Well-planned, Zebra helps Sanderson pipeline products to successfully implement RFID solutions
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challenge
Sanderson Plumbing Products is a leading global supplier of bathroom fashion products located in Columbus, Mississippi, dedicated to the research and development of high-end bathroom related products. LSanderson Plumbing Products makes full use of its various resources to develop an extremely efficient RFID compliance labeling plan. When Wal-Mart told the company that it needed to apply RFID smart tags to the shipping process on January 1, 2007, Sanderson did not have any RFID experience and the implementation of this plan also required a large budget. Sanderson did not have time to plan and immediately adopt a forward-looking approach to establishing freight labeling systems. These systems need to be tested several months before the deadline and everything is ready.
Tony Harper, Director of Information Systems at Sanderson Plumbing Products, said: “After understanding our RFID compliance requirements, our main concern is: How can we meet the requirements without spending a lot of money?”
In August 2004, Harper and his colleague Allen Bennett (Supervisor of Materials Management) began their research on RFID. Bennett said: “We want to keep the existing processes as unaffected as possible, and hope that the warehouse management system can create RFID tags like barcode labels. This sounds easy, but it’s not.”
In the following 18 months, they participated in various conferences and manufacturer exhibitions, read articles in countless industry journals, conducted research via the Internet, and conducted field trips to a large number of RFID projects. After studying freight labeling systems already installed by other manufacturers, Harper and Bennett’s main concern is that the new system will affect existing processes and systems. Harper said: “I visited some companies that have deployed slap-and-ship RFID labeling systems. Most companies isolate their RFID order processing process, and their labeling process is still manual. We I think I can do better.”
solution
Sanderson’s warehouse management system uses Visual Warehouse (Visual Warehouse) L developed by KARE Technologies (KARE Technologies), which can automatically manage barcode label printing for goods delivery. Before shipping, the RFID-tagged goods need to be verified. In addition, Sanderson hopes that the process should be the same for all orders processed in the Mississippi warehouse.
Sanderson hopes to find a solution provider who is experienced in RFID implementation and can integrate the new system with its WMS (Warehouse Management System). By launching its RFID project more than a year before the deadline for implementing compliance labeling requirements, Sanderson has a thorough understanding of requirements and can evaluate solution providers accordingly.
Harper said: “If you have deployed a warehouse management or other software system, the main task is to transfer the data read by the RFID reader into the system. Initially, we had to struggle to determine what functions we need to obtain from the middleware. Many middleware functions are not what we really need. One thing we often mention is: we don’t understand why we spend so much money and material resources just to transfer data from the reader to the system.”
Careful evaluation allowed Sanderson to obtain a system that matched its workflow and budget. Sanderson chose Mid-South Marking Systems, a well-known printing solution integrator and one of the leading partners of Zebra Technology in the United States. The company is mainly dedicated to providing solutions including barcode printers, printing software, scanners and other hardware and software elements. The company L has integrated its Portal TrackL software with Zebra Technologies’ R110Xi printer/encoder and fixed-position reader to create a compliant labeling and verification system that is almost seamless To adapt to Sanderson’s business operations.
Zebra Technologies’ R110Xi printer/encoder is mounted on a lightweight, wirelessly connected trolley next to Sanderson’s original barcode label printer. The staff picks the labels and pastes them on the boxes, everything is as they did in the past, but for Wal-Mart orders, WMS (Warehouse Management System) will transfer the label work to the R110Xi printer/encoder. Bennett commented: “Compared with the previous operators having to go to a centralized location to pick labels, using such a trolley saves us a lot of manpower.”
Sanderson prepares goods in accordance with Wal-Mart’s orders by constructing pallet units that comply with Wal-Mart’s specifications. Later, the staff used the required RFID tags for each container and pallet. Because Sanderson’s existing WMS process created an electronic document for each order, it listed the SKU number, the number of each SKU in the pallet, and the unique Pallet number, therefore, the integration of RFID container and pallet tag can be more easily introduced into WMS. Through collaboration with Mid-South Marking and KARE Technologies, Sanderson has obtained a system that requires few changes to its existing WMS (Warehouse Management System).
Although Wal-Mart has gradually implemented RFID solutions in its warehouses, not every warehouse order requires RFID. Under normal circumstances, when the staff at the shipping site do not know which orders require RFID, problems may arise. Therefore, Sanderson includes a table in the WMS (Warehouse Management System), which can automatically transfer the label printing job to RFID printer or original printer. This step ensures that for warehouses that support RFID, all ordered items have been tagged.
