(RFID World Canada) American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) and GS1, sponsors of a study being done at the University of Arkansan on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), announced today the benefits or RFID technology to apparel suppliers and retailers.
The project which will continue for a total of 1 year, has shown benefits to apparel retailers in terms of a lowered number of inventory counts, less theft opportunities, and higher inventory accuracy. The results of the study were presented at a VICS Item Level RFID Initiative at the National Retail Federation’s Big Show in New York.
The study titled “Supplier Return on Investment Use Case Data Collection and Analysis,” is the 2nd phase of a 3-phase study known as the “Many-to-Many study.”
The effects of EPC-based tracking were studied to understand the benefits to inventory accuracy, productivity, revenue and costs. The study’s findings also illustrated that apparel companies were losing potential revenue do to the high number of chargebacks caused by error shipments. RFID adoption proved to improve efficiency and lower chargebacks as a result of inventory accuracy and less human errors.
Finally, a key finding of the study was that retailers and suppliers of apparel would benefit drastically if a greater number of them adopted RFID so that a consistency in accuracy would remain at all stages of shipment or movement of stock.
