Johannesburg, 24 Apr 2012
Tactile Technologies, the official and sole distributor of Elo TouchSystems in sub-Saharan Africa, today announced that its touch screen technology was a significant component of Engen's 'Reinvigorate' project; the tender which was awarded to Datacentrix back in 2007 and involved the deployment of over 3 000 points of sale.
The Engen tender for the 'Reinvigorate' project necessitated the provision of a POS solution that included a touch screen, and would be capable of being deployed in its extremely harsh and 'dirty' environments that included fuel forecourts, restaurant areas as well as the various retail outlets in which they also operate.
The solution needed to be totally compatible with the other peripherals that were already in use, as well as the POS software that was installed. In the final deliberations, the technical considerations outweighed any other considerations, as the equipment chosen needed to be operational on a 24 x 365 basis. The final chosen solution consisted of POS hardware that was specifically designed for these types of environments, coupled with Elo 1515L touch screens.
“We have received unbelievable support from Datacentrix on this project, and their relationship with Tactile Technologies for the supply and support of the touch screens showed us how a real partnership in action should operate,” commented Japie Muller of Engen, the IT Manager for Retail Automation.
“On the latter issue, the touch screens installed have shown unbelievable reliability, to such an extent that we have not utilised the extra screens we originally purchased, despite the unfriendly environments in which they are deployed. The provision of touch screens has overcome the extensive abuse suffered by the keyboards of the previously installed equipment. In addition, we have also solved the support costs that were associated with our previous suppliers, and have incurred no additional costs over and above that which were included in the original tender. The total lack of 'complaints' by users just goes to show how successful the installations have been. Such is the reliability of this product that to date, we have experienced no 'out of warranty' bills.”
“The management of this project was unusual and quite complicated, as it involved multiple different parties and included some installations outside of the borders of South Africa. The incumbent software partner was utilised for the installation and integration of the new system; and Tactile Technologies for the supply of the touch screen itself,” added Dale Hesketh-Mare of Datacentrix. “As this was a completely new client for us, we had to get it right first time around!”
“Engen's feedback on reliability and cost of ownership pleased us tremendously as those are the key features of the Elo product range and Tactile's supplying of it. Regardless if you are in retail, banking or gaming, what more are you looking for than a product where your cost of procurement is your cost of ownership?” highlighted Mauro Mercuri, Managing Director of Tactile Technologies.
“The Elo 1515L is a 15-inch monitor that is part of a family that also includes 12-inch, 17-inch and 19-inch variations and was released in late 2005. The identical equipment is still available today; an extremely unusual situation, but one that shows how committed and sensitive the original manufacturer is to projects such as this,” concluded Mercuri. “The product comes with a standard warranty of three years for the display, 10 years for the touch panel and five years for the controller, but for this specific project, an extended warranty was put in place that stretched the display period to five years.”
Several other retail organisations have also seen the benefits of using Elo touch screen technologies for their POS terminals, and for instance, Shoprite Checkers and Spar are utilising the same product that was installed at Engen.
For further information, please contact Mauro Mercuri: 021 551 2992, e-mail: mercuri@tactiletech.co.za.
Share