Software on the Deskpro system then decodes the message and refers to the database for information about what it should do with the box. The database responds to the Deskpro system, which sends the message back to the sorter, causing the box to divert off of the sorter. And the tool set Microsoft SQL Server offers for the maintenance and administration of this system is very nice and easy to use. The entire distribution technology was implemented in six months, a deadline that enabled Spiegel, the large catalog and outlet store company, and Eddie Bauer, a specialty retailer of private label clothing, accessories and home furnishings, to use the center beginning with the 1995 Christmas shopping season. Prior to the formation of DFS and the creation of the new distribution facilities, retail and catalog distribution for Spiegel and Eddie Bauer were handled out of a number of smaller facilities in the Columbus, Ohio, and Chicago areas.
Orders come to the new facility from a mainframe system located in suburban Chicago.
And then the Compaq communications server processes this information so that we can use it. The technology was designed to run smaller distribution facilities. So when the decision was made to integrate Spiegel's and Eddie Bauer's distribution and create this new facility, we knew that we would need to move to new technology, something that would allow us to efficiently run an operation that was much larger in size and scope. DFS's decisions have positioned the company to take advantage of new technologies as they evolve. ScanData's Simmons says the operation will be enhanced in the future with Web technology that would eliminate the existing front-end to the facility and allow data to flow directly to the distribution systems.