Volkswagen and Carlsberg brewery firm Ringnes of Norway have
signed
radio
frequency identification technology deals with IBM to improve
their supply chains.
Volkswagen has been working with IBM and its suppliers to test
the use of RFID tags on its shipping containers.
A pilot has been successful and VW plans to use the system
across its headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany. VW says the system
will reduce manual processes at the goods receiving stage alone by
80%.
"Our long-term goal is to implement an integrated, paperless
production and logistics chain throughout the whole group," said
Klaus Hardy Mühleck, group CIO and head of group IT at Volkswagen.
"The pilot project showed that we can reliably integrate RFID
technology into our business processes at a low cost."
At Ringnes, a similar system has been deployed to boost the
brewery's ability to track the movement of trucks at its Oslo
shipping facility.
In doing this, Ringnes says it is able to quickly address
bottlenecks in its logistics operations, and, in the process, to
better serve retailers and consumers.
"Even small changes in our logistics system can have a positive
effect on our bottom line," said Jan Inge Bakkane, business process
manager at Ringnes. "The system we've created with IBM will allow
our logistics operations to work smarter, which makes for better
customer service."
Read
David Bicknell's RFID blog >>