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Italian Retail Pilot Quantifies RFID's Many Benefits
At the retailer's DC, tags were read at three points. The first read occurred when a pallet was received through the fixed RFID portal at the receiving door. The DC downloaded tag data collected previously by Parmacotto's RFID system using an application complying with the EPC Information Services (EPCIS) standard, then compared that information with the tag IDs read at the receiving door, thereby verifying that all goods were accounted for. New Discovery Services, Rizzi says, have been implemented to make it possible for the receiving party to automatically find and retrieve data stored in a supplier's EPCIS application.
After the cases were cross-docked and new pallets were created for delivery to the two stores, the case tags were read with handheld RFID interrogators, and aggregated to pallet-level SSCCs. The final read point was a fixed RFID portal through which the outbound pallet moved as it was being loaded onto a truck. Once again, the pallet's contents were checked for accuracy.
At the store, the case and pallet tags were interrogated at three points. The first read was performed during the receiving process, as the pallets passed a portal reader at the dock door. The second was conducted during the shelf-replenishment process, using a fixed interrogator installed in the hall that connects the store's back room with the sales floor. The system employed photoelectric cells to determine whether the tagged goods were moving on or off the retail floor. "We experienced some issue in the replenishment process," Rizzi says, adding, "The high traffic of pallets during stocking in the early morning sometimes made it difficult to understand the real movement of goods at the store, so we decided we needed a further read point."
The project's partners then added a final read point at the trash compactor. When empty cardboard cases were discarded, an interrogator mounted above the compactor read their tags, signifying that the goods were on the store shelves. "This point has proved to be a very reliable solution with almost 100 percent read accuracy," Rizzi states, "when comparing data about cases read at the trash compactor against data on cases delivered to the store."
At Auchan's DC, 100 percent of the pallet SSCC tags and 96 percent of the case SGTIN tags were read successfully by a fixed-position RFID portal. The read rate of the case tags increased to 99.4 percent by using handheld interrogators and manually checking for missing reads. The pilot showed that approximately 86 percent of pallets received were read with 100 percent accuracy—that is, all cases expected to be on each pallet were automatically read by RFID portals. Only 14 percent of the pallets shipped or received required a manual check for missing case tags.
The handheld reader displays a message informing the operator which EPCs have not been read, helping him to locate the cases on the pallet. Consequently, by utilizing handheld interrogators in conjunction with portal readers, the participants could read 100 percent of the case tags.
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After the cases were cross-docked and new pallets were created for delivery to the two stores, the case tags were read with handheld RFID interrogators, and aggregated to pallet-level SSCCs. The final read point was a fixed RFID portal through which the outbound pallet moved as it was being loaded onto a truck. Once again, the pallet's contents were checked for accuracy.
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| An RFID interrogator mounted above the trash compactor read the tags of empty cardboard cases. |
At the store, the case and pallet tags were interrogated at three points. The first read was performed during the receiving process, as the pallets passed a portal reader at the dock door. The second was conducted during the shelf-replenishment process, using a fixed interrogator installed in the hall that connects the store's back room with the sales floor. The system employed photoelectric cells to determine whether the tagged goods were moving on or off the retail floor. "We experienced some issue in the replenishment process," Rizzi says, adding, "The high traffic of pallets during stocking in the early morning sometimes made it difficult to understand the real movement of goods at the store, so we decided we needed a further read point."
The project's partners then added a final read point at the trash compactor. When empty cardboard cases were discarded, an interrogator mounted above the compactor read their tags, signifying that the goods were on the store shelves. "This point has proved to be a very reliable solution with almost 100 percent read accuracy," Rizzi states, "when comparing data about cases read at the trash compactor against data on cases delivered to the store."
At Auchan's DC, 100 percent of the pallet SSCC tags and 96 percent of the case SGTIN tags were read successfully by a fixed-position RFID portal. The read rate of the case tags increased to 99.4 percent by using handheld interrogators and manually checking for missing reads. The pilot showed that approximately 86 percent of pallets received were read with 100 percent accuracy—that is, all cases expected to be on each pallet were automatically read by RFID portals. Only 14 percent of the pallets shipped or received required a manual check for missing case tags.
The handheld reader displays a message informing the operator which EPCs have not been read, helping him to locate the cases on the pallet. Consequently, by utilizing handheld interrogators in conjunction with portal readers, the participants could read 100 percent of the case tags.
