Case Study 5- Alliance Supermarkets and Point-of-Sale (POS) Systems BUS 644 Operations Management

In the case study Alliance Supermarket the supermarkets use a point-of-sale system to track their inventory. The way the system works is by using laser scanners to read the UPC on each item. The UPC is a unique number sequence that identifies each individual product on which it appears. Alliance supermarkets are currently using the UPC information to update inventory, which has greatly improved the companys ability to replenish their inventory at a faster pace but is unable to account for a sudden change in demand for any item. In addition, the system groups the inventory of all stores together without regard for the different demand patterns of the individual stores...