Prior to RFID, workers scanned barcodes to identify and track items in the warehouse, which was time consuming and prone to errors. It took about 10 minutes to identify 100 items arriving at the distribution center.
Once RFID was deployed, Sandro Ferrone reduced this time to about seven seconds and improved inventory accuracy to 99 percent, nearly eliminating errors and allowing a significant improvement in the efficiency of the flow of items throughout the DC.
RFID also improved order preparation and reduced labor costs. According to Sandro Ferrone marketing manager Danilo Athanasius, the automated RFID system reduces the time it takes to pick items from warehouse shelves. As a result, the number of employees required to prepare items for shipping has been reduced from 18 to six.
Sandro Ferrone’s suppliers apply EPC Gen2 passive UHF RFID labels from Tageos on hang tags for each garment or accessory in various product categories, such as dresses, tops and bags.
Prior to being attached to garments, RFID labels are printed and encoded by the supplier, with a unique EPC product identification number, using Toshiba BSX4T RFID printers. The suppliers print information such as barcode, product description, collection identification number on the face of the label, and encode the RFID identification number into the tag, which includes information about the supplier and detailed information about the item the label will be attached to. The information encoded into the RFID label is used throughout the manufacturing process and the supply chain.
Tageos EOS-300 UHF RFID paper-only labels allow Sandro Ferrone to easily print on the labels, resulting in high RFID performance levels in retail apparel. The label’s dimensions (54x34mm with an antenna of 50x30mm) are best suited for the existing ticket dimensions of the retailer.