GlobeSt.com: To date, ARTS has developed four significant standards. Can you tell me a bit about each of them?

Mader: The four standards are the ARTS Standard Relational Data Model for Retail, ARTS XML, UnifiedPOS and Standard Requests for Proposal.

1. The Data Model is a 15-year relational database design to support most retail applications to automate retail business functions. The Model is more than a design; it is delivered in software that can generate the physical data bases in most popular data base software such as Oracle and IBM, etc.--in this case, automate really just means having a machine do the work, like look up inventory or check a customer's sales history. [The model] can save vendors and retailers many dollars in developing new applications. Big use of the model in the server systems of today is being the principal data repository from which xml messages can be generated or data collected in a managed manner--the hub of master data management. Benefit: Vendors or retailers thinking of developing a system to automate business functions like inventory, price management or purchase order creation will get a head start by using the Data Model as a road map for development.
2. The work teams of the ARTS XML committee create standard XML messages to integrate--link together--systems from different vendors. ARTS has 17 schemas in the public domain that can be downloaded free of charge from the ARTS website. Benefit: These schemas lower the cost of integration of new systems with POS by allowing retailers to install new systems with a minimum of programming changes. This, in turn, allows retailers to make changes to these systems more often and to take advantage of new techniques and technologies more quickly.
3. UnfiedPOS is a standard specification for connecting nearly 40 different peripheral devices to a point of sale (POS) terminal with minimal, if any, programming changes or integration costs. For example: A retailer could choose to buy a terminal from NCR and a scanner from Symbol and a check reader from Ingenico and tie them together as a POS terminal to sell merchandise to customers. Benefit: This standard allows retailers to purchase and combine POS components from different vendors; this lowers costs and allows retailers to select the best device based on their needs, not on their operating system.
4. The Standard Requests for Proposal (RFPs) help retailers select the "right" software applications for their specific business practices. NRF and ARTS standard RFPs are provided in a format that allows retailers to tailor them to their specific needs. Benefit: Standard RFPs significantly shorten the time retailers spend researching new applications to suit their business processes. The standard RFPs include information about cutting edge technology and best practices, and can be edited by retailers to only include the features they are interested in.