Successful RFID supply chain launch

Citation

(2005), "Successful RFID supply chain launch", Assembly Automation, Vol. 25 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/aa.2005.03325bab.006

Successful RFID supply chain launch

Successful RFID supply chain launch

Keywords: Radio frequencies, Supply chain management

SAMSys Technologies Inc., an international provider of Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) hardware solutions and consulting services has helped the Metro Group in the successful initial RFID Supply Chain rollout involving its selected METRO Group warehouses, and its Metro Cash & Carry, Real and Kaufhof outlets throughout Germany. SAMSys participated by providing its RFID readers and other accessories for installation into the “Intelligent Portal”, designed to read RFID tags on pallets being received at these facilities.

The first phase of this rollout commenced successful reading of pallet tags on 2 November 2004. It is the first such formal rollout involving a major retailer and its consumer packaged goods suppliers, and utilizing the new UHF 96 bit RFID tag standard data format being established by the EPCglobal organization. Under this planned structure, retailers and their suppliers will advance beyond traditional automatic identification, based upon barcode technology, and will instead electronically “read” shipping information automatically as pallets are moved through portals located at warehouses and stores. The benefit of this methodology is that it does not rely on “line of sight” scanning, nor the inherent operator intervention, and can identify large volumes of goods at faster speeds and immediately update the relevant data into the respective ERP solutions of the various enterprises.

In the first phase of this METRO Group rollout, SAMSys provided its MP9320 UHF multi-regional, multi- protocol readers in 21 select locations involving METRO Group distribution centres, Metro Cash & Carry wholesale stores, Real hypermarkets and Kaufhof department stores. In addition, SAMSys personnel assisted with the design and implementation of the solution, which was led by IBM Global Services, the lead integrator of the project.

The SAMSys MP9329 V2.7 reader operates as an agile multi-frequency, multi-proto col UHF reader and is approved for frequency and power settings in both the US and Europe. It has the ability to read virtually all the current UHF tag protocols that are commercially available today. It is capable of firmware upgrades that will also enable it to read and interact with the proposed new generation, where two standards are being adopted by the EPCglobal organization. It will be deployed with the Philips Semiconductor EPC 1.19 chip-based tag, as selected by METRO Group. SAMSys is the originator of the agile multi-frequency, multi-protocol and multi-regional UHF reader architecture, which is accepted faster as the standard for supply chain solutions. It operates company-owned sales offices out of Ontario, Canada; North Carolina, USA; the United Kingdom; and Shanghai, China.

Visit SAMSys web sites at: www.samsys.com and www.investorfile.com

For further information visit the web sites: www.metrogroup.de and www.future-store.org