Archived New Equipment

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So I was talking to my BRTL today, and he mentioned our store getting a next-gen PDA/PDT unit (dunno the difference, always heard the term used interchangeably). All he knew was that we'd get them sometime during Q1/2 and that it's cell phone-sized with a passing resemblence to a Star Trek phaser. Anyone have a link or pic of one of these?
Also, my TL talked about pressing the execs to approve us in the back to get these units that let you scan pic/bar/loc labels with a finger condom unit, and then enter qty's or change apps with a wireless hip unit. It's my understanding many inventory companies and UPS uses similar devices. Anyone else have a store that got approved for such devices?
 
These are both news to me, but I could see the finger condom being faster, once you learn the. 10 key of course.
 
I know Target Canada will be using a new POS system that will eventually be rolled out to the US stores, but this is the first I've heard of new PDAs!
 
Your store isn't getting the iPhones are they? I know that has been rumored many times here but maybe the next gen "PDA" is really the iPhone.

Secondly were can I find more info on the new pos system? Are you talking all new software or the ncrs?
 
I know our store already has iPhones for store use and iPads for GS use already ordered. I'm hoping the new PDA isnt an iPhone, though. It's downright impossible to do CAFs effectively with an LPDA, so I couldn't imagine an iPhone faring any better. Plus, I don't think an iPhone could survive the abuse our equipment goes through (Have you ever seen an iPhone fall out of a holster 16ft in the air, fall, and then keep working?).
 
I was watching the inventory team with the finger scanners, i want them so badly for the instocks process. my life would be infinitely better.
 
Actually this makes a lot of sense. Our store hasn't received a new PDA in like 2 years, and as mentioned in another topic, we are down to 11. They refuse to order more despite it being practically impossible to get all tasks needing to be done get done. Maybe it's because we will be getting in new equiptment soon..
 
Your store isn't getting the iPhones are they? I know that has been rumored many times here but maybe the next gen "PDA" is really the iPhone.

Secondly were can I find more info on the new pos system? Are you talking all new software or the ncrs?

Wait, that better be a joke. Iphones would be ridiculous. They have no means of swapping out battery at an effective rate (and I doubt apple will change their flagship's products designs for one pissant Retail company), they're fragile and they would be stolen like freaking crazy.
 
Wait, that better be a joke. Iphones would be ridiculous. They have no means of swapping out battery at an effective rate (and I doubt apple will change their flagship's products designs for one pissant Retail company), they're fragile and they would be stolen like freaking crazy.

Solutions
1. Portable battery packs that charge while you use them. Target can have on a supply of those.
2. OtterBox Defender series.
3. Apple's "Find my IPhone" uses GPS technology to pinpoint the phone's location. Access to these settings will be restricted so it can not be tampered with, and it will automatically send out a signal when the phone leaves the premisses.

That said, I doubt they would switch to IPhones. Probably some other cheaper and more efficient scanning technology.
 
Solutions
1. Portable battery packs that charge while you use them. Target can have on a supply of those.
2. OtterBox Defender series.
3. Apple's "Find my IPhone" uses GPS technology to pinpoint the phone's location. Access to these settings will be restricted so it can not be tampered with, and it will automatically send out a signal when the phone leaves the premisses.

That said, I doubt they would switch to IPhones. Probably some other cheaper and more efficient scanning technology.

1 would work, 2 would still be overpriced. 3 is totally worthless since the market for stolen iphones is pretty substantial.

I don't see how iphones would be even remotely useful for general store use unless it's just for the executive staff, and even I'm not confident the company is 'generous' enough to do that.
 
1 would work, 2 would still be overpriced. 3 is totally worthless since the market for stolen iphones is pretty substantial.

I don't see how iphones would be even remotely useful for general store use unless it's just for the executive staff, and even I'm not confident the company is 'generous' enough to do that.

OtterBox defenders sell individually for $50 a piece, not including a bulk discount... that's hardly overpriced considering the lifetime warranty and that Target probably spends almost as much on PDA holsters alone. And 3 is not "totally worthless" iPhones are stolen and never recovered because people turn off the Find my IPhone settings. It's extremely easy to do if your phone doesn't have a password on it. And the software Target would put on the phones will be much more secure than your average iPhone. Why don't people steal PDAs since they are left around the store all the time? They are near twice the cost of a $650 iPhone. It's not like team members will be leaving iPhones on store shelves, even with the case it is still small enough to keep in your pocket.

Ridiculous debate anyway, I highly doubt Target would replace its current equipment with iPhones.
 
I know of a couple of the mobility initiatives that Target is testing. One is the updated version of the PDA, the Motorola MC9200 (I think that's what the model number was). It's got an updated LED scanner with a crosshairs (so the orientation of the scanner doesn't matter when scanning barcodes), and is probably just faster hardware. They're working on the software piece of it and are testing it in stores.

The other was a brand new piece of rugged hardware developed by Motorola, running a custom brew of Android. I really wish I had saved the slides I ran into online. I don't remember the name, it was a five or six letter PH- name. You can probably find it under share.target.com by searching mobility engineering or mobility testing or mobility pilots. Some such thing.
 
People don't steal PDAs we leave sitting around because others have no perceived use for them. People would perceive a use for them, even if they turned out to be useless in the end, it wouldn't prevent them from being stolen.

It's like the old GPSes that would allow you to put a pass code on them. The pass code would make it useless to the person who stole it , but the person who stole it wouldn't know it until it was no longer in your possession.
 
OtterBox defenders sell individually for $50 a piece, not including a bulk discount... that's hardly overpriced considering the lifetime warranty and that Target probably spends almost as much on PDA holsters alone. And 3 is not "totally worthless" iPhones are stolen and never recovered because people turn off the Find my IPhone settings. It's extremely easy to do if your phone doesn't have a password on it. And the software Target would put on the phones will be much more secure than your average iPhone. Why don't people steal PDAs since they are left around the store all the time? They are near twice the cost of a $650 iPhone. It's not like team members will be leaving iPhones on store shelves, even with the case it is still small enough to keep in your pocket.

Ridiculous debate anyway, I highly doubt Target would replace its current equipment with iPhones.

The perceived value of iphones is substantially higher. Not to mention they can be reflashed and sold in the international market even if there is a system set up to lock out the phones (note, there really isn't unless Target sticks with verizon cdma phones, and even then there are ways around this) . Pdas aren't stolen in general because they don't cause 3000 people to line up for it when it's released.
 
I believe a PDA is $900 on TIPP these days? As far as your store not having enough, they are suppose to have a set amount to their prototype level. If they were worried about the hit to their budget, they could have worked with their DTL to push it through as a CAPEX(Capital Expenditure) expense at any time and it wouldn't have come out of the store's pockets. The argument to validate a CAPEX would be the loss of sales due to not helping guest find items, not stocking locations properly and reduced overall productivity and wasted payroll hours. A properly equipped store can perform so much better and thereby increase sales.

Haven't heard anything about the scanners or POS equipment. Both make sense as the hardware is becoming significantly dated and the cost of parts is likely only to increase as they are manufactured in smaller quantities. Always remember that these are HUGE expenses for HQ to take on. 1776 stores times the number of devices: roughly 35520 PDAs(20/store) and 44400 POS(25/store). The training for repairs and availability of on hand replacement parts also have to be factored in.
 
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