Introduction:
Technology Application in the Financial Section of Agribusiness. With the development of information systems, Agribusinesses using them have spread rapidly, and the Internet and information systems are now in use in diverse agribusiness fields.
Typical Systems in Agribusiness fields
The following are some typical agribusiness systems:
(1) POS system
A “POS system” is a system that gathers sales selective information (what was sold to whom, when, where, and how much?) when products are traded. POS systems make use of barcodes as the basis for merchandise management and arc used in “distribution information systems” in places such as convenience stores, supermarkets, department stores, shopping centers, and restaurants.
One advantage of POS systems is that market research and sales forecasts can be carried out based on the sales data that they collect. The collected information is used in strategies for product development and store expansion and is also useful for adjusting order quantities and inventory quantities depending, on the season, region, or time period. Recently, the use of POS systems has expanded to product development of private brands in the retail industry, and POS systems are ranked as important information systems that are essential in retail business strategies.
(2) IC Card
An “IC card” is a plastic card embedded with an “IC (Integrated Circuit) chip,” Since IC cards can encrypt information; they are attracting attention for being difficult to counterfeit. Also, they can record a large amount of information from several dozen to several hundred times that of conventional magnetic cards. In general, contact-type cards that read and write data are categorized as IC, cards. Distinctive examples consist of cash cards and credit cards from financial institutions that are commonly utilized in “financial information systems.”
(3) RFID
“RFID” is the make use of tiny “wireless chips” for describing and dealings people and things. Wireless chips are easily attached to people or materials because they can be incorporated into items such as self-adhesive labels, envelopes, key holders, or wristbands. In addition, a vital element is that they can at once recognize several people or materials. Therefore, wireless chips are used in a variety of situations such as management of comings and goings of people using wireless chips in key holders, or “traceability systems” that manage distribution histories for vegetables or meat using wireless chips in the form of self-adhesive labels. A wireless chip may perhaps also be called an “IC tag” or “wireless IC.”
The communication range between a wireless chip and a reader is from several centimeters to approximately two meters, and an antenna provides power to the wireless chip. Also, building an antenna into an IC card creates wireless reading and writing potential. Consequently, contactless IC cards are categorized as technology derived from RFID. Typical examples are electronic money, tickets for public transportation, driver’s licenses, and citizen identification cards.
4) Electronic money
Paying for products by means of a contactless IC card that has been charged with cash in progress in order that it has equivalent value to cash is called “Electronic money”. It can also refer to the system. Recently, electronic money in the form of cellular phones embedded with IC tags has also become wide-spread. Electronic money is used in a similar way to prepaid cards or gift certificates, but it is attracting attention as an environmentally-friendly payment method because the same IC card can be charged repeatedly. Another advantage is that electronic money is easy for elderly and disabled people to handle as there is no need to deal with small change. Electronic money plays an important technology application in the financial section of Agribusiness.
(5) ETC system
An “ETC system” is a system for automating payment of charges on toll roads. Toll roads generate chronic traffic congestion, and the increase in costs due to traffic congestion and environmental pollution caused by exhaust fumes is becoming serious. ETC systems were developed with the aim of reducing these kinds of economic losses and preventing the traffic congestion that frequently occurs at tollgates. A contact-type IC card issued by a credit card company is used when using an ETC system. By inserting this IC card into an ETC on-board device, the user can pass through toll gates without stopping. Charges are billed later via the credit card company.
(6) GPS application system
A “GPS application system“ is a system that exactly estimates positions on the earth by obtaining electromagnetic waves from artificial satellites. Also remarked to as the “Global Positioning System” or a “global navigation satellite system.”
Developed as a military technology of the US Armed Forces, these systems are capable of calculating a receiver’s latitude, longitude, and altitude with a margin of error of between several centimeters and several dozen meters. As well as being used alone, GPS application systems are widely used in-car navigation systems and cellular phones.
Reference: Philnits (It Passport Exam Preparation Book)
