The adoption of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology got a big boost last month when the giant of the retail industry announced a major commitment to the technology. Bentonville, Ark .-based Wal-Mart said it would require its top 100 suppliers to begin using RFID tags for tracking cartons and pallets by January 2005. Wal-Mart made the announcement during the Retail Systems/VICS Collaborative Commerce Conference and Show in Chicago. According to news reports, Pam Kohn, the retailer's vice president of global supply chain operations, said the company expected RFID to improve its inventory management and supply chain visibility.
RFID technology is not new; it's already in wide use in the automotive industry and in military applications. But adoption rates in supply chain applications have been relatively low, in part because of the tags' cost and in part because of the lack of universally accepted standards. Wal-Mart's mandate, with widespread repercussions not only for suppliers but also for retail and consumer goods supply chains,is likely to change all that. "With Wal-Mart making this request, hundreds of vendors are saying, 'What can we do? How can we fit in,'" says Pam Cory, vice president of data capture systems for Intermec Technologies Corp. "Wal-Mart has made the statement and you know that other retailers are looking at it."
Although Wal-Mart's push—which will eventually require billions of RFID tags to be placed on pallets and cases—could swamp tag manufacturers with demand, adopting RFID shouldn't be especially difficult for most of the suppliers, says Cory. "These are standard products used in other applications today," she says. Intermec has already developed a kit based on some of those products that allows new users to essentially plug and play, she reports. Cory adds that most suppliers will find that using RFID to mark cases and pallets provides a quick return on investment.
With Wal-Mart leading and others sure to follow, the development of standards seems likely to come sooner rather than later. "Standards are forthcoming in a short time frame," Cory believes. "A lot of the arguments are going to disappear."
In fact,the Auto-ID Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been working with the Uniform Code Council for months to develop an Electronic Product Code (EPC) for RFID tags. Members of the Auto-ID Center include a number of retail and consumer-goods giants, including Wal-Mart, Gillette and Procter & Gamble. The center has scheduled what it calls the inaugural EPC Symposium for Chicago in September. (Information on the conference can be found on the Auto-ID Center's Web site at www.autoidcenter.org.)
And it appears that more help is forthcoming. During the Retail Systems conference, the software giant Microsoft announced that it would join the Uniform Code Council in commercializing the RFID technology. Microsoft Corp. said it would join AutoID Inc., a joint venture of the Uniform Code Council Inc. and EAN International, to develop and oversee commercial and technical standards for the EPC.
In the meantime, Cory offers reassurances to vendors that may be feeling overwhelmed by the mandate. "This is a proven technology," she asserts. "The vendors will need to set up pilots, but [they'll find that this] is complementary to what they're doing today. All the suppliers at this level have bar-code based tracking systems. RFID is complementary to that."
Getting into the game requires a relatively small investment. For example, Intermec's pilot kit is available for less than $15,000. Its Intellitag Ready-To-Go Retail RFID package includes hardware, software, and professional services aimed at retail suppliers that want to conduct pilot applications.
Wal-Mart, which has been involved in trials at the Auto-ID Center, will likely begin pilot tests of its own before the end of the year.
The U.S., U.K., and Australia will strengthen supply chain resiliency by sharing data and taking joint actions under the terms of a pact signed last week, the three nations said.
The agreement creates a “Supply Chain Resilience Cooperation Group” designed to build resilience in priority supply chains and to enhance the members’ mutual ability to identify and address risks, threats, and disruptions, according to the U.K.’s Department for Business and Trade.
One of the top priorities for the new group is developing an early warning pilot focused on the telecommunications supply chain, which is essential for the three countries’ global, digitized economies, they said. By identifying and monitoring disruption risks to the telecommunications supply chain, this pilot will enhance all three countries’ knowledge of relevant vulnerabilities, criticality, and residual risks. It will also develop procedures for sharing this information and responding cooperatively to disruptions.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the group chose that sector because telecommunications infrastructure is vital to the distribution of public safety information, emergency services, and the day to day lives of many citizens. For example, undersea fiberoptic cables carry over 95% of transoceanic data traffic without which smartphones, financial networks, and communications systems would cease to function reliably.
“The resilience of our critical supply chains is a homeland security and economic security imperative,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas said in a release. “Collaboration with international partners allows us to anticipate and mitigate disruptions before they occur. Our new U.S.-U.K.-Australia Supply Chain Resilience Cooperation Group will help ensure that our communities continue to have the essential goods and services they need, when they need them.”
A new survey finds a disconnect in organizations’ approach to maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO), as specialists call for greater focus than executives are providing, according to a report from Verusen, a provider of inventory optimization software.
Nearly three-quarters (71%) of the 250 procurement and operations leaders surveyed think MRO procurement/operations should be treated as a strategic initiative for continuous improvement and a potential innovation source. However, just over half (58%) of respondents note that MRO procurement/operations are treated as strategic organizational initiatives.
That result comes from “Future Strategies for MRO Inventory Optimization,” a survey produced by Atlanta-based Verusen along with WBR Insights and ProcureCon MRO.
