An old supermarket movie that shows that fully automated system of product management was completed about 40 years ago

POS systemInformation management system such as management of inventory at stores and full automation of future ordering of products are progressing, so that human beings can manage products without caution. If you look at the "fully automatic payment terminal system" that was introduced experimentally in the UK 37 years ago, you already know that the prototype of the current product management system was already completed at that time.

Electronic supermarket checkout terminals (1978) - YouTube


This is a 1978 supermarket in the UK. A certain state-of-the-art system was introduced experimentally.


That is, this settlement system "fully automatic settlement terminal". First of all, customers submit items to be purchased at the cash register.


The clerk enters into the register and the poppy while watching the product.


Mechanical registers of typewriter type were mainstream at the time, whereas the register of the fully automatic settlement terminal system was computerized with the latest microprocessor built in. This is the "repetition" of electronic automation.


Electronic registers can do a variety of things that can not be mechanical registers. Of course we will calculate the total amount.


In the fully automatic payment terminal system, payment by credit card is also OK.


Payment can be done without cash exchange simply by typing card number and amount.


The mechanism is like this. The cashier will call the bank account automatically.


And also communication with the store's bank account.


Money has moved from the bank account of the customer to the bank account of the shop, and the settlement is completed. Please note that this credit card payment system has already been put to practical use in New York.


Furthermore, the great feature of the fully automatic payment terminal system is to grasp and manage all the items sold.


Because you can manage inventory at the shop front, you can transfer the necessary items to the backyard.


In addition, the product stock is carried on a belt conveyor.


Next to the package is a label stating information on each item ... ...


The camera records labels of boxes passing by.


All product information is printed and managed and saved.


Products that are going to run out of stock ......


Belt conveyor picks out and takes it. Because computers do everything to find products to be delivered to the shop front and to think about what products to send, it is not necessary to tweak inventory management.


Information on the items sold at the cash register ......


Share with the product warehouse.


Minimum number of people working in the warehouse.


Just checking which belt conveyor you will bring the goods that have been carried, and hand it over to the job of human beings.


Electronic register records everything you enter. It is not just sales information to record ......


It checks up to the exact time of when you were driven, the speed of each shop clerk, and even the number of times you made a mistake.


After this movie was produced, the POS system using the barcode became popular in full scale, and the automation became further advanced. The method of entering commodities at the cash register and the package reading method at the warehouse are now evolving to methods using wireless chips, etc. However, the technique itself to increase productivity by collecting and managing "information" It seems that it reached completion in about 40 years ago.