Ed. Note: This article was previously posted at IoP Journal.
Via Marte Calçados, a large Brazilian shoe factory, has expanded its use of GS1‘s global standards to insert labels with radio frequency identification technology into its products, and to thus adapt the factory store’s e-commerce process to the services of the new Correios logistics platform for customers. Correios serves as an international RFID laboratory for the Universal Postal Union (UPU). The shoe pilot, headquartered in the Brazilian city of Nova Hartz, Rio Grande do Sul State, allows the identification of large quantities of products in less time than would be possible with barcodes, thereby eliminating delivery errors.
“It was very easy to add RFID tags to our products, as we had adopted the SGTIN standard from GS1 as early as 2016,” says Ivair Kautzmann, an information technology executive at Via Marte. Without standards, he explains, technology would hardly be used with the high levels of efficiency that his company has achieved. “Up to the gates of our factories, we have firm processes involving the certification of picking and the assembly of the dispatch list delivered to the logistics operator. But until the goods arrive at the destination, we continue to have problems—in particular, those related to the exchange of volumes by the transporter.”
Ivair Kautzmann
The company produces five million pairs of shoes per year, Kautzmann says, and providing logistics excellence effectively involves total traceability and the interoperability of all stages. “We decided to test GS1-standard RFID as an additional verification of everything that involves Via Marte’s e-commerce, so that it reaches its destination without any errors.” Thus, the pilot project with Correios stimulated the implementation of RFID technology in the volumes dispatched to all logistics operators. “The global identification standard is the key to success as data can flow without error.”
In partnership with Correios, GS1 offers the identification of posted objects with two standards: the SGTIN and the SSCC. Identification is carried out using RFID tags with automatic reading, which allows the identification, tracking and management of items individually or in batches, reducing errors in manual reading of loads using barcodes.
Ricardo Verza Amaral Melo
“The RFID tag-reading antennas, located at the exit door of the goods warehouse, ensure that 100 percent of what was generated in the orders is being forwarded correctly,” Kautzmann says, noting that if any object is being dispatched by mistake, the system will warn users of the error. “If we dispatch 50 objects with tracking codes informed in the PLP, these 50 objects are those that must enter the post office vehicle. No more or less items, not even goods that are dispatched by another Via Marte logistics operator, pass through the door.”
Ricardo Verza Amaral Melo, an executive at GS1 Brazil, says the traffic of information with the accuracy of RFID ensures not only agility and end-to-end savings, but also security for the final consumer. “The quality of the data also contributes to the management to avoid losses and increase productivity,” he states.
In addition to the above process advantages, Via Marte has also reduced costs with its use of RFID for orders shipped through the post office, which offers a financial stimulus for those who adopt RFID, with discounted rates. “We did this calculation,” Kautzmann says, “and the opportunity becomes interesting from the point of view of cost reduction.” The savings generated by the new Correios service, he adds, cover the cost of Via Marte’s purchase of RFID tags.
The implementation of the entire pilot, Kautzmann says, did not present any complexity, as the company has a history of using serialized identification. “We have been affiliated with GS1 Brazil since 1997 and we are already familiar with the standards,” he states. “For those just starting out, GS1 has a very easy and explanatory technical manual that makes implementing RFID a breeze.” Correios has also prepared a specific website about the RFID ordering system, he says. Click here to watch the full interviews in Portuguese.
