chrispeng [ad_1]
The largest mutual retail company in the UK, the Co-operative Group, has deployed RFID systems in 500 convenience stores in the north of the UK to track tobacco, alcohol and other high-value, easily stolen goods. The RFID installation was carried out in October 2007. In 2006, the group also carried out another RFID pilot project, which achieved a return on investment within six months.
The cooperative group decided to study the ability to use RFID to improve the visibility of shipments. These goods were delivered to 500 convenience stores in the UK, they were packed in a single box and the quantity was small. This is different from goods that are transported out of large metal boxes filled with cartons. These small-value goods are very easy to lose, or be unloaded by mistake, or stolen while circulating in the company’s supply chain.
RFID system strengthens the security of goods in convenience stores
In 2006, United Co-operatives (after merging with the cooperative group and becoming another cooperative retailer), in order to prevent the theft of high-value and small goods, used sealed and unmarked plastic totes to replace the goods. A large metal box that is easy for thieves to see and identify the goods. However, there will still be losses in this way, not only the high-priced goods in the totes, but also the totes are no longer returned from the retail point, and are lost together.
In order to solve this problem, United Cooperation Co., Ltd. asked SkillWeb, a professional company in supply chain solutions, to provide an RFID system that can track a single tote. SkillWeb attaches passive UHF EPC Gen 2 RFID tags to each of the plastic totes in the company’s distribution center (RFID radio frequency bulletin: Talke Pits and Bradford in Staffordshire). These tags are made by UPM Blue. Made in Thailand. Then write a unique ID number in each tag. Rehrig, a Virginia manufacturer, provided a tote box with a size of 3×2×2 feet.
“In the pilot phase, we just read tags.” Skillweb manager Chris Wright said: “However, with the advancement of technology, there are better readers and tags, and we also know how to coordinate the system to get the most benefit. It was a success.”
Now the RFID system is no longer a pilot. It has been fully installed in the Talke Pits distribution center of the cooperative group. At the same time, the same RFID system is being installed in Bradford’s equipment. Wright hopes to have more installations. “What we did for the cooperative group was to see where and how this solution could work,” Wright said, but he declined to give further details. When the distribution center receives the order, the employees locate the goods and then put them in the totes. When the tote is loaded into the truck, the order number can be entered into the cooperative’s back-end database in the computer, and then the tote can be driven through the RFID access control manufactured by RFID reader manufacturer Sirit. Each distribution center has an access type Sirit reader access control. When the empty tote is sent back to the distribution center, the label attached to it can be scanned. “Unload these totes from the truck and pass through the RFID access control at a rate of 80 totes at a time.” Wright said.
Through the cable connected to the cooperative network, the outgoing reader transmits the tag ID number of the tote that has been filled with goods, and transmits it to Skillweb’s network-based software system. At the same time, it also transmits the date and time of loading and arrival of the goods. And location. This data is related to the smallest inventory unit of the goods in the tote, and is stored in the management server of Skillweb. The access type reader/writer obtains the RFID number when the empty tote arrives at the distribution center and marks in the system that the tote has been recovered.
Convenience stores do not have RFID readers. When the goods are received, a receipt record for this specific tote is written by hand, and then manually entered into the Skillweb system. When the empty box is sent to the distribution center, the RFID access control reader scans it to confirm that the empty tote has been returned.
In the past, convenience stores always argued that they had returned the totes to the distribution center. The RFID system allows the cooperative group to have an electronic record of whether the container has been returned. If the convenience store does not return the empty totes, they can be punished. In the past, some stores occasionally reported that they did not receive the goods or totes, or that they have sent the totes back to the distribution center (RFID RF Express Note: Actually not), the RFID system allows the cooperative to determine whether a tote leaving the distribution center is Received, or whether the empty tote was sent back to the distribution center.
“The key to this system is the visibility of the delivery of totes and their return to the warehouse.” Wright reminded, “The return on investment comes from not using disposable cardboard boxes and reducing the theft rate. This system costs £62,600, but Saved 123,000 pounds for the group, including 14,000 pounds saved by not using cardboard for a year, and reduced theft value by 5,000 pounds each year and reduced labor costs by 22,000 pounds.
“Taking an RFID solution is a form of art.” Wright said, “There are many factors and characteristics to consider, such as products that need to be tracked, but also data circulation and management methods.”
[ad_2]
