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History
Set the course early on
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The history of Signum GmbH began five years before its creation while the company's founders, Jürgen Erhardt and Felix Hochapfel, were still at school and started using a Commodore PET and a C-64 for software programming. The orientation of Signum GmbH was also evident before its actual start as, at the request of a specialist cash point retailer, the two founders had already developed in 1987 initial interfaces for the exchange of data between cash registers and ERP systems.
Merchandise Management and POS software
Signum was founded in 1988 by Jürgen Erhardt, Felix Hochapfel, Michael Hörr and Klaus-Dieter Stamm. Three of the four founders still work for Signum GmbH today. The four have only been supplemented by one part-time employee responsible for administration. At the beginning of the year the first version of our merchandise management system developed using MS-DOS, Orgasoft, was installed for a test customer.
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One year later, and as a supplement to the merchandise management system, Signum launched the first PC-based POS software for the terminal of a Japanese manufacturer of cash registers. Further connections to the terminals of various manufacturers followed very quickly.
Sales throughout Germany
Our first participation in the CeBIT trade show in Hannover in 1991 signified the start of nation-wide sales of ERP and POS software systems. A year later, we won our first DIY superstore as a customer through this channel, which proved to be the foundation for a subsequent framework agreement with a chain of DIY superstores.
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In order to consistently expand the circle of potential specialized retailers, additional interfaces for system-capable cash registers and POS systems for OrgaSoft were developed. By mid-1994, the POS systems of the manufacturers most well-represented in Germany had been integrated.
Mobile data collection
At the same time the product portfolio continued to grow. The OrgaSoft on Tour system for mobile data capture devices made it possible to take inventories and process orders, stock receipts and price verifications while working directly with the merchandise. This area was expanded continuously, so that Signum was soon able to offer an inventory rental service for existing users
The second generation
In the same year, it was decided to redevelop the ERP system based on modern and sustainable technology. The basis for this new software had already been laid out in Jürgen Erhardt's diploma thesis: " Design of a database structure for a merchandise management system" . Considering the emergence of Windows, it was a simple decision to opt for a Microsoft development environment. While most producers of business software at the time only carried over their existing software solutions to the new platform, Signum was one of the few providers that brought out a completely new ERP system after only two years of development, showing a decisive competitive edge where sustainability was concerned. The name of the new product was ORGASOFT NT.
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The first installations of ORGASOFT NT followed soon afterwards, with Munich airport and Microsoft Germany being among the first prominent customers to opt for ORGASOFT NT. Bertelsmann also chose to use ORGASOFT NT as its merchandise management system for selling souvenirs at the World Fair in Lisbon. Our good work here was rewarded two years later with a commission for the Expo 2000 in Hannover.
Introduction of Project Management
On its tenth anniversary, Signum comprised eight employees; the following years were all about expansion, beginning with the establishment of a separate project management department.
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While installation and staff training had previously been the job of our Sales and Support departments, our customers now benefited from a qualified and systematic introduction of our solutions. Feeling a need for new office space in 2000, we moved to a representative commercial building at Kasinostrasse 2, which houses our headquarters to this day. By 2001, the Signum team now comprised 19 employees. In order to be able to offer customers solutions from a single source, we then started redeveloping the existing POS software based on the .NET technology.
Catering industry as a second target market
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While Signum previously focused on customers in the retail business, our close cooperation with Vectron Systems AG helped us tap into the restaurant franchise market. Menu planning, recipes in stock and other industry specific features make ORGASOFT NT suitable for all-round use in the restaurant franchise market. Customers such as Schmidts Tivoli theater, the Spielbank Berlin casino or the Cölner Hofbräu brewery were among the first to find out. The gap in the retail market was also closed: by adding colour and size management for items, ORGASOFT NT can now also be used in the fashion sector.
A successful concept
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2005 saw the first successful introduction of the new touch POS system ORGASOFT POS.NET after four years of development. The mobile POS system ORGASOFT POS.NET mobile also premiered that year in our own booth at the Euroshop trade show in Düsseldorf. At the same time, the catchphrase of "centrally installed and decentrally applied merchandise management" emerged.
What is meant by this can be seen since 2007 in the Signum Village. The free online demo version impressively shows how Signum concentrates on retail chains with their diverse product ranges and a flexible mapping of the organizational structure. At the same time, the Signum Village presents the unique combination of the retail and restaurant industries in a single solution.
Today, Signum employs a staff of 21 and, having installed more than 2,000 of its software solutions, ranks among the established providers of ERP systems in German-speaking regions.