Birmingham businesses are being encouraged to adopt a ground-breaking technology that can save companies millions of pounds through increased operational efficiency and greater supply chain transparency.
The significant benefits of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) will be explained on Thursdayat a special breakfast seminar hosted by professional services firm Deloitte.
RFID allows large amounts of product data to be held on a small tag, which unlike barcodes, does not have to be in direct line of sight with the radio frequency reader. This means that large groups of tags can be read without opening pallets or individual containers.
Specialist advisors at the conference, which will take place at Deloitte's offices in Brindleyplace, will give advice on adoption and implementation of the sophisticated technology, which can also be used to optimise shop floor replenishments through "real-time" shelf and back-room information, as well as faster check out of in- basket items.
Julian Thomas, a consulting partner at Deloitte based in Birmingham, says that RFID significantly lowers costs as it allows companies to reduce "shrinkage" caused by administrative error and theft, improve logistic efficiency, and save on targeted product recalls.
The tags are also capable of storing information on environmental conditions and at what point quality-safety levels have been compromised during transport.
"RFID is threatening to revolutionise operations in the manufacturing and retail of consumer goods," he said.
"Early trials at Wal-Mart and Marks & Spencer, which were focused on tagging pallets or containers, have indicated significant cost savings from more accurate and faster processing through the supply chain.
"Yet these pilot phases only scratched the surface of the total benefits available from the technology."
Companies that have already adopted RFID technology include Safeway, Coca-Cola, Kraft, Unilever, and Procter & Gamble.
* To book tickets, contact Pauline Brookes on 0121 695 5238 or email her at pbrookes@deloitte.co.uk
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