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Why the world looks to Paderborn during Wincor World

January 25, 2004

Nestled in the middle of Germany, where the Westphalian lowland plains meet the mountain ranges of the Teutoburger woods, Egge Mountains and the Sauerland, lies the venerable Cathedral and modern university city of Paderborn. High-tech and the middle ages, computers and the church; in hardly any other city in the world will you find such a harmonious blend of apparently contrasting ideas.

Which is one of many reasons the world itself will look to Paderborn during Wincor World, the annual banking and retail showcase hosted by its resident global technology innovator, Wincor Nixdorf.

"Communicating Visions" is the theme of Wincor World 2004, at the Welle Exhibition Center Feb. 3-5. Sixty partners will present 400 exhibits, demonstrating leading-edge products, services, consulting services and solutions for banking and retail organizations.

Visitors also will be able to attend several of 40 available workshops and lecture programs, as well as a symposium with topics spotlighting the future of retail and banking.

"It's not a sales event," said Uwe Krause, director of marketing and product development, banking, for Wincor Nixdorf. "It's not a knowledge event. It's a cooperation between us and the major market innovators of technology."

The partnerships on display at Wincor World are geared to helping customers develop end-to-end solutions. Rather than seeing one piece of the puzzle in one context and having to identify others elsewhere, companies wanting to find all their answer in one place will be able to do so at this show.

"Normally, a customer can see a telephone solution at a special event for IT technology. He can see ATM solutions at an ATM event. But at Wincor World, he can see the combinations for all his processes, from the beginning on," Krause said.

"This event is process oriented, and this makes a big, big difference to other exhibitors."

A core competency of Wincor Nixdorf is the ability to transfer standard transactions to self-service. At Wincor World, the company will present numerous applications showing how manufacturers, public transportation companies, administrations and utility companies can profit from automated, customer-facing transactions..

Wincor Nixdorf is positioning itself strategically for the future when it comes to IT solutions for international retailing. For what is one of the most dynamic industries there is, the company has developed a robust product and solution concept for in-store technology applications running under the name "Store Vision." At Wincor World, Wincor Nixdorf will be showing solutions under its "Store Vision" banner that reduce complexity and costs for retail businesses as well as improve customer serviceThe mainstays of this program are solutions within the general headings of "Store Automation," "Checkout Solutions," "Management of Supply and Demand" and "Radio Frequency Identification" (RFID).

In the area of "Store Automation," Wincor Nixdorf will show mobile solutions, electronic shelf-labeling systems, empties-return systems, intelligent promotion-management concepts, automation of cash processes and typical kiosk solution applications such as self-check out. The company will present evolutionary developments and complementary add-ons such as personal shopping assistants and mobile self-scanning systems.

In the "Supply and Demand" area, exhibits such as SAP materials-management solutions, category management and fraud detection will spotlight solutions enabling efficient, cost-optimized work procedures. Key topics will be the linking of mobile units to SAP, customer-led range management and IT to support audit activity.

Representatives of the Metro Future Store Initiative will give an overview of their work in this leading-edge project in which Wincor Nixdorf is playing a key role as a gold partner. Wincor Nixdorf has provided the Extra Future Store's complex IT environment with integrated products and solutions, including the personal shopping assistant, dynamic advertising displays and kiosk systems.

In conjunction with Texas Instruments, Wincor Nixdorf will demonstrate potential radio frequency identification applications for retailers in the "RFID Future Lab," ranging from merchandise management through checkout. Software highlights will be new versions of Calypso Hyperion and Trading Post. Wincor Nixdorf will be joined by leading providers of terminal-based payment solutions to present the results of the Open Payment Initiative, which is what?. Also on display will be self-service solutions for service stations, for the hospitality, fast food and c-store sectors, and also for lottery companies.

In a couple of areas, Wincor Nixdorf perceives especially strong ownership of, and will focus on significantly, at Wincor World.

"I would say we have the complete area of hospitality," said Andreas Behr of Wincor's retail division. "Another is fast food. There, we will present new hardware components and new solutions."

Paderborn: The town that Nixdorf built

The computer pioneer and industrialist Heinz Nixdorf-and founder of the company that  became the partially eponymous Wincor Nixdorf-played a significant role in the city's development, paving the way for the advances in information technology from which Paderborn has made a name for itself worldwide. Paderborn is also home to the largest computer museum in the world, one of more than 10 museums situated in the city.

"The relationship between Paderborn and Wincor Nixdorf is very strong," said Andreas Bruck, head of corporate communications for the company. "Very often, if you ask residents of other countries and other cities about Paderborn, they always say, `Well, it's the home of the computer firm Wincor Nixdorf. So, in a way, it's the firm which has made the town popular."

The unique flair of the east Westphalian capital, which has evolved over the last decade into a lively, attractive yet accessible city, makes a trip to Paderborn an experience of a rather special kind.

Many and diverse are the historic sites bearing testimony to more than 1,200 years of history - reason alone to visit this time-honored cathedral city - ranging from the Romanesque-Gothic Cathedral, the Weser Renaissance-style Town Hall and the medieval Imperial Palace to the baroque Jesuit Church, to name but a few. Schloß Neuhaus, former seat of Paderborn's Prince Bishops, is situated a mere couple of miles from the city center. Lying in the midst of dozens of acres of parkland, a visit to this moated castle and its beautiful baroque gardens is not to be missed.

Between show events, the extended pedestrian zone will invite you to stroll around and browse in the many shops to your heart's content, after which you can relax and soak up the atmosphere in one of the charming street cafés or simply just sit back and enjoy life.

More than 200 springs forming the source of the Pader, Germany's shortest river, are located just a few paces from the hustle and bustle of the pedestrian zone.