Leading Portuguese technology, based on RFID - Radio Frequency Identification, can optimise logistics processes, assembly line and shop floor storage and thus increase efficiency and product sales. The technology is so promising that it is currently being patented on an international level. The demand for this technology is currently greater outside of Portugal and exports have exceeded 85%. Export destinations include Europe and more recently, Brazil and the USA.
This smart panel can improve stock management by automatically scanning stock labels and producing online product inventories. This has made it especially attractive for fashion retailers, book shops and libraries and other companies that offer document management services. Furthermore, the smart panel can be useful in dispensing pharmacies as it decreases distressed inventory (expired stock) by 50%, or in industry, managing kanbans for the automobile industry.
The advantage of this technology is that it does not require staff to create an online inventory of all of the products in the shop; it can identify the exact location of the products in the shop and can control stock levels by alerting staff when stock replenishing is required. Shop staff can locate products using updates sent from the store to the back office or, if the shop decides to install an interactive kiosk, the clients can use this to locate the products themselves. Pedro França, the business manager of Surfaceslab, claims that “with this system, everything is automatic, stock replenishing becomes more efficient and therefore the probability of product sales increases”.
RFID reversed
Surfaceslab, a spinoff of CreativeSystems, is a startup technology company that is currently introducing RFID technology to the national leader for the production of doors, Vicaima, in conjunction with the Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT) in Lisbon. The company’s aim is to develop, produce and commercialise smart surfaces, smart shelves, smart floors, smart panels and other types of smart equipment.
These smart surfaces are able to identify objects using RFID technology and can perform well in confined spaces. Traditional RFID HF technology can scan products at a distance of five or six metres. This new technology reverses this logic and scans products that are much closer, for example, 20cm or 25 cm away. This means that, for example, this technology can accurately identify an object on a shelf.
The project began in 2008 with a partnership between CreativeSystems and the Instituto de Telecomunicações in Lisbon that controls the technical requirements associated with the RFID and HD technology. At the end of 2008, Vicaima, who was already a CreativeSystems client, joined the project and initiated the prototyping and industrialisation phases. In March 2010, Surfaceslab launched its smart shelves in CeBIT in Hanover. The success of this technology led to new projects in Germany, Spain and the Netherlands.
The smart panel was recently displayed at the Eurosop 2011 in Düsseldorf and according to Pedro França, the response was even more positive than expected, “various groups were interested and this could lead to business proposals both in the short and medium term”.
Pilot in fashion retail
The first project incorporating the Surfaceslab smart panel involves an international fashion retailer in Portugal and aims to identify clothes on hangers in shops. The project began in June 2010 and the installation was completed in November. Based on the four months using the panel, the brand estimates that they will see a return on their investment within 10 or 11 months.
Pedro França is satisfied with the results and claims that “this shows that the solution continues to be applicable”. He further explains that it is a cutting-edge solution aimed at large companies and the return on the investment will always be quicker in brands with over ten shops and in those that are already using RRID technology”.
“It is a question of scheduling in order to reduce the costs throughout the chain, from distribution to the shop”. According to the business manager of Surfaceslab, in general, the smart panel technology has resulted in a reduction in stock depletion by between 67% and 70%, a reduction in the time taken to perform a stock take of hanging items by 90% and an increase of around 13% in product sales of items hanging on the smart panels.
With regard to smart shelves, there are various industrial, retail and service companies that use this system. The results vary according to the different sectors but it can be confirmed that “sales have increased by between 4% and 21%, accuracy in stock taking has reached 99.9%, stock depletion has been reduced by between 60% and 80% and product losses (due to theft or the product being expired) have been reduced by between 40% and 60%”.
Smart Floors
The smart floors allow clients to interact with the product; an example of this technology can be seen in Fly London shoes in Lisbon. “When trying on a pair of shoes, the client can walk on the 3m by 6m smart floor and they are filmed in real-time and displayed in a virtual scenario, in London, New York or Tokyo”, explains Pedro França.
In Euroshop the RFID solution, introduced to the Fly London shop, was awarded with a Retail prize by the European Retail Institute in the Best Enterprise Solutions category. This award highlighted the work of the CreativeSystems, Surfaceslab, Centro Tecnológico do Calçado and INESC Porto consortium.
The advantages of the smart floor range from customer satisfaction, through the interactive experience, to collecting information that is useful for marketing, such as which shoes are tried on the most.
“There is a shortage of information about what goes on inside shops, it is a real black box”, explains Pedro França. “Retailers only have data on which products move from the store rooms to the shop floor and what is sold. With our technology they can receive concrete data relating to what occurs within the shop as well”.
Surfaceslab has registered an increase in sales of between 19% and 27% per item, “we now know exactly which articles have been tried on”.
Distribuição Hoje, 1st May 2011
17th February 2011
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