Using RFID? A big discussion in the shoe industry.
Currently the German shoe industry is strongly thinking about the introduction of RFID. The goal is to optimize all current processes with smart RFID technology. But there are still a bunch of questions open...
The application possibilities of RFID technology in the shoe industry mostly concentrates on inventory, inventory management, reordering, employee and customer information, item security, payment processes, complaints and exchange processes according to the schuhkurier.
There are many questions open on the entrepreneur side according to the sources, which need to be answered first:
- Where to place the RFID? Embedded in the shoe or as an adhesive label or a hanging label?
-To integrate the chip into the shoe, it has to be resistant to heat as well as pressure and possibly to chemicals during the production process. There are practical test needed.
-Do both pair of shoes need to be labeled and the box also?
- The labeling options bring up the question of security (customer could remove the label) and eventually data protection (if the data of an integrated chip won't be deleted after collecting the money)
-Also the topic reading quality (metal interferes with reading the chip data, the problem for example is the area around the hinge spring).
-The ERP systems of shoe retailers must be able to process individual identification numbers and evaluate them hierarchical and condensed. This is (still) not given today.
-EDI currently uses the EAN number (GTIN) as an essential key criterion and EANCOM as a standard data format. The EDI information exchange must adapt and expand in the direction of EPC (Electronic Product Code).
The "Bundesverband des Deutschen Schuheinzelhandels e.V." campaigns for a suitable standardization of RFID, because of all those open questions. "Chaotic data technology" should be prevented from the beginning. On the 17th of May the first meeting took place in Cologne, where a rough assignment package has been set up. Many companies as well as organizations and IT-service provider participated.
Do you want answers to those questions above? PANMOBIL come with 30 years’ experience when it comes to Introduction of Barcode and RFID-Technology in companies and production processes. Contact us and start with a non-binding consultation:
