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UNTIL RECENTLY, inventory management at Sears, Roebuck and Co.'s repair service division consisted of employees at its 6oo service centers wandering the warehouse floor, looking to see which supply bins were running low.
The inefficient system was a major obstacle to improving customer service and inventory accounting as the Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based retailer juggled II million service contracts on 23 million appliances.
"It's just inconceivable that we could continue into the future without some sort of inventory management system," said Carol Ricchio, senior systems manager at Sears' home services division, which handles repair services.
So the company turned to client/server technology to automate the process. It is already seeing results at the two test sites that are running the system. The first went online in February, the other in late summer.
"It's helped limit local...