Reporting for Duty
Manufacturers and retailers are using reporting and analytics software to capitalize on the newfound visibility that RFID provides.
By Mary Catherine O'Connor
Product promotions can boost sales—if they are executed correctly and on schedule. But often retailers don't receive promotional display materials on time, or the displays sit in the back of stores when manufacturers are advertising the promotional products. Now RFID reporting and analytics software from Infosys, OATSystems, TrueDemand, TR3 Solutions and T3Ci can help retailers and suppliers improve product promotions, as well as reduce out-of-stocks and forecast sales. The software can also monitor the transit times of RFID-tagged goods from manufacturers' facilities to RFID-enabled distribution centers and retail stores.
Until recently, it's been difficult for manufacturers that are RFID-tagging pallets and cases for retail customers to get any real business benefits from RFID data. Initially, retailers supplied raw data—the date and time Electronic Product Codes were read—through their extranets. Manufacturers had to download the data, usually into an Excel spreadsheet, and try to make sense of it. But it wasn't always clear where or in what business process the tags were read, and the volume of data became overwhelming as the number of RFID-enabled stores increased.
In 2005, EPCglobal's Data-Exchange Working Group came up with a standardized way to share data. XML software codes would be attached to EPC data, indicating where and when a tag was read, at which store or DC, what business step was involved and more. That enabled software companies to develop applications end users could use to interpret the data—for example, a pallet was shipped from DC 1 to store 35, or a case was moved from the back of store 35 to the sales floor.
Product promotions can boost sales—if they are executed correctly and on schedule. But often retailers don't receive promotional display materials on time, or the displays sit in the back of stores when manufacturers are advertising the promotional products. Now RFID reporting and analytics software from Infosys, OATSystems, TrueDemand, TR3 Solutions and T3Ci can help retailers and suppliers improve product promotions, as well as reduce out-of-stocks and forecast sales. The software can also monitor the transit times of RFID-tagged goods from manufacturers' facilities to RFID-enabled distribution centers and retail stores.
Until recently, it's been difficult for manufacturers that are RFID-tagging pallets and cases for retail customers to get any real business benefits from RFID data. Initially, retailers supplied raw data—the date and time Electronic Product Codes were read—through their extranets. Manufacturers had to download the data, usually into an Excel spreadsheet, and try to make sense of it. But it wasn't always clear where or in what business process the tags were read, and the volume of data became overwhelming as the number of RFID-enabled stores increased.
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| Reporting and analytics software can help manufacturers and retailers capitalize on RFID's newfound visibility. |
In 2005, EPCglobal's Data-Exchange Working Group came up with a standardized way to share data. XML software codes would be attached to EPC data, indicating where and when a tag was read, at which store or DC, what business step was involved and more. That enabled software companies to develop applications end users could use to interpret the data—for example, a pallet was shipped from DC 1 to store 35, or a case was moved from the back of store 35 to the sales floor.
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