Garden of Eden
Described as a "living theatre for plants and people", The
Eden Project has be developed to promote understanding about
sustainable development and the complex relationship between
plants, people and resources. Despite opening in the high
of the foot and mouth crisis the Eden project has already
surpassed its original visitor projections and welcomed some
1.2 million visitors by December 2001.
Such interest has presented the projects management team with
a colossal logistical challenge. How could they issue tickets
to so many visitors, let alone manage the gift shop and catering
operations. "On some days, it's a case of literally feeding
the five thousand" according to Marketing Director, David
Meneer.
To make matters more difficult, the budget for any management
system was limited so they had to be brutal about their IT
requirements. They needed something fast and reliable, which
could help them keep on top of all aspects of operations.
The Eden Project chose the Epson IR for ticket processing
and at the point of sale in their gift shops, the Epson SR-600
in their restaurants and the Epson TM-U230 printers to form
part of their automated ordering systems. All hardware was
supplied by Box Technologies through The Eden projects chosen
supplier and software provider Advanced PayPoint Solutions
(APS).
"This combination of the APS system and the Epson hardware,
offers us the speed and ease of use we need now, while giving
us the flexibility to introduce new innovations in the future,"
said Meneer. "Most importantly, there have been hardly
any glitches since we opened. From our point of view you just
can't put a price on that kind of reliability" he concluded. |