Balancing MRO working capital and risk has become increasingly important as large asset-intensive industries such as oil and gas, mining, energy and utilities, resources, and heavy manufacturing seek solutions to optimize their MRO inventories, spend, and risk with deeper intelligence. Roughly half of organizations need to take a risk-based approach, as the survey found that 46% of organizations do not include asset criticality (spare parts deemed the most critical to continuous operations) in their materials planning process.
“Rather than merely seeing the MRO function as a necessary project or cost, businesses now see it as a mission-critical deliverable, and companies are more apt to explore new methods and technologies, including AI, to enhance this capability and drive innovation,” Scott Matthews, CEO of Verusen, said in a release. “This is because improving MRO, while addressing asset criticality, delivers tangible results by removing risk and expense from procurement initiatives.”
Survey respondents expressed specific challenges with product data inconsistencies and inaccuracies from different systems and sources. A lack of standardized data formats and incomplete information hampers efficient inventory management. The problem is further compounded by the complexity of integrating legacy systems with modern data management, leading to fragmented/siloed data. Centralizing inventory management and optimizing procurement without standardized product data is especially challenging.
In fact, only 39% of survey respondents report full data uniformity across all materials, and many respondents do not regularly review asset criticality, which adds to the challenges.
Artificial intelligence (AI) tools can help users build “smart and responsive supply chains” by increasing workforce productivity, expanding visibility, accelerating processes, and prioritizing the next best action to drive results, according to business software vendor Oracle.
To help reach that goal, the Texas company last week released software upgrades including user experience (UX) enhancements to its Oracle Fusion Cloud Supply Chain & Manufacturing (SCM) suite.
“Organizations are under pressure to create efficient and resilient supply chains that can quickly adapt to economic conditions, control costs, and protect margins,” Chris Leone, executive vice president, Applications Development, Oracle, said in a release. “The latest enhancements to Oracle Cloud SCM help customers create a smarter, more responsive supply chain by enabling them to optimize planning and execution and improve the speed and accuracy of processes.”
According to Oracle, specific upgrades feature changes to its:
Production Supervisor Workbench, which helps organizations improve manufacturing performance by providing real-time insight into work orders and generative AI-powered shift reporting.
Maintenance Supervisor Workbench, which helps organizations increase productivity and reduce asset downtime by resolving maintenance issues faster.
Order Management Enhancements, which help organizations increase operational performance by enabling users to quickly create and find orders, take actions, and engage customers.
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Enhancements, which help organizations accelerate product development and go-to-market by enabling users to quickly find items and configure critical objects and navigation paths to meet business-critical priorities.
Nearly one-third of American consumers have increased their secondhand purchases in the past year, revealing a jump in “recommerce” according to a buyer survey from ShipStation, a provider of web-based shipping and order fulfillment solutions.
The number comes from a survey of 500 U.S. consumers showing that nearly one in four (23%) Americans lack confidence in making purchases over $200 in the next six months. Due to economic uncertainty, savvy shoppers are looking for ways to save money without sacrificing quality or style, the research found.
Younger shoppers are leading the charge in that trend, with 59% of Gen Z and 48% of Millennials buying pre-owned items weekly or monthly. That rate makes Gen Z nearly twice as likely to buy second hand compared to older generations.
The primary reason that shoppers say they have increased their recommerce habits is lower prices (74%), followed by the thrill of finding unique or rare items (38%) and getting higher quality for a lower price (28%). Only 14% of Americans cite environmental concerns as a primary reason they shop second-hand.
Despite the challenge of adjusting to the new pattern, recommerce represents a strategic opportunity for businesses to capture today’s budget-minded shoppers and foster long-term loyalty, Austin, Texas-based ShipStation said.
For example, retailers don’t have to sell used goods to capitalize on the secondhand boom. Instead, they can offer trade-in programs swapping discounts or store credit for shoppers’ old items. And they can improve product discoverability to help customers—particularly older generations—find what they’re looking for.
Other ways for retailers to connect with recommerce shoppers are to improve shipping practices. According to ShipStation:
70% of shoppers won’t return to a brand if shipping is too expensive.
51% of consumers are turned off by late deliveries
40% of shoppers won’t return to a retailer again if the packaging is bad.
The “CMA CGM Startup Awards”—created in collaboration with BFM Business and La Tribune—will identify the best innovations to accelerate its transformation, the French company said.
Specifically, the company will select the best startup among the applicants, with clear industry transformation objectives focused on environmental performance, competitiveness, and quality of life at work in each of the three areas:
Shipping: Enabling safer, more efficient, and sustainable navigation through innovative technological solutions.
Logistics: Reinventing the global supply chain with smart and sustainable logistics solutions.
Media: Transform content creation, and customer engagement with innovative media technologies and strategies.
Three winners will be selected during a final event organized on November 15 at the Orange Vélodrome Stadium in Marseille, during the 2nd Artificial Intelligence Marseille (AIM) forum organized by La Tribune and BFM Business. The selection will be made by a jury chaired by Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO of the Group, and including members of the executive committee representing the various sectors of CMA CGM.