RFID Delivers Total Business Visibility. Case studie around the world by Mark Robert, Founder and editor RFID Journal.

1. RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION
RFID Delivers Total
Business Visibility
Case Studies from Around the World
By Mark Roberti
Founder & Editor
RFID Journal
www.rfidjournal.com

2. Case Study 1: Kimberly Clark
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Goal:
•To increase sales of promotional items
•RFID provides real-time visibility into the
location of promotional displays
•Making sure displays are on the sales floor
when promotions are advertised would
increase sales
www.rfidjournal.com

3. Challenges
g
• Displays are packaged by 3rd party
• Some 3rd party packagers have no Internet
access or even electricity in facilities
• How do you tag items and track them?
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4. KC Developed a Mobile RFID System
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• Laptop running OATSystems software
• Handheld RFID reader
• Tag dispenser worn on the belt
• USB Wi-Fi unit
www.rfidjournal.com

5. How the System Works
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• Product and packaging is shipped to 3rd party
• RFID kit shipped to 3rd party
• Workers assemble promotional displays
• Using belt-unit, workers tag each display
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6. How the System Works
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• Another worker uses a handheld RFID reader
to capture the IDs
• Data is transferred to the laptop via Wi-Fi
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7. How the System Works
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• When the promotional display arrives at the
retailer, the tag is scanned
• When the display is moved
to the sales floor the tag is
scanned again
• The data is transferred to
Kimberly Clark
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8. www.rfidjournal.com

9. Turning Data into Useful Information
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• Software can analyze the RFID data
• Compare when a promotional display arrived
at the store vs when it was supposed to arrive
• Compare when a display was put on the sales
floor vs when it was put on the floor
• Alert merchandises when display is not out on
time
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10. Use the “As of Date” to see what the
status was on 03/07/2006, 5 days before
the event start. Note more exceptions.
Red stores, promotion items Yellow stores, promotion items expected, but
received, but still in backroom. not received.
Source: OAT Systems
10
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11. www.rfidjournal.com

12. Results
• Execution of promotional program improves
from 50-60% to 80-90%
50 60% 80 90%
• Sales of promotional items rise by 20 percent
or more
• ROI in less than 1 year
www.rfidjournal.com

13. Case Study 2: American Apparel
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www.rfidjournal.com

14. Case Study 2: American Apparel
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• US apparel retailer
•300 retail stores in 12 countries
•10,000+ employees
•One manufacturing facility in Los Angeles
www.rfidjournal.com

15. Operational characteristics
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• Closed-loop; quick inventory turns
• Boutique sales floor (1 of every item)
• Display more items (37,000+ SKUs)
• Labor-intensive
Labor intensive inventory management
www.rfidjournal.com

16. Achieving 99% p
g product availability
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Goals:
• AA needed visibility into what was
happening in the store
• AA needed visibility into what was
happening in the supply chain
• AA needed visibility into what was
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happening at manufacturing
www.rfidjournal.com

17. Challenges
g
• Locate the estimated 10 percent of items
not represented on the sales floor
• Provide real-time visibility to stock room
employees about what needs to be
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replenished
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18. Step 1: Tagging items
• Every item is tagged with a hangtag that
has an Avery Dennison transponder in it
• Tags are applied before shipping, just as
bar-code labels were applied
pp
• No additional costs beyond the 12 cents
for the transponder
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19. Step 2: Receiving at store
p g
• Product is received at a receiving station
• Each item is automatically identified
• Items are stored in the back of the store
until they need to be replenished
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20. Step 3: Fill Station
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• When an item needs to be replenished, it
is brought to a “fill station”
fill station
• Smart table identifies items and confirms
the right items are being brought to the
g g g
sales floor
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21. Step 4: Validation Point
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• Items are scanned at a “validation point”
between the backroom and sales floor
• It will let the employee know if they got all
the right items or a missing some or have
some items that are wrong
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22. Step 5: Point of sale
• Items are automatically identified at the
point of sale (speeding up checkout)
• The RFID system automatically indicates
the item needs to be replenished
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23. Step 6: Periodic Inventory Counts
• Employees take inventory with a handheld
to validate the inventory
• Using bar codes takes 5 people 6 hours
each (30 hours total)
( )
• Using with RFID takes
1 person 2 hours
www.rfidjournal.com

24. Benefits RFID has delivered to AA
• 99% Inventory Visibility
•S l i
Sales increase of 14 36% in RFID stores
f 14.36% i t
• Labor reduction of 168 man hours per store
per month
th
• ROI in 4 months per store
www.rfidjournal.com

25. Case Study 3: UCSD Medical Center
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2 hospital system in San Diego, CA
• 1,250 assets are trackedover 1 million sq ft
• 750 assets are tracked over 238 792 sq ft
238,792
• Equipment is shared between the campuses
www.rfidjournal.com

26. Goals:
• Lower rental costs
• Reduce staff time searching f equipment
R d ff i hi for i
• Minimize equipment theft and loss
q p
• Reduce equipment inventory requirements
• Improve maintenance processes
I i t
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27. Selected Awarepoint Zigbee RTLS
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• Provides enterprise, multi-building coverage
• Off
Offers room-level accuracy or accuracy t
l l to
within 1.5 meters in open areas
• No disruption during installation
• No burden for maintenance and easy to use
• Offered a low risk business model –
scalable as hospital adds locations and
assets
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28. Selected Awarepoint Zigbee RTLS
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www.rfidjournal.com

29. Some of Most Commonly Tracked Items
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• IV pumps
• Crash Carts
• Gurneys
• Feeding pumps
• Beds
• PCA Pumps
• Trays that are sterilized
• Carts,
C t scopes, computers, monitors, doctor-
t it d t
specific equipment, blood transport coolers
www.rfidjournal.com

30. Benefits achieved
Infusion Pump Rental Fees
• Month rentals down from nearly $8,000 in
March 2007 to $2,000 in June 2007
• Month rental has stabilized at about
$2,300/month
$2 300/month for more than 18 months
• Over $70,000 year in savings—on pump
rentals alone
www.rfidjournal.com

31. Benefits achieved
Analysis of equipment usage identified
unneeded replacement i
d d l t inventory and rentals
t d t l
• Idle equipment monitoring
q p g
• Equipment usage patterns
• Staff
St ff could not readily find available equipment
ld t dil fi d il bl i t
• Capital budget savings of approximately
$450,000 for 2008
www.rfidjournal.com

32. You can learn more about the many
benefits of RFID at:
RFID Journal LIVE! 2010
8th Annual Conference & Exhibition
April 14-16, 2010
Orange County Convention Center
Orlando, Florida
www.rfidjournalevents.com/live
www.rfidjournal.com

33. Thank you
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For more information, contact
Mark R b ti Editor,
M k Roberti, Edit RFID J Journal
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mroberti@rfidjournal.com
www.rfidjournal.com