer

5696-514: The end-user compared to the case of a traditional full on-premises POS system where it can still run without the vendor. Another consideration is that a cloud-based POS system actually exposes business data to service providers - the hosting service company and the POS vendor which have access to both the application and database. The importance of securing critical business information such as supplier names, top selling items, customer relationship processes cannot be underestimated given that sometimes

5785-456: The end-user requirements. POS system review websites cannot be expected to cover most let alone all the features. Unless one is a developer, it is unrealistic to expect the reviewer to know all the aspects of a POS system. For instance, a POS system might work smoothly on a test database during the review but not when the database grows significantly in size over months of usage. And this is only one among many hidden critical functionality issues of

5874-416: The few key success factors or trade secrets of a business are actually accessible through the POS system. This security and privacy concern is an ongoing issue in cloud computing . The retail industry is one of the predominant users of POS terminals. The POS interface at a retail establishment varies greatly depending on the industry and owner of the retailer, but usually includes a cash register (typically

5963-467: The first microprocessor-controlled cash register systems was built by William Brobeck and Associates in 1974, for McDonald's Restaurants . It used the Intel 8008 , an early microprocessor (forerunner to the Intel 8088 processor used in the original IBM Personal Computer ). Each station in the restaurant had its own device which displayed the entire order for a customer — for example, [2] Vanilla Shake, [1] Large Fries, [3] BigMac — using numeric keys and

6052-438: The following are required: processing monetary transactions, allocation and scheduling of facilities, keeping record and scheduling services rendered to customers, tracking of goods and processes (repair or manufacture), invoicing and tracking of debts and outstanding payments. Different customers have different expectations within each trade. The reporting functionality alone is subject to so many demands, especially from those in

6141-538: The full capabilities of either OS. Applications were built using a set of standalone programs, called the Base Program Preparation Facilities, consisting of a macro assembler , a link editor and some basic utilities. A set of modules, called Control Program Support (CPS), was linked with the application to provide task management, data processing input/output support and initial program loading for both disks and diskettes. The Series/1

6230-469: The introduction of the IBM AS/400 line. A US government asset report dated May 2016 revealed that an IBM Series/1 was still being used as part of the country's nuclear command and control systems. Initially, model 1 (4952, Model C), model 3 (IBM 4953) and model 5 (IBM 4955, Model F) processors were provided. Later processors were the model 4 (IBM 4954) and model 6 (IBM 4956). Don Estridge had been

6319-491: The inventory library stock levels when selling products, real-time reports accessible from a remote computer, staff timesheets and a customer library with loyalty features. Cloud-based POS systems are also created to be compatible with a wide range of POS hardware and sometimes tablets such as Apple's iPad . Thus cloud-based POS also helped expand POS systems to mobile devices , such as tablet computers or smartphones . These devices can also act as barcode readers using

6408-589: The lead manager on the IBM Series/1 minicomputer. He reportedly had fallen out of grace when that project was ill-received. The Series/1 could be ordered with or without operating system. Available were either of two mutually exclusive operating systems : Event Driven Executive (EDX) or Realtime Programming System (RPS). Systems using EDX were primarily programmed using Event Driven Language (EDL) , though high level languages such as FORTRAN IV , PL/I , Pascal and COBOL were also available. EDL delivered output in IBM machine code for System/3 or System/7 and for

6497-400: The most obvious and compelling reasons is that a POS system eliminates the need for price tags . Selling prices are linked to the product code of an item when adding stock, so the cashier merely scans this code to process a sale. If there is a price change, this can also be easily done through the inventory window. Other advantages include the ability to implement various types of discounts,

6586-478: The other could handle the entire store. In 1986, Gene Mosher introduced the first graphical point of sale software featuring a touchscreen interface under the ViewTouch trademark on the 16-bit Atari 520ST color computer. It featured a color touchscreen widget-driven interface that allowed configuration of widgets representing menu items without low level programming. The ViewTouch point of sale software

6675-722: The possibility of electronic point of sale (EPOS) systems to be deployed as software as a service , which can be accessed directly from the Internet using any internet browser . Using the previous advances in the communication protocols for POS's control of hardware, cloud-based POS systems are independent from platform and operating system limitations. EPOS systems based in the cloud (most small-business POS today) are generally subscription-based, which includes ongoing customer support. Compared to regular cash registers (which tend to be significantly cheaper but only process sales and prints receipts), POS systems include automatic updating of

6764-574: The power of a minicomputer to the battalion/squadron commander. However, left in the hands of young Marine Corps programmers eager to explore the capabilities of their new equipment, the Series/1 soon proved to be a valuable and flexible workhorse for all manner of tasks at all organizational levels. Dozens of 'Class II' systems were locally developed and maintained at the GSUs (General Support Units), later known as ISMOs (Information Systems Management Offices), providing undreamed-of functionality even as far as

6853-399: The receipt number, checking various discounts, membership, calculating subtotal, so forth - just to process a single sale transaction. The immediacy required of the system on the sale window such as may be observed at a checkout counter in a supermarket cannot be compromised. This places much stress on individual enterprise databases if there are just several tens of thousands of sale records in

