The VICS Item Level RFID Initiative (VILRI), a group composed of retail supply chain participants and organizations aimed at standardizing deployment of item-level RFID tagging, has established plans to publish a road map by mid 2012 that retailers, suppliers and solution providers can follow for implementing RFID systems.
The Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Solutions Association (VICS) spearheaded VILRI’s formation more than a year ago. VICS’ mission is focused on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the retail supply chain. In June 2010, the association—together with standards organizations GS1 US and GS1 Canada—established the VILRI, and officially announcing its creation five months later (see Major Retailers, Industry Groups Launch Item-Level RFID Guidelines Initiative and Item Level RFID Initiative Focuses on Supplier Benefits).
The founding members of VILRI—which include Levi Strauss, Jockey, VF Jeanswear, The Jones Group and Macy’s, Wal-Mart, JC Penney and Dillard’s—were intent on meeting the needs of retailers and their suppliers as they adopted RFID tagging of products. The adoption of item-level RFID technology has grown, as retailers and their suppliers seek to increase inventory accuracy, reduce out-of-stocks and prevent loss. Today VILRI membership consists of nearly 200 organizations, including many of VICS’ 160 members.
“The best way to describe this initiative is the bringing together of retailers, suppliers, associations, academic institutions and solution providers under the umbrella of VICS to develop collaborative adoption of a standard [for item level RFID tagging],” says Bill Connell, cochair of VILRI’s Communications & Outreach committee and senior VP of Macy’s logistics and operations.
During its first year, VILRI organized three separate committees (namely “Communications and Outreach,” “Business Case and Value Proposition” and “Getting Started”) and launched proof-of-concept trials by Macy’s Dillard’s and JC Penney at a laboratory operated by the University of Arkansas’ RFID Research Center, as well as in select stores.
Now, the VILRI has embarked on Phase II, which includes the recent formation of a fourth committee—a group consisting of RFID technology providers that could pay to sponsor the program and in return will have input into RFID standards decisions.
The primary goal of Phase II is to provide a set of recommendations for RFID acceptance in the retail industry by mid 2012. Last week, VILRI formally announced its support for tags complying with EPC RFID standards, although, Connell says, the choice of EPC as a standard had been assumed. Following the work of all four committees, the VILRI will release a road map within the next 12 months to advise practices for RFID tagging, serialization and sharing data. By that time, says Connell, “you’ll see companies no longer talking about pilots but focusing more on adoption.” The road map, he says, “will certainly accelerate the deployment curve.”
In the meantime, a number of VICS members are already installing RFID technology, including Macy’s, with multi-store pilots underway, Connell says, that involve several product lines, although he declines to provide specifics. “We’re working to understand systemic and operational requirements for the use of this technology with an eye toward staying aligned with the VICS initiative,” he says. Macy’s, with a focus on replenishment in apparel and footwear, has representatives working on both the Business Case and Getting Started committees. “We [Macy’s] believe the technology can absolutely enable more frequent cycle counting,” Connell says, ultimately resulting in more frequent inventory tracking and, consequently, more accurate and efficient replenishment.
As part of the phase two of the initiative, each of the three committees is expanding its efforts to create the 2012 roadmap. The VILRI Communications & Outreach committee intends to create a Web site and social networking access to bring information to social media users. The committee will also hold executive roundtable meetings with executives in companies that may be adopting RFID technology, to engage companies at a higher executive level, Connell says.
The Business Case committee is identifying more use cases of RFID technology, including inventory and replenishment and intends to examine loss prevention and customer services use cases in the future.
The Getting Started committee’s cochair, Paul Arguin (formerly Conair/USA ID’s director of technology and engineering), says his group is working on several initiatives at once, and as recommendations become available, they will be released, perhaps ahead of the 2012 road map release. The Getting Started committee, he says, which is working closely with the Business Case group, was organized “for those people who understand that RFID is going to happen but don’t know how to get it started.” The committee is broken into three subcommittees: the “Tag Application, Identification and Serialization” (TAIS), “Data Capture and Tag Performance” and, most recently, “Data Sharing.
TAIS is reviewing best practices already in use and determining details such as where to place tags on products based on the products’ form factor as well as whether they are displayed on hangers or placed on shelves and what environment they will be in. The subcommittee focuses on recommending a system that would eliminate the risk of duplicate ID numbers and instead providing methodology for assigning ID numbers to tags. It is seeking both short- and long-term solutions to the problem, which is of great concern to retailers, says Arguin. Although there have been no major problems reported yet related to duplicate serial numbers of RFID tags, the potential worries those who might then have to identify duplicate serial numbers, seek out all the duplicates and then make changes to the IDs even as the products have already entered the supply chain.
TAIS’ short-term solutions could include assigning specific prefixes for specific service bureaus (which provide RFID labels and numbering to suppliers of goods sold in retail stores), thereby helping to ensure that another service bureau didn’t use duplicate numbers. “We’re trying to find a solution to that very quickly and in some respects,” he says “we’re more advanced than the overall road map planned for 2012. Some things will be quicker than others and announcements will be made (accordingly),” he says.
The Data Capture and Tag Performance subcommittee is working with RFID chip and inlay manufacturers, as well as the University of Arkansas’ RFID Research Center to identify how tags behave in different environments and guide the development of tags for products now and in the future. The RFID Research Center recently established the Arkansas Radio Compliance Center (see Arkansas Radio Compliance Center Aims to Avert Clashing Requirements) to test RFID technology and share the results with technology providers, retailers and suppliers to ensure the right tags are placed on the right products to ensure the best reads.
The Data Sharing work subcommittee is working with GS1 US on the EPCIS software system designed for sharing data with multiple supply chain members.
At the same time, the VILRI chairs are seeking more members for their committees, which would benefit from both retail and supplier membership, says Arguin. Members pay no fee to join, although technology providers who join the solution providers advisory council will pay through a tiered sponsorship program.