Albertsons is committed to building shareowner value by embracing technology that makes our processes more efficient and enables us to serve our customers better than anyone else in the industry. A great deal
of progress was made in this area of focus in 2002.
We are launching what we believe is the most advanced pharmacy automation system in our industry. This new system automatically and accurately fills many commonly requested prescriptions, even labeling the bottle in a fraction of the time required to do it manually. This technology promises to enhance the service experience by reducing wait time and freeing up our pharmacists for more interaction with customers.
This year we completed the integration of our distribution centers into one cohesive platform. All stores now benefit from a new synchronous conveyor system that palletizes products based on the individual floor plans in each destination store. This means that when a pallet of product arrives at a store, it is ready to be put out on the shelves in a logical, cost effective order - saving many hours in store labor.
The future of retail shopping technology may be the system we have been testing in our Barrington, Illinois store. This innovative personal shopping system enables customers to scan their own items with a handheld device and receive alerts about specials across the store. Another exciting project is the installation of interactive multimedia kiosks in our stores. These kiosks are being used for recruitment, hiring and training of our associates, freeing up store leadership to spend more time helping customers. In-store job applications have increased significantly since the kiosks' inception. All these exciting new initiatives allow our associates to benefit from better information technology and leading edge systems that, in the end, enables them to serve our customers better each day!
|