6942-413: The retail/wholesale industry. To cite special requirements, some business's goods may include perishables and hence the inventory system must be capable of prompting the admin and cashier on expiring or expired products. Some retail businesses require the system to store credit for their customers, credit which can be used subsequently to pay for goods. A few companies expect the POS system to behave like

7031-400: The sale window is the most important one for the user. This user interface is highly critical when compared to those in other software packages such as word editors or spreadsheet programs where the speed of navigation is not so crucial for business performance. For businesses at prime locations where real estate is at a premium, it can be common to see a queue of customers. The faster a sale

7120-429: The system software and cloud server must be capable of generating reports such as analytics of sale against inventory for both a single and multiple outlets that are interlinked for administration by the headquarters of the business operation. POS vendors of such cloud based systems should also have a strong contingency plan for the breakdown of their remote server such as represented by fail-over server support. Sometimes

7209-475: The three CDPAs. The chief among these were JUMPS/MMS (Joint Uniform Military Pay System/Manpower Management System), SASSY (Supported Activities Supply SYstem), and MIMMS (Marine Corps Integrated Maintenance Management System). Designed primarily as a Source Data Automation (SDA) device for the enhancement of input into 'Class I' logistics and personnel computer systems, the ADPE-FMF Series/1 provided

7298-519: The three-chip Western Digital MCP-1600 (1975), and the five-chip Toshiba T-3412 (1976). Early single-chip 16-bit microprocessors ( c. 1975–76) include the Panafacom MN1610 (1975), National Semiconductor PACE (1975), General Instrument CP1600 (1975), Texas Instruments TMS9900 (1976), Ferranti F100-L , and the HP BPC . Other notable 16-bit processors include the Intel 8086 ,

7387-509: Was a major Series/1 customer in the late 1970s and into the early 1980s. IBM created a ruggedized, portable version with a green plastic and metal housing for field and shipboard use known as the IBM Series I Model 4110. The central processor unit boasted twin 1 megabyte 8 inch floppy disk drives, an 8-inch green monitor with 25 × 80 character resolution (and seldom-used graphics capability) and 16 kilobytes of RAM which

7476-520: Was also widely used in manufacturing environments, including General Motors assembly plants. Example systems and applications included Manufacturing Information Database (MIDB), Vehicle Component Verification System (VCVS) and Assembly Line Diagnostic Link (ALDL). These systems were connected to plant floor devices and used in the realtime manufacture of vehicles. There was also a Time and Attendance (T&A) system connected to badge readers and employee turnstiles. Series/1 computers were also utilized in

7565-612: Was first demonstrated in public at Fall Comdex, 1986, in Las Vegas Nevada to large crowds visiting the Atari Computer booth. This was the first commercially available POS system with a widget-driven color graphic touch screen interface and was installed in several restaurants in the US and Canada. In 1986, IBM introduced its 468x series of POS equipment based on Digital Research 's Concurrent DOS 286 and FlexOS 1.xx,

7654-704: Was later added in the early phases of its POS roll-out networked with IBM 3683 registers. The Series/1 used for POS systems was short lived as it was quickly replaced by two IBM PC AT computers running either IBM 3683 or IBM 4683 registers. The Deluxe Corporation also used a bank of Series/1 IBM 4956 computers for each check printing facility which handled the plant's business and personal check sales orders and printing operations. Various serial peripherals were attached: Printronix bar-coding printers, MICR Readers, IBM ASCII Terminals. Parallel devices were also used for phototypesetting machines, plate makers and Teletype BRPE punch creating Punched tape ; all connecting to

7743-443: Was quite possibly the first-ever 16-bit computer. It was an unusual word size for the era; most systems used six-bit character code and used a word length of some multiple of 6-bits. This changed with the effort to introduce ASCII , which used a 7-bit code and naturally led to the use of an 8-bit multiple which could store a single ASCII character or two binary coded decimal digits. The 16-bit word length thus became more common in

7832-871: Was the 'Automated Data Processing Equipment for the Fleet Marine Force' (ADPE-FMF), but it was universally known as the 'Green Machine'. The initial rollout of the equipment was on the west coast at Camp Pendleton in 1981, where the 1st FSSG Information Systems Management Office (ISMO) was formed to develop software and support the new equipment. ISMOs were also formed at 2nd FSSG at Camp Lejeune , 2nd MAW Cherry Point and 3rd FSSG and 1st MAW on Okinawa and were staffed with computer programmers (MOS 4063/4066) whose responsibilities included training of end users, hardware and software troubleshooting and development of local computer applications. Systems development offices were also established at Marine Corps Central Design and Programming Activities (MCCDPA) at

7921-526: Was upgraded to 32 kilobytes in 1984. Each standard 'suite' included the CPU unit, a keyboard, and a 132 column dot-matrix printer with a separate cooling-fan base. This suite was transported in two green, foam-lined, waterproof, locking plastic cases; each weighing over 100 pounds loaded. Among the optional pieces of equipment was a paper tape punch and a magnetic tape reader. Each of these also came with its own case. The official nomenclature for this equipment

#628371