The Authority has installed InfoGenesis™
The new solution has been deployed in the main dining facility, which caters for up to 500 onsite staff and many visiting international scientists. In addition, both the Authority’s mini convenience store and its Costa Coffee bar have been equipped with new systems.
InfoGenesis™
Liz Curtis explains: “In the past, we had a basic system with legacy cash registers. It was inefficient and unreliable and programming the tills was difficult. It became clear we needed a better way of carrying out till operations in our catering and retail areas.”
The impetus for the upgrade came from the Authority auditors. Continues Curtis: “Our auditors investigated our internal cash-handling audit and found our tills inadequate in two significant respects: they generated no reporting and didn’t provide the level of operator security and accountability that was required for a Government body such as the Authority.”
The Authority auditors placed an action on the team to replace the till system with something more modern, “that would tick all boxes”. A market evaluation took place and three companies were invited to tender. Timescales were tight, with the new solution needing to be selected and rolled out within four months.
The catering operations at Culham are managed by Elior UK plc, a leading food services provider with an established base in the Government, Defence and other sectors.
“Agilysys was recommended by Elior, which gave us confidence and provided a simple way of managing things that really appealed. Agilysys also offered the best level of support of the companies we looked at, and could provide project managers for the installation,”
The new solution went live in March 2012, and Culham staff have reacted well to it. “Some of the catering staff were a little nervous at first but they were all trained in no time at all and now find the system very easy to use. Both till operators and management appreciate how rapid and easy it is to serve and to cash up. Cashing up is not laborious as the tills do it all.”
The hardware itself also comes in for praise: “The new tills are black and look very smart. They have brought a more professional look to the whole business.”
The management information that the new solution produces is proving extremely useful. “In the past, we had to rely on each operator’s impressions of what was selling well or badly. Now, we are getting factual information from each till, which gives a clear picture of our trading.”
Adds Adrian Burns, Vice President and General Manager - EMEA at Agilysys: “Our success in securing this contract and delivering the right solution underlines the value of our three-party relationship:
The final word goes to Liz Curtis: “Our auditors will be coming back soon to re-assess our till systems and they will be happy that we now have in place just what was specified; a system that is modern, secure and provides accurate management information.”
About Agilysys (Europe) Limited - www.agilysyseurope.com
Agilysys is a leading provider of innovative IT solutions to the retail and hospitality sector. The company offers proven software, services, hardware and consulting for hotels, restaurants, casinos, resorts, cruise lines, stadiums and arenas, and conference centres, designed to streamline operations and enhance guest satisfaction while maximising profitability.
Agilysys’ hospitality solutions provide unparalleled reliability, functionality, efficiency and control over multiple aspects of operations – from reservations, check-in, point-of-sale and business intelligence, inventory and procurement management, to document management.
The company operates extensively throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), with a main office in Cheshire, UK and additional sales and support offices through partners across Europe, UAE and South Africa. Agilysys (Europe) Limited is part of Agilysys, Inc. (Nasdaq: AGYS) whose corporate headquarters are in Atlanta.
About Culham Science Centre - www.culham.org.uk
Owned and managed by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, Culham Science Centre combines world-class publicly funded research into fusion power, commercial technology organisations and Culham Innovation Centre, to create a powerhouse of high technology innovation and enterprise in south Oxfordshire, just a few miles south of the city of Oxford.
In addition, the centre hosts the world's largest magnetic fusion experiment, Joint European Torus (JET), on behalf of its European partners. Around 500 people are employed at the JET facilities, with around 350 international scientists visiting each year.
Nuclear fusion, the process that powers the Sun, can play a big part in our carbon-free energy future. Culham is one of the world's leading fusion research laboratories. Its scientists and engineers are working with partners around the globe to develop fusion as a new source of clean energy for tomorrow's power stations.
