Checkpoint Systems, Impinj and Reva Systems Enable World’s First End-to-End UHF Item-level RFID Shopping Experience for METRO Group
Galeria Kaufhof Unveils End-to-End Apparel Inventory Solution with Unified UHF Gen 2 RFID Infrastructure
Seattle, WA September 20, 2007 -Leading radio frequency identification (RFID) solution providers Checkpoint Systems, Impinj, Inc., and Reva Systems today announced a breakthrough item-level tagging retail apparel implementation. The companies joined forces in METRO Group’s Future Store Initiative to enable the first complete supplier distribution to in-store point-of-sale RFID deployment using UHF Gen 2 standards-based systems. The implementation for METRO Group’s high-end Galeria Kaufhof department store in Essen, Germany is a milestone for the retail industry, delivering consumer-facing RFID applications that are integrated from the distribution center to retail smart shelves and cashier checkout stations.
This deployment addresses METRO Group’s vision of real-time inventory management at Galeria Kaufhof stores and is the next step in years of pioneering RFID effort and successful collaboration among RFID innovators. It is the first live RFID implementation to use the full suite of evolved EPCglobal standards, including Gen 2 tags & readers, fixed and handheld readers running low-level reader protocol (LLRP) for communications with the local network, and application level events (ALE) to pass clean formatted RFID data to the application layer, which uses an EPCIS implementation to facilitate RFID data sharing, mining and analytics.
Galeria Kaufhof has been using RFID in logistics and warehouse pilots since 2003, and is determined to leverage its wealth of item-level tag data to deliver an improved retail shopping experience. This significant implementation covers a wide breadth of applications including:
- Inbound goods receipt
- Back room real-time inventory management
- Fixed and handheld readers tracking real-time sales floor inventory
- A Smart Mirror showing complementary clothing choices or accessories
- Smart Shelves with monitors indicating available garment size and style choices
- In-aisle product information triggered by scanning items
- RFID-enabled point-of-sale terminals delivering efficient checkout
The store’s integrated solution elements and features include:
- At METRO Group's Neuss warehouse, tagged goods are read and recorded by Checkpoint Systems' RFID/UHF hanging conveyor and packing table antennas, as well as Checkpoint UHF dock-door portals. Once at the Galeria Kaufhof store, garments are tracked using Checkpoint portals in the receiving area and stock room. Checkpoint has also deployed its dual EAS/RFID antennas for security monitoring at the entry/exit and fitting room areas, as well as point-of-service deactivation. In addition, Checkpoint will provide its system integration expertise for the trial.
- The Galeria Kaufhof RFID solution uses Impinj Speedway® readers exclusively for all in-store fixed read points, and Impinj Monza™ tag chips to power all tags used in the store. Impinj near-field UHF RFID reader antennas in the smart shelves continuously gather data from tagged garments and accessories on the retail floor, and Impinj point-of-sale displays provide immediate product information to store personnel at all sale terminals.
- Reva Systems provides centralized management capabilities for Galeria Kaufhof's RFID operations with the Tag Acquisition Processor (TAP) network infrastructure product. Reva's TAP is used to centrally control distributed RFID components including roughly 60 fixed and handheld readers from different vendors; it also integrates the RFID system with multiple applications and back-office systems, optimizing data capture across all of Galeria Kaufhof’s RFID operations.
“Galeria Kaufhof’s deployment is the first large-scale application of near-field UHF RFID to track retail merchandise from distribution through point-of-sale,” said Michael Liard, Research Director, RFID & Contactless, ABI Research. “The newly available EPCglobal standards support a unified UHF Gen 2 RFID infrastructure and, combined with innovative technology, make such a real world solution possible.”
“With this pilot we demonstrate how a department store fully equipped with RFID on the item level can work,” said Dr. Christian Plenge, Head of Research and Innovation of MGI METRO Group Information Technology. Customers can see the benefits of item-level tagging in consumer-oriented store applications such as intelligent shelves, intelligent dressing rooms and product-aware information kiosks. “The business benefit to us as retailers is that an end-to-end RFID infrastructure at the item level can fill the data void that exists between products being received and products being sold,” Plenge said. “We can now see products also in those steps of our process chain which so far weren’t illuminated by the inventory management system."
About Checkpoint Systems
Checkpoint Systems, Inc. is the leading supplier of retail shrink management solutions. Checkpoint’s global team helps retailers – and their suppliers - reduce theft, increase inventory visibility and provide consumers with greater merchandise availability through the company’s rapidly evolving RF technology, expanding shrink management offerings and Check-Net labeling solutions. Checkpoint has more than one million RF devices installed in stores today, and since the advent of the modern retail age has secured more than 100 billion products. Scaling cost-efficiently, Checkpoint’s solutions provide increased revenues and profits to a fast-growing community of successful retailers, and a superior experience for their consumers. Listed on the NYSE (NYSE:CKP), Checkpoint operates in every geographic market and employs 3,200 people worldwide. For more information, visit www.checkpointsystems.com.
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Thursday, September 20, 2007
About Impinj
Impinj (NASDAQ: PI) helps businesses and people analyze, optimize, and innovate by wirelessly connecting billions of everyday things—such as apparel, automobile parts, luggage, and shipments—to the Internet. The Impinj platform uses RAIN RFID to deliver timely data about these everyday things to business and consumer applications, enabling a boundless Internet of Things. www.impinj.com
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