Systems In Retailing
25 mins, 2002 Bar-codes, electronic point sale systems, hand-held terminals… information technology has transformed UK retailing. At Marks & Spencer’s IT centre, mainframe computers monitor what’s been sold in all its stores and order up new stock. Computers control every step of the M&S national distribution system. And IT isn’t confined to inside the supermarket,… Read more »
Sweet Misery: Aspartame
30 mins, 2007 Is the artificial sweetener aspartame a danger to our heath? This US film argues the case that the process by which this widely used food additive became approved by food safety bodies was dangerously flawed. Aspartame, better known under its brand name Nutrasweet, and found in many well-known snack foods and soft… Read more »
Systems In A Cinema
27 mins, 2000 How do cinemas use information technology? We compare two very different examples. The huge Film Works multiplex, in Manchester, has its own web-site. The much smaller Gate cinema, in London, uses e-mails to keep in touch with its customers but otherwise has much more limited IT. The Gate still issues tickets manually,… Read more »
Systems For Leisure 2
26 mins, 2004 This is a completely new film which updates the original Systems For Leisure (TV Choice 1993), but featuring the same leisure complex, Guildford Spectrum – still the UK’s largest leisure centre. TICKETS PLEASE: In 2002 Spectrum changed over to a new ticketing system called TOREX. What benefits does it offer? What were… Read more »
Staying There
23 mins, 1991 Setting up a company is one thing – but how do you ensure it survives in the long term? Rose Toys, once a highly successful manufacturer of model trains, is in crisis. Sales of its traditional products are falling. Harold Rose, its founder, is on the verge of retirement, but is reluctant… Read more »