chrispeng [ad_1]
Nilorn Group, a manufacturer of apparel labels, developed an RFID self-service product display for sports apparel company Craft of Scandinavia. Craft hopes to use the system to track inventory in its retail stores. Per Wagnas, deputy director of Nilorn’s retail information system, said Craft has been testing the system at the Nilorn showroom in Gothenburg, Sweden, using a mobile test kit since September.
This project tested a range of RFID readers, antennas, software and tags. If the project goes well, Wagnas said, Craft will install the system in all stores in Sweden that sell its products. In mid-December, Craft will hold a meeting to discuss the results of the tests and plans for the adoption of the RFID system. “We will have test racks installed in stores in spring 2008,” Wagnas said.
Shelves are installed on the wardrobe where clothes are hung, and the wardrobe is also equipped with an RFID reader and two RFID antennas. Each garment is packaged with an EPC Gen 2 passive UHF RFID tag.
Craft sells a wide range of sporting goods in several retail stores across Sweden. The company employs two dedicated salespeople to visit each store on a regular basis to record the inventory of items on-shelf and items that need to be restocked; and to record the size, color, and model of the restocked clothing. Using RFID technology, Craft can see the inventory status of each store without employees visiting the store in person.
The hangers developed by Nilorn include an embedded RFID reader that can read the ID numbers of clothing tags on display racks. RFID tags provided by RFID Constructors are also printed with barcodes that can be scanned at the checkout. Craft staff affix labels to the packaging of each garment, and the label’s ID number corresponds to the garment’s color, size and price on a web server.
RFID smart display stand
The reader (also provided by RFID Constructors) is mounted under the hanger system, and the two antennas are mounted on the hanger. A reader can have up to four antennas, Wagnas said, and Nilorn hopes a four-antenna model can be developed soon, allowing a single device to capture product data from multiple hangers. “Our development is very fast,” Wagnas said. “We hope to have 16 antennas connected to the reader in the near future.” The antennas can read at distances up to 180 centimeters.
Installed on the reader is a small GPRS or GSM telecommunication device that transmits data to a web server. The system sends inventory data in the middle of the night, and the data will be stored on Craft’s web server. The servers are hosted by Vilant, a Finnish RFID company. Craft receives an e-mail every morning reporting the inventory status of each store.
[ad_2]
