Marks & Spencer Completes initial tag trials for Clothing items
26 November 2003
Intellident Ltd has been awarded a sole supplier contract by Marks & Spencer to design ,develop and supply the RFID reading equipment and “chip based” label inlays that are then converted by their main label contractor Paxar Europe.
Marks & Spencer has completed a trial of UHF radio frequency ID (RFID) tracking tags on clothing items at one of its UK stores as part of plans to improve stock accuracy and product availability for customers.
The tags were contained within throwaway paper labels called Intelligent Labels attached to, but not embedded in, a selection of men’s suits, shirts and ties at the High Wycombe store in the UK. The trial lasted for four weeks.
James Stafford who heads up Marks & Spencer’s RFID initiatives, said “I am delighted with the initial results and recognise the value of the skills and experience within Intellident as our partner as we move forward – a true partnership which provides an unambiguous approach to the adoption of this exciting technology”.
Above: RFID Tracking Tags to be used on Marks & Spencer items of clothing as part of plans to improve stock accuracy and product availability for customers.
Background note:
Marks & Spencer have gone to great lengths to ensure a transparency to its trials and to limit the data that will be collected and to restrict what the tags were used for.
The tags hold the number unique to each garment. The information associated with this number is held on Marks & Spencer’s secure database and relates only to that product or garment’s details, for example, the size, style and colour. The tags also have no power to emit a signal and only release their unique identification number in the presence of a Marks & Spencer scanner.
The Intelligent Label is attached to the garment alongside the pricing label and is designed to be cut off and thrown away at the point of sale or thereafter. For items such as shirts, which are prepacked, the tag is an adhesive label attached to the outside of the transparent shirt bag. Irrespective of the method of payment, no association is made between the information on the Intelligent Label and the purchaser.
The trial was undertaken to test the viability of the technology, and to start to build a business case for use of RFID in their general merchandise operations, allowing Marks & Spencer to check stock deliveries and count stock more quickly in stores and depots.
The retail group used two styles of scanner to read the tags. A portal installed at the distribution centre and the loading bay of the store allows rails of hanging garments and trolleys containing packaged garments, to be pushed through and read at speed. A mobile scanner designed for use on the shop floor has a hand-held reader which scans the shelves or hanging rails of garments in double quick time and in batches for immediate stock reconciliation.
Intellident Ltd. invited specialist sub-contractors to join the consortium responsible for Chip & Antenna design, and Reader hardware components. The selected companies were respectively; EM Microelectronics (a member company of the Swatch group based in Switzerland), IdealTag based in France, and SAMSys based in North America, all working closely with Paxar UK under Intellident’s project management to encapsulate the chosen RFID Technology within the finished garment labels.
A Marks and Spencer spokeswoman said: ‘ With the ability to read product details on the RFID tags at different points in the supply chain, the information can be used to ensure that the right goods are delivered to the right store at the right time. Customers will therefore benefit from better availability of the goods they want each time they shop.
The scanners operate at frequencies and power permitted for RFID radio signals in Europe which is currently around eight times lower than those used in the US. This means that the maximum accurate read range attainable is around half a metre, quite sufficient for the purposes proposed..
US-based consumer privacy group Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (Caspian), which has lobbied against RFID tags also welcomed Marks & Spencer’s open approach to its trials.
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