“We’re doing the minimum, and we will continue to do the minimum.” That’s what I was told recently by an executive at a company that has been required to use radio frequency identification on products shipped to one of its largest customers. This executive, who requested anonymity, said his company is not using the data provided by its customer and doesn’t see any benefit to RFID whatsoever.
I know the attitude of this person and his company is not unique—and I find it totally befuddling. RFID has become a cost with little or no benefit to this company, yet many other companies are achieving benefits by using the RFID data provided by retailers. Why wouldn’t you want to join them?
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Perhaps this company’s CEO doesn’t believe the benefits are real, or perhaps he doesn’t know what benefits can be achieved from using RFID data. Yet RFID is delivering value for companies in many industries.
Companies looking to offset the cost of tagging goods and potentially achieve a return on their RFID investment can learn how other companies use Electronic Product Code technology to achieve real business benefits at EPC Connection 2007, a Chicago-based conference and exhibition we are producing with EPCglobal North America on Oct. 2-4. It’s interesting to note that some companies that adopted RFID were not required to do so. Here’s a sampling of the companies that will present case studies—you can view the complete EPC Connection agenda online:
- Handleman Company, a DVD distributor, has integrated RFID tagging at a distribution center and is tracking DVDs through the supply chain, delivering benefits to itself, manufacturers and retailers.
- Megatrux, a group of individual transportation corporations, is tagging and tracking cases and pallets bound for Wal-Mart facilities. The group has improved internal shipping accuracies and expects to see a return on investment within 14 months.
- Shaw Industries, a carpet and rug supplier, is tagging and tracking products between its regional and central distribution centers. The closed-loop system cut distribution costs by associating the products with paperwork for truck drivers transporting the rugs.
- Northrup Grumman has reduced manufacturing costs by using RFID to identify and track damaged composite parts.
- is using EPC data to identify when its retail partner fails to put promotional displays out on time—and in so doing, it has improved promotion execution by 20 percent.
- Cephalon, a pharmaceutical company, is tagging cases and pallets of Fentora, a cancer treatment drug, to fight counterfeiting and improve its outbound product tracking.
- Excel, a logistics company, is using EPC technology to track goods flowing from the port of Shanghai to mainland United States, providing increased supply-chain visibility for its customers.
RFID is delivering benefits across many industries today. In fact, so many apparel and footwear manufacturers and retailers are achieving real business benefits from RFID that we’ve devoted an entire event to it. The RFID Journal—AAFA Apparel & Footwear Summit features case studies from Dillard’s, New Balance, Esquel, Lemmi Fashion, Falabella, Nick Tentis and others. They will share how they are improving manufacturing, supply-chain and in-store operations.
The benefits, of course, are not limited to companies in North America. In many areas, European companies are ahead of their U.S. counterparts in using RFID to drive business value. Early adopters in a wide range of industries across Europe are also realizing benefits from RFID. RFID Journal LIVE! Europe 2007 has case studies from Airbus, Container Centralen, DHL, Metro, Rolls-Royce, Sony, Vicaima, Volvo and others.
Perhaps one reason companies are reluctant to explore the benefits of RFID is because they believe it’s an all-or-nothing technology—that is, you have to deploy it either throughout your operations, or not at all. Nothing could be further from the truth. The success stories being presented at our fall events almost always involve target applications with limited investments. Once these applications deliver value, the reader infrastructure can often be used to add additional benefits at little or no incremental cost.
With so much evidence that RFID can benefit companies of almost any size, and in any industry, it’s hard to comprehend why some executives are still reluctant to educate themselves about the technology.
Mark Roberti is the founder and editor of RFID Journal. If you would like to comment on this article, click on the link below.