SUPPLY
RFID gives chain- wide inventory visibility at Zara
RIGHT PRODUCT RIGHT PLACE RIGHT TIME
In an omnichannel world, supply chain technology is at the forefront of retailers’ minds in a variety of sectors, demonstrating a pressing need for getting products to the right place at the right time, reports Retail Technology
O
© Inditex Group
ne of the big supply chain trends of the summer was the appearance of large-scale RFID (radio frequency) technology deployments in the end-to-end retail supply
chain, to support omnichannel retail ambitions and ensure the right products are in the right place at the right time. One such example was implemented by fashion giant Inditex Group, home of fashion brand Zara. Inditex revealed this summer that it was in the process of working with a number
of vendors to roll out a chain-wide inventory visibility infrastructure at Zara, based on RFID inventory intelligence. RFID is currently in use in 700 Zara stores across 22 countries, a project described by Inditex president Pablo Isla as “one of the most significant changes ever in how the Group’s stores operate.” The retailer wanted to both streamline its supply chain and create a better in-store
customer experience across the Zara chain. RFID enables Inditex to identify every garment individually and pinpoint in real-time the physical whereabouts of every item through the entire distribution-to-sales process. A garment’s ID is recorded on a chip inside the security alarm, which makes distribution more efficient and in-store garment management more accurate, improving overall customer service standards. Each garment is coded in the logistics centres, which means that when shipments
reach the stores twice weekly, the system immediately pinpoints which sizes and models need replenishing. The system also enables the immediate identification of size availability either in-store, in nearby stores or online. At Inditex distribution centres, a Checkpoint Systems high-speed bulk encoding
solution provides item-level encoding of RFID labels for garments in boxes, pallets and hanging items. Checkpoint’s solution also enables Inditex to automate the
www.retailtechnology.co.uk Autumn 2014 35
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