Mountain Home commissary gets new checkout system, self-checkouts Published Nov. 13, 2007 By Senior Airman Brian Stives 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho -- The Mountain Home Air Force Base commissary went "live" with their new point-of-sale technology Nov. 13. The new Commissary Advanced Resale and Transaction System, or CARTS, is a new front-end and back office support system that replaced the stores aging point-of-sale operation, or registers. "With the new system, commissary customers and front-end employees will see a difference at the register," said Michael Howell, Mountain Home commissary store director. "The new technology will dramatically improve our store's point-of-sale system and will make us more efficient and effective." In addition to receiving new registers, the commissary also received four self-checkout stations. "These 'SCOs' [self-checkouts], as we call them, are the same as those seen downtown and will give the customers another checkout option," said Mr. Howell. "Employees will be available to help customers who are not familiar with the self-checkout stations." "I think the new self-checkouts will be great for Airmen during lunch time," said Chief Master Sgt. James Kowalewski, 366th Component Maintenance Squadron, who was shopping at the commissary. "It will allow people to just grab their stuff and go." "It is great. It is a lot faster to get in and get out," said Airman 1st Class Katherine Wilhelm, 726th Air Control Squadron, who using one of the new self-checkouts. "It was really easy to use." Because of its ease of use, higher reliability and automated cash management capabilities, CARTS has been lauded as "the next generation" of commissary front-end operations, said Bob Cramer, the Defense Commissary Agency's program manager for the new system. "The customers really seem to like the self-checkout stations," said Mary Foster, commissary store associate. "They [the customers] are not having any problems using them at all." Other features of the new checkout system include: · A 15-inch, color-screen display to allow customers a better view of their purchases · A touch-screen display for cashiers that will speed up the checkout process · A hand-held scanner that allows cashiers to reach bulkier items in the cart · Price check stations that will allow customers to scan the price of products before they reach the checkout stations · Electronic check conversion, which speeds up the check writing process by eliminating the handling of paper check and bank deposits by store personnel. "This system represents a new era of service to the customer," said Mr. Howell. "We are excited to get this up and going for the Gunfighters."