Educational & Productivity Solutions unit shipping dozen SKUs to five Wal-Mart DCs
Dallas, TX January 4, 2006 The Educational & Productivity Solutions (E&PS) business of Texas Instruments has become the first consumer goods supplier to ship cases and pallets affixed with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags based on the Generation 2 (Gen 2) Electronic Product Code (EPC) specification to Wal-Mart.
Starting with a dozen stock-keeping units (SKUs) shipped to five distribution centers, TI E&PS is tagging cases and pallets of its graphing, scientific and financial calculators using Gen 2 smart label solutions from Texas Instruments RFid Systems, NCR Corporation and Zebra Technologies. The dozen SKUs represent 100 percent of the calculator products E&PS ships to Wal-Mart.
TI E&PS said it is adopting EPC Gen 2 solutions as a platform to facilitate advanced data exchange and processing capabilities on a global basis with its retail trading partners. The company is looking to advancements in retail supply chain data exchange processes enabled by EPC Gen 2 to help it achieve improved product visibility and lower out-of-stocks at the retail store.
The TI division began its development and implementation of EPC Gen 2 in 2004, deciding to leapfrog legacy EPC Gen 1 solutions that will be phased out in 2006. In building its Gen 2 implementation plan, TI said it worked closely with Wal-Mart.
"TI is ahead of the curve with Gen 2 adoption, and we commend them on being the first to begin Gen 2 tagging of cases and pallets in support of Wal-Mart's RFID expansion plans in 2006," said Simon Langford, RFID strategy manager at Wal-Mart.
"This marks a significant milestone for our business and the industry as a whole," said Keith Hodnett, a Texas Instruments vice president and supply chain manager for E&PS. "Moving forward, we are prepared to expand our Gen 2 efforts with other retail trading partners when they are ready."
Texas Instruments RFid Systems began production of its EPC Gen 2 inlays and straps in July 2005.
Additional Articles of Interest
A recent independent study revealed that Wal-Mart customers are finding the items they want in stock more often due to the retailer's use of RFID technologies when compared to control stores. Read more in "Wal-Mart Achieving Improved On-shelf Availability with RFID, Study Finds" on SDCExec.com.
Wal-Mart names new supply chain SVP. Read more here.
RFID technology has the potential to change the way supply chains are managed, but in order to be effective businesses need to take a holistic look at the deployment. Read more in the SDCExec.com article "Time for RFID: Applying RFID in the Supply Chain."
Dallas, TX January 4, 2006 The Educational & Productivity Solutions (E&PS) business of Texas Instruments has become the first consumer goods supplier to ship cases and pallets affixed with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags based on the Generation 2 (Gen 2) Electronic Product Code (EPC) specification to Wal-Mart.
Starting with a dozen stock-keeping units (SKUs) shipped to five distribution centers, TI E&PS is tagging cases and pallets of its graphing, scientific and financial calculators using Gen 2 smart label solutions from Texas Instruments RFid Systems, NCR Corporation and Zebra Technologies. The dozen SKUs represent 100 percent of the calculator products E&PS ships to Wal-Mart.
TI E&PS said it is adopting EPC Gen 2 solutions as a platform to facilitate advanced data exchange and processing capabilities on a global basis with its retail trading partners. The company is looking to advancements in retail supply chain data exchange processes enabled by EPC Gen 2 to help it achieve improved product visibility and lower out-of-stocks at the retail store.
The TI division began its development and implementation of EPC Gen 2 in 2004, deciding to leapfrog legacy EPC Gen 1 solutions that will be phased out in 2006. In building its Gen 2 implementation plan, TI said it worked closely with Wal-Mart.
"TI is ahead of the curve with Gen 2 adoption, and we commend them on being the first to begin Gen 2 tagging of cases and pallets in support of Wal-Mart's RFID expansion plans in 2006," said Simon Langford, RFID strategy manager at Wal-Mart.
"This marks a significant milestone for our business and the industry as a whole," said Keith Hodnett, a Texas Instruments vice president and supply chain manager for E&PS. "Moving forward, we are prepared to expand our Gen 2 efforts with other retail trading partners when they are ready."
Texas Instruments RFid Systems began production of its EPC Gen 2 inlays and straps in July 2005.
Additional Articles of Interest
A recent independent study revealed that Wal-Mart customers are finding the items they want in stock more often due to the retailer's use of RFID technologies when compared to control stores. Read more in "Wal-Mart Achieving Improved On-shelf Availability with RFID, Study Finds" on SDCExec.com.
Wal-Mart names new supply chain SVP. Read more here.
RFID technology has the potential to change the way supply chains are managed, but in order to be effective businesses need to take a holistic look at the deployment. Read more in the SDCExec.com article "Time for RFID: Applying RFID in the Supply Chain."
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