Inventory tracking and management is an extremely important part of a company's daily operations. The majority of the process is done by hand. Individual pieces of inventory are marked, tracked, and managed with by a UPC (Universal Product Code) Bar code that is printed on the product. A UPC is a symbol that is 12 numerical digits long, which have corresponding bar of varying widths for each number. When scanned, the UPC reveals two pieces of basic information, the manufacturer and the class of products. For inventory purposes, UPC's also allow a company to determine how many of a given item they have on hand.
UPC's have helped companies track items effectively for nearly 35 years, with a few problems. First, an item's barcode had to be physically scanned or it wouldn't be included in inventory. Next, if the item was misplaced then chances are it would get overlooked, creating a shortage, causing the company to remove it from inventory. Suppose the item was found the next time inventory came around, the company would have an overage. Lastly, theft is a major problem with items that are tracked by UPC, since removal from company premises cannot be electronically detected at the time of removal.
The time for the replacement of the UPC is very near, and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is the technology to do it, for various reasons. RFID technology employs an automatic, electronic identification and tracking method, via devices, placed on individual items. Another major difference between RFID and UPC, is that RFID devices are small tags that contain a small circuit and antennas half the size of a grain of salt, these tags have the ability to contain numerous types of information about the product. This type of device allows a company to individually identify each piece of inventory, not just by manufacturer and class. Since each item can be wirelessly tracked, a company has the ability get an instant snapshot of their inventory at any time. This also allows a company to virtually eliminate unnoticed theft and loss. This will allow supermarkets and retailers to eliminate cashiers, reducing overhead, and implement a pass-through checkout, where customers will simply walk through a gate to checkout and pay for items; this will reduce the need for loss prevention personnel. Finally, companies will no longer have the need to hire companies such as RGIS LLC., an inventory counting company, and employees 30 years from now may not even know what an "inventory night" is.
There are other lucrative possibilities for a company's residential customer, such as on-hand grocery management. In 2009, Samsung plans to bring an RFID refrigerator to market. The fridge will monitor on-hand groceries, record regular usage to suggest a grocery list, and will of placing regular, customer-approved, orders to a specified grocery store. Since RFID has the capability of storing data, such as origin of a product, like spinach, in the event of a health scare (i.e. E-coli) the FDA will be able to send out a notification to consumers and businesses that have this item in their inventory.
It would seem that the technology has virtually endless possibilities; however it does come with a few obstacles. The most notable barrier is the cost per device, currently around 10 cents, which is too high relative to the cost of most company’s products. However, recently Wal-Mart has purchased a lot of RFIDs, for what they state was a lot less than 10 cents, to tag larger container of items while they are in-transit to their stores. The next obstacle will be to change over current systems, and to get all items tagged, but once this is completed companies will experience a dramatically improved bottom line.
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In a school district, it is very important to track inventory. We get audited and if one piece of equipment is not in it's proper place, we get a write up. I know the importance of inventory.
What an interesting and well written post! It is clear that RFID devices prove to be beneficial for total cost of ownership for businesses and convenience to residents. My concern though is the ease of use for residents who aren't technically proficient. Even in this technological age, there are still quite a significant number of people who avoid gadgets that require technical comprehension. They are simply intimidated. Having a RFID device in a refrigerator to alert one of produce recalls and assist in grocery list making are great services to have only if one can readily use them.
This was a very good topic. I have not hear of RFID before. I think it is nice that it makes it easier on the stores but I personally like someone to check me out. I used the self check before and hated it. With all new technology, we will get us to it. I also have never here about the refrigerator. I think that will be very neat but pricey.
Frances Rowe
I have heard about the pass through checkouts mentioned in this article and hope Arkansas will begin using them soon. Each grocery store customer is given a hand held divice when they walk into the store that is used to scan the items for purchase as they are selected and placed into the basket. When the customer is finished shopping and ready to checkout,conveniently, all the items have already been recorded by the hand held device. The hand held device is then scanned by a self service booth, payment is received, a receipt is printed, and the customer is out the door. I am all for faster check-out lines.
I just read an article on Dillard's website; it was actually an "RFID" tab at the bottom of their site if anyone’s interested.
Dillard's just rolled out a pilot program that utilizes RFID/EPC technology, on individually selected products. If it's successful, they plan to implement it company-wide across all of their product lines.
I just bought a pair of dress shoes on clearance from Dillard’s last week; with this technology, I would be able to logon to their website, see their on-hand, clearance inventory (by store), and reserve/purchase the shoes.
Obviously there are a few kinks to work out, like how to retrieve the merchandise before an in-store customer decides they want to buy the same shoes. But these issues can be worked out.
To continue along the lines of the RFID fridge, Samsung plans to introduce an RFID washer and microwave at the same time as the fridge. The "smart" washer will inform the user when they are trying to wash incompatible items (i.e. red shirt, white socks), or when something (i.e. jeans) is getting washed for the first time. The washer will set itself to a predetermined wash length, so there won't be any more guess work.
The microwave is supposed to be "smart enough" to know how long to warm a TV up just by reading the RFID tag.
We'll see, sounds interesting.
This is a direct quote from
Dillard's sie, I thought it would
lend some more insight.
"Like the bar code, the RFID/EPC tag contains a unique identifying number for a particular style, color and size of a product (the UPC). However, the EPC also contains a serial number that is tacked on to the UPC to enable unique identification of like items. So if Dillard’s has ten large, blue sweaters on the shelf with the same UPC, each of the sweaters will have its own unique serial number differentiating it from the other items. This allows a reader to view all ten sweaters instead of just seeing one UPC on the shelf."
Here is a link to Dillard's RFID page: http://www.dillards.com/info/rfidInfo.jsp
This technology is also being used in the cattle industry. The device is placed in the cattle's ears so the FDA can track the animals in case of mad cow disease and other health risks.
That's an interesting post. I really can't imagine what our world will look like even 10 years from now.
The most annoying thing about shopping, especially for groceries, is having to wait in a check-out line. The self-checkout concept just doesn't work very well either. I've heard that Wal-Mart is already phasing them out and not putting them in new stores. I say the faster RFID takes off the better.
Inventory is very important. At my job we have inventory once a year and if something is supposed to be in your office and it is not then everyone is basically sent on a witch hunt trying to find it. Sometimes it has been replaced or given to someone else in another department. If it is not found I am not sure what happens to that department but this was a well written blog and it lets us all know about the importance of inventory and how it can affect businesses, companies and even people.
Demechia
WOW, very interesting post. I agree with everyone, inventory is such an important piece for a business. But man, the refrigerator is the most fascinating thing to me. Keeping track of my groceries, how nice!!!!
Anything that makes things more efficient, whether at the store or at home, I'm all for. There is never enough time in the day, or week, or month, anymore so please, help me save time! And money!
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