EPCglobal Hong Kong Wraps Two-Year, Multi-Company RFID Project

The VTech pilot tracked the movement of goods between the cordless phone provider's manufacturing plant in Dongguan, China, and its warehouse in Hong Kong, to ascertain how RFID could improve efficiencies in VTech's supply chain and provide Wal-Mart with the RFID data the retailer requires. The phone maker tagged the cartons with Alien Technology EPC Gen 2 tags and used Symbol XR400 Gen 2 fixed readers at the end of its Chinese factory's production line, as well as at the entrance and exit of its warehouse.

The objective was to integrate with Wal-Mart's inventory management system to reduce out-of-stocks. From August to November 2006, VTech shipped approximately 20,000 cartons of its products to Wal-Mart in 10 separate shipments. Using the EPC Network, the two companies were able to share a common platform to track shipments from the time goods left the manufacturing site until arrival in Wal-Mart's U.S. distribution centers.

Dictionary provider GSL, which makes an electronic dictionary called Instant Dict, piloted an RFID system for tracking the movement of electronic dictionaries from the company's production floor in Dongguan, China, to its warehouse in Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong. The pilot was also used to track the dictionaries to retailers in Hong Kong.

From November 2006 to March 2007, GSL shipped electronic dictionaries in 1,000 cartons tagged with Alien EPC Gen 2 RFID labels (see Electronic Dictionary Maker Spells Out RFID Plans). The company deployed Symbol XR400 fixed readers at the end of the packing department and the entrance of the quality-assurance department at GSL's factory in China, as well as the entrances and exits of the warehouse and the Hong Kong DC.

Presently, the company uses bar codes to track individual dictionaries. For the pilot, it linked the bar codes with the carton RFID tags. When the company attached EPC labels to the cartons, the bar-code and EPC numbers were updated in the EPC Network, enabling the company to use its existing infrastructure to track its products at the item level.

Another facet of the GS1 Hong Kong project included the creation of a new Supply Chain Innovation Center at the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corp., in Shatin. The supply-chain technology center, funded privately by participating companies, showcases RFID to interested companies, including manufacturers, logistics providers and retailers. The center also provides demonstrations of applications at work, as well as training programs.