Webinar to Explore the Impact of RFID
The American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) and nonprofit supply-chain standards organization GS1 US are sponsoring a webinar on Dec. 14 to share research results from a study assessing the impact of RFID (radio-frequency identification) on inventory accuracy for apparel and footwear companies and how RFID can achieve higher accuracy at a lower cost.
The researchers are seeking to measure the benefits that apparel and footwear suppliers can achieve through adopting RFID based on electronic product code (EPC) standards. They will determine the effects of EPC-based tracking on improving supplier inventory accuracy, along with the effects on productivity, costs and revenues.
The webinar will be a preview into the results of the second phase of a University of Arkansas supplier study that will be published on Jan. 15.
“AAFA’s mission is to ensure that our members are educated on the key issues that will enhance their competiveness,” AAFA Special Advisor Mary Howell said in a statement. “We are proud to support this study so the apparel and footwear industry has a clear road map on how to benefit from the implementation of this technology.
In the first phase of the study, the University of Arkansas’ RFID Research Center Lab identified 60 cases that could benefit from RFID. The second phase of the study focused on eight different suppliers and included domestic and international factory visits.
“The apparel supply chain is witnessing a transformation, and item-level tagging using EPC-enabled RFID is at the center of this,” Patrick Javick, vice president of GS1 US, said in a release. “The technology has been already proven to increase inventory accuracy and decrease distribution and labor costs for retailers. Now it’s time for suppliers to see and understand the same benefits.”—D.C.
