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Tracking Totes With RFID Gives Co-Op Fast Results
When an order is received at a DC, the staff locates the items, packs them in totes, inputs the order number into co-op's back-end database on a PC and drives them through an RFID portal made by RFID reader manufacturer Sirit as the totes are loaded onto a truck. Each distribution center also has an in-bound Sirit reader portal, used to interrogate the tags attached to empty totes as they are received at the DCs. "The totes can be unloaded from trucks and pass through an RFID portal at a rate of up to 80 stacked totes at a time," Wright says.
The out-bound interrogators forward the tag ID numbers of filled totes through a cable connection to co-op's LAN, to Skillweb's Web-based software system, along with the date, time and location in which they are being loaded and their destination. That data is associated with the stock-keeping unit (SKU) numbers of the products packed within the totes, and stored on Skillweb's managed servers. The co-op's managers view the data through Skillweb's Web services. In-bound readers then capture the RFID numbers as the empty totes arrive at the DC, signaling the system that the totes have been returned.
The stores do not yet have RFID interrogators. Rather, a written receipt of the specific totes is recorded and manually entered into the Skillweb system once the shipment has been received. Empty totes are then shipped back to the DC and again scanned by the RFID portal readers, confirming that the containers were returned.
In the past, stores were able to claim they had already sent the totes back to the DC. However, the RFID system provides The Co-operative Group with automatic records as to whether the containers have been returned. If a store doesn't return its empty totes, it is charged for them. Thus, although stores occasionally reported not receiving specific items or totes in the past, or that they had already shipped them back to the DC (when, in fact, they had not), the RFID system makes it simpler for co-op to confirm that a specific tote and the items within left the DC, and that the empty tote was received (or not received) later at one its DCs.
"The key to the system is visibility of the distribution of the totes and their return back to the warehouse," Wright states. The ROI, he notes, comes from not utilizing one-use cardboard boxes, as well as reducing the theft of containers' contents. The system cost £62,600 ($123,000) and is projected to save the organization £123,000 ($244,000) over the course of three years. That savings includes £14,000 ($28,000) in one year by not using cardboard, £5,000 ($10,000) per year in reduction of theft and £22,000 ($44,000) per year in reduced manpower.
"Creating an RFID solution is an art form," Wright says. "There are multiple factors and features that have to be considered—from the product that needs to be tracked, to the data flow and resulting management intelligence. Hardware manufacturers should stop the hype," he says, citing claims that RFID, in and of itself, can solve all supply chain problems, "and let professional integrators get on with their jobs."
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The out-bound interrogators forward the tag ID numbers of filled totes through a cable connection to co-op's LAN, to Skillweb's Web-based software system, along with the date, time and location in which they are being loaded and their destination. That data is associated with the stock-keeping unit (SKU) numbers of the products packed within the totes, and stored on Skillweb's managed servers. The co-op's managers view the data through Skillweb's Web services. In-bound readers then capture the RFID numbers as the empty totes arrive at the DC, signaling the system that the totes have been returned.
The stores do not yet have RFID interrogators. Rather, a written receipt of the specific totes is recorded and manually entered into the Skillweb system once the shipment has been received. Empty totes are then shipped back to the DC and again scanned by the RFID portal readers, confirming that the containers were returned.
In the past, stores were able to claim they had already sent the totes back to the DC. However, the RFID system provides The Co-operative Group with automatic records as to whether the containers have been returned. If a store doesn't return its empty totes, it is charged for them. Thus, although stores occasionally reported not receiving specific items or totes in the past, or that they had already shipped them back to the DC (when, in fact, they had not), the RFID system makes it simpler for co-op to confirm that a specific tote and the items within left the DC, and that the empty tote was received (or not received) later at one its DCs.
"Creating an RFID solution is an art form," Wright says. "There are multiple factors and features that have to be considered—from the product that needs to be tracked, to the data flow and resulting management intelligence. Hardware manufacturers should stop the hype," he says, citing claims that RFID, in and of itself, can solve all supply chain problems, "and let professional integrators get on with their jobs."
