December 20, 2005
RFID implementations
Marks and Spencer, which was one of the early adopters of RFID, has scanned ten million RFID-tagged food trays. Almost 90% of the food supply-chain of M&S is RFID-enabled. This allows simultaneous of food trays originating with different suppliers. The M&S supply chain has around 4500 food trays that travel to and fro between 100 suppliers. The data provided by the RFID tags has increased the speed, efficiency, and accuracy of the procurement process.
The data collected is used to confirm deliveries and automate procurement four times more quickly than previous barcode scanning methods, with 100 per cent accuracy. M&S has extended its RFID program to cover clothing items as well; the company hopes to benefit from the tagging of items such as men’s suits and bras.
Collecting information on the stock is done by using handheld readers and the process is twenty times quicker than conventional stocktaking methods. M&S intends to fine-tune the technology as much as possible before trialing it in 53 stores from the spring of 2006. Garment suppliers of M&S have been mandated to add a passive RFID tag and a bar code to the price tag.
Ikea implemented RFID for tracking the trolleys it used for its home-delivery operations. The tagged trolleys can be tracked from the distribution center to the destination of delivery and their return to the Ikea distribution center. Furniture retailer Ikea is using RFID tags to track the trolleys used in its home-delivery operation, from processing an order in its customer distribution centre to delivering via a third-party logistics supplier that returns the trolleys to the Ikea depot.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is using RFID tags in its R&D department. This has enabled scientists working in the labs to control the mixing of the chemical ingredients in a precise manner. The company feels that item-level tagging can serve useful purpose in compliance related matters. Most of the RFID-related projects have been closed-loop. This is because different vendors use different technologies and standard definitions, which makes it difficult for a company to control the environment of the trial.
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