Walmart will use RFID for Inventory and Supply Chain Management
After years of sitting on the sidelines, Walmart© has finally decided the juice is worth the squeeze and will be implementing RFID for inventory and supply chain management according to the article from Impinj©, a leader in RAIN RFID technology and products.
“We have seen dramatic results in our ability to ensure product is available for our customers, leading to improved online order fulfillment and customer satisfaction,” Shelly McDougal, Walmart's senior director of merchandising, told RFID Journal.
Item-level tagging with RFID is the key to maintaining high inventory accuracy. It also improves customer satisfaction since items are quickly located, and out-of-stock alerts are real-time. If an item is found out-of-place, it can quickly be moved back into the correct location on the floor. Walmart launched RFID with its apparel products and has enjoyed improved accuracy. This has been the pilot program for Walmart, and apparel is the perfect target since most items already have barcoded paper or cardboard price tags which are perfect spots to add tiny RFID tags.
Suppliers are responsible for tagging products, not Walmart employees. The “push” from Walmart and their influence means suppliers must comply with new requirements to risk being eliminated. Suppliers should want to comply since tagging products for their big-box customers also means suppliers can track products internally using the same RFID tag and trace technology. Everyone wins!
Integrating RFID technology with any Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is tricky but not impossible. Quartz Group is a leader in ERP integrations, with Certified RFID Associates, and a Silver Partner with Epicor Software© ERP, which can connect to other systems, sensors, and machines. Quartz Group is also a proud reseller for Impinj products. Learn more about our software as a service (SaaS) cloud solution for RFID item-level tagging and tracking here.
