The birth of ALDI SOUTH IT
In 1968, the digital age at ALDI SOUTH begins with the acquisition of the first IBM mainframe computer. It was an eventful year for the company in many respects, followed by several milestones.
1968 was an eventful year. In the USA, thousands take to the streets to protest against the Vietnam War while the student movements reach their peak in Germany and go down in history books as the 1968 movement. The flower power generation preaches free love and the “Prague Spring” is put down in the former CSSR.
As tragic as many events in world history were in 1968, the year is however significant in a positive sense for ALDI SOUTH. Not only did the family business take over the Austrian Hofer chain of 30 stores that year, laying the foundation for a worldwide expansion that has now reached a peak with thousands of stores on four continents. No, 1968 also marks the beginning of the digital age at ALDI SOUTH when a central mainframe computer is introduced for the first time with the IBM 1130. A monstrous device from today’s point of view, whose keyboard was operated by a golf ball typewriter and ejected punched cards.
But the IBM proved its worth and from then on things moved very quickly. Seven years later, the IBM 5120 with an 8-inch disk drive followed, with which the ALDI SOUTH regional corporate offices were also equipped. Finally, in 1982, the company began switching from IBM to PC.
In 1995, ALDI SOUTH itself revolutionised the computer market: the group of companies offered high-tech PCs as special offers, making them accessible to many consumers for the first time. The company itself employed four IT employees at this time.
With the euro begins the age of scanning
Further milestones follow, such as the introduction of “mini networks” (1999), scanning at the tills with the introduction of the euro (2001), AS@R and EC card payment in Germany (2005) and the switch to standard software (2015). ALDI SOUTH IT had already been distributed over three sites in 2013.
Today, nothing would work at ALDI SOUTH worldwide if it was not for the IT department and its employees. The number of employees is constantly growing, with about 2,800 IT colleagues currently working for us. They work with the latest technologies, whether from SAP, Adobe or Salesforce, and form the backbone behind the most complex processes such as customer interaction and logistics and in all departments from Stores and Assortment to Purchasing and Finance & Administration.