Allied Electronics Blog

Long-time ANDI user Stewart's Shops"™ latest addition is no flavor of the week. This one's in it for the long haul.

Stewart's recently became Allied's first customer to replace legacy ANDI units with the powerful AEGIS Site Controller. AEGIS combines the speed and reliability of NeXGen with the power and convenience of Windows POS READY 7 or WES 7, or Windows Embedded Industry 8.

Stewart's Shops has been an ANDI user since 2003 and patiently waited for a solution that best suited their needs. The company began the rollout at the beginning of the year and hopes to have it completed by February 2017.

Today, Stewart's has over 330 locations, more than 280 of which sell fuel.

One of the features that attracted Stewart's to AEGIS is the separate Windows POS Ready 7 operating system, which allows them to run selected applications directly on the controller itself.

"The flexibility of the AEGIS gives Stewart's the ability to use a solid state drive with a Windows operating system in parallel with the NeXGen platform," said Pat Suprenant, Fuel Operations Manager for Stewart's Shops. "This allows us to run 3rd party and custom Windows applications on the AEGIS box instead of running them on our existing POS system and without the need to purchase new hardware."

Stewart's uses Pinnacle's Palm point-of-sale and has been working with Allied to customize a Windows image that will allow the company to run some of Palm's modules directly on the AEGIS itself.

The intention of the Windows side of the processor is to offer an open platform driven completely by the needs and requirements of Allied's customers and merchants.

The benefits of this can include fewer devices on the network which not only has cost saving advantages, but can also de-couple hardware and software from one's PCI scope "“ welcome news for those involved in the PA-DSS validation process.

AEGIS provides a sensible migration path for Stewart's "“ as the company can roll peripherals including the POS and tank gauge along with the site controller all into one box. This also creates a smaller equipment footprint at a time when every square foot of a brick and mortar facility is analyzed for maximum efficiency.

Stewart's Shops can trace its roots back almost a century to a dairy farm in upstate New York. To survive that long in this industry requires unparalleled business acumen and strong leadership.

When a company like Stewart's Shops continually turns to Allied Electronics for its forecourt needs, it speaks to the quality and integrity of both companies.

Contact Allied Electronics for more information regarding the AEGIS controller.