Department
store group House of Fraser will begin a year-long trial of radio
frequency identification technology this summer, designed to
ascertain the benefits that can be driven across the supply
chain.
The trial
represents the next stage in the development of RFID across the UK
retail industry as it will test the technology across an
international supply chain.
The project, which
will be carried out in conjunction with supply chain management
firm Exel, will cover women’s clothing lines from House of Fraser's
own-brand manufacturers in China.
RFID tags will be
attached to garments, allowing House of Fraser to track shipment
movements at item level. As containers arrive at the retailer’s
national distribution centre in Milton Keynes, the company will
measure the cost benefits associated with automated receiving,
inventory counting, distribution centre dispatching and store
receiving.
Colin Porter,
supply chain director at House of Fraser, said, “We are doing this
as a proof-of-concept, seeing if the technology works and what the
benefits will be. Ultimately, we envisage improvements in accuracy
at all touch points [in the supply chain] but we want to work out
what the potential cost savings will be.”
In a related
development, House of Fraser has just completed the implementation
of an integrated range planning system from retail software firm
Compass.
The system will
allow the retailer to improve the efficiency of the process of
laying out stores and allocating shelf space for goods, Porter
said.