Fujitsu Enhances Product-Tracking System for Odakyu Department Stores

Tokyo, July 27, 2009

Fujitsu Limited and Fujitsu Broad Solution & Consulting Inc. (Fujitsu BSC) today announced that Oh-Pa 1/3 Data Server, an in-memory database product developed and sold by Fujitsu BSC, will act as the IT pillar of the product-tracking system for Odakyu Department Store Co., Inc., after upgrading its mission-critical IT system from a mainframe to an open-standard system. Instead of having to access a disk drive, all data is stored within the in-memory database, enabling high-speed processing of large volumes of data. With this function, daily ledger analysis reports containing over 500,000 detailed items from sales information from the previous day, can be processed in approximately four minutes⁽¹⁾. By switching to an open-standard system, product sales statistics from each store location can also be accessed through the Internet, allowing for quick reference and making daily sales strategies more effective. The upgrade was performed by Fujitsu and Fujitsu System Solutions Limited.

Odakyu Department Stores had originally aggregated its daily sales and inventory information through a mainframe-based product-tracking system, using it for a variety of analyses. However as the number of products handled by the system grew, the volume of data being processed increased as well. Given the need to conduct increasingly diverse product-information analyses for competitive purposes, the lengthy time required to process data had become problematic. In order to minimize the time needed to generate ledger analysis reports used to develop sales strategies, Odakyu Department Stores moved to a new open-standard product-tracking system which also enabled sales monitoring of each of its stores via the Internet.

The new product-tracking system can quickly compile and edit Odakyu Department Stores' massive volume of data, and process it into analyzable marketing information. The new system employs Fujitsu BSC's Oh-Pa 1/3 Data Server, an in-memory database that enables Odakyu Department Stores to generate analyses of product-tracking data in approximately four minutes⁽¹⁾. Additionally, Oh-Pa 1/3 Data Analyzer, the Oh-Pa 1.3 Data Server's custom graphical user interface, enhances the productivity of programming and other tasks involved in new system development.

As the new system uploads product-status information from every location of Odakyu Department Stores onto the Internet, analyses and sales strategies reflecting statistics from the previous day can be formulated quickly, removing the problem of time lag. This provides Odakyu Department Stores with a real-time view of its inventory and profits, making possible significant gains in business operations and efficiency. Fujitsu will continue to support Odakyu Department Stores in this pursuit.

New Product-Tracking System

1. Oh-Pa 1/3 Data Server
   The server has a high-speed processing engine based on a newly conceived architecture designed to handle very large quantities of memory effectively and efficiently. It complements the weak points of conventional relational databases with fast data batch-processing.
2. Oh-Pa 1/3 Data Analyzer
   A graphical user interface product for the Oh-Pa 1/3 Data Server. This product makes it possible to process and edit large volumes of data in real time. The specifics of the interface's operations are recorded entirely as macros which can be used as a batch program without modification, eliminating the need for programming.