|
Case Study - Agfa Corporation - Salient Publishing System
AgfaPhoto USA needed customized compact desktop computers which would function as the
core controller for their photofinishing systems that were to be installed in Walgreens retail
stores. The system allows Walgreens to accept customer orders for photographic prints via
the web. The customer can pickup their pictures at their nearest Walgreens store in as little
as an hour after submitting their order. Additionally, the AgfaPhoto system had to interface
with the existing Fuji Aladdin photo retouch systems already installed in many Walgreens
stores.
Their requirements included:
- The computers must operate reliably within a POS retail environment with limited space.
Positioning of the system required a non-standard front-to-rear airflow.
- Gigabit ethernet connections were required for fast transfer of large image files.
- Windows XP PRO and AgfaPhoto's proprietary software needed to be pre-installed and
configured to their requirements including specific icon placement on the Windows
Desktop.
- Walgreens required that Windows XP be hardened to NSA security standards.
- The system had to be locked-down to allow only one specific application to be available
to Walgreens store employees; no other unauthorized software could be possible to
install, and no system configuration changes could be made by the user.
- No external programs could be executable from portable media or USB ports.
- Once AgfaPhoto's proprietary software was finished in Germany, the first 200 systems
had to be manufactured and shipped within 8 weeks.
- Unique software keys had to be installed for the AgfaPhoto software on each computer
after generating a machine ID and requesting the keys from Germany.
- The computer systems needed to be drop-shipped directly to Walgreens retail stores
across the USA to coordinate with the arrival of the AgfaPhoto MiniLab systems for
installation on specific dates.
About AgfaPhoto
On 1 November 2004 the new AgfaPhoto group with headquarters in Leverkusen, Germany
took over all the activities of the former Consumer Imaging division of the Agfa-Gevaert
group:
Products for end consumers - such as film - but especially the development, production and
marketing of lab equipment, software and consumer goods (particularly photo paper and
chemicals) used for the professional development and production of photographic images
are part of the AgfaPhotos' core business.
|
|