The processing method of RFID orders is basically similar to other orders, but if RFID tags are required, the staff will use the portable printer on the wirelessly connected trolley to print the required tags. When printing RFID labels for each box on each pallet, there is no need to uniformly print in large quantities. You can print labels on demand, and print one box at a time according to the pallet. The wireless scanning of the identification bar code of each pallet corresponds to the detailed form in the WMS (Warehouse Management System), and the RFID print job can be sent to the printer on the portable trolley.
The RFID tag includes the required EPC data and readable text, which details the SKU number and unique cargo box number. The staff can take out one RFID label from the Zebra R110Xi printer/encoder at a time and paste it on the box, just pay attention to the SKU number in the RFID label to match the number in the existing box label. Before moving the portable trolley to the next pallet, the previous pallets must be labeled. WMS (Warehouse Management System) will monitor the label printing process of each pallet according to the order, and will not allow staff to complete the order electronically until all RFID labels are printed.
The completed RFID pallet will be moved to the stretch packaging station where it will be scanned by a fixed position reader as the pallet rotates in the carousel. Through this technology, multi-angle, large-scale reading can be realized. The portal can read all EPC-compliant container tags in the pallet. Mid-South’s Portal Track software L can process the read data and compare it with the order information in the warehouse management system. Order errors or label problems can be detected immediately. If the box on the pallet does not belong to this order, the operator can be notified to take the box away. If the box is unlabeled or the smart label cannot be read, Portal Track will generate a label request and send it via Sanderson’s wireless LAN to the wireless Zebra printer/encoder installed at the stretch packaging station. To use replacement tags, operators only need to view the serial number instead of scanning each RFID tag to determine which tag needs to be replaced.
Bennett said: “We don’t have to print many replacement labels. When we went on site, we found many label quality problems, but for us, this is no longer a problem. We decided to standardize according to Zebra’s specifications because they produce excellent products. Of industrial printers can fully adapt to our environment. They have taken the lead in the field of RFID, which is very important.”
Zebra printers/encoders can verify that the smart labels they print are readable and have been correctly encoded. If an RFID inlay cannot be encoded, a large “VOID” (eliminate) will be printed on the label, and a replacement label can be automatically generated. Mid-South Marking takes full advantage of R110Xi’s programmable ZPL printer command language to create a PortalTrack application to monitor printer/encoder activity and collect statistics about the application and the number of good and bad labels generated.
result
The business continues as usual until the deadline when the compliance label must be used, which means that Sanderson Plumbing Products has achieved its goal of having the least impact on existing business operations. Sanderson’s new system will be operational in December 2006. Labels will be printed and shipped for about 16 SKU goods. If there are more products or Wal-Mart’s distribution center requires the goods to be labeled, Sanderson is ready to expand the new system at any time.
Bennett, the company’s director of supply chain operations, said: “We hope everything goes well. After the introduction of RFID technology, the work carried out will not be much different from what our employees are currently doing. Our RFID order processing does not have to be the same as the current There is a disconnection in the system, and orders do not need to be processed manually. Before shipment, we don’t have to drag the goods aside to stick smart labels. These are important goals that we have achieved.”
Taking the time to understand the existing process and figure out how to match RFID with the existing system is a key success factor. Partners who are committed to integrating with Sanderson’s systems and processes, rather than simply selling their complete, pre-defined systems are also critical. This will help Sanderson find a solution that fits his budget.
Harper concluded: “You can determine the scale of investment (either more or less) according to your needs in order to transmit RFID data to the software system. Some of the middleware costs we see are 5 percent of the cost of developing the entire system. To 6 times.”
About Zebra Technologies
Zebra Technologies Corporation (Nasdaq stock code: ZBRA) is committed to satisfying their needs for business improvement and security applications by providing reliable and innovative on-demand printing solutions to customers in more than 100 countries or regions around the world need. More than 90% of the Fortune 500 companies use Zebra brand printers. Zebra brand thermal barcode, “smart” label and receipt printers, and plastic card printers have a wide range of application advantages, which can enhance safety, increase productivity, improve quality, reduce costs, and provide better customer service. The company has sold more than 5 million printers including RFID printers/encoders and wireless mobile solutions. It also provides related software, connection solutions and printing supplies.Zebra’s dedicated printing solutions are available from www.zebra.com.cn
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