While browsing through shoe displays at 32 of Bon-Ton's U.S. department stores, shoppers can use their near field communication (NFC)-enabled phones to learn more about each style, as well as whether a specific size and color is available at the store"”and, if not, how they can most efficiently acquire the shoes they are seeking.
There will be a surge in next-generation advanced data collection devices, which will intelligently edit and communicate data and play a critical role in providing improved business analytics, or Big Data, according to a Datalogic survey.
Valio, a Finnish company that manufactures dairy consumer products, as well as powdered milk and other ingredients for the food industry, is piloting an automated solution for monitoring products as they move through packing and shipping processes, via RFID-enabled wheels on carts, also known as trolleys, that transport the goods.
While mobile reigns among the hottest topics of discussion, its adoption at the supply chain operation level may be surprisingly less widespread than expected, according to a survey from TAKE Supply Chain, a division of TAKE Solutions.
When a musical instrument is sold, both the buyer and the seller face unknowns. The buyer must trust that the instrument is authentic, but the seller may also have to rely on faith that when a malfunctioning instrument is returned to the store, it has been properly serviced up to that point, and thus meets the requirements of any warranty. RFID is playing an important role in that.
With RFID, return on investment derives from automated, accurate, real-time inventory tracking, says McLeod Williamson, RFID business development manager at Zebra Technologies. He provides an update on RFID applications in retail supply chains and describes how other industries are starting to leverage the technology.
Xplore Technologies Corp. has teamed up with blank-t to create a customized tablet for operators of heavy machinery in warehousing and distribution environments.
Use of RFID tags at the item level is upstaging case and pallet tagging among many retailers, says Tom O'Boyle, director of RFID at Barcoding Inc. O'Boyle explains the benefits derived from item-level tagging and looks at other innovative applications for RFID, including hybrid systems that mix active and passive tags.