American Apparel RFID Case Study: The Results

Through the use of an item-level RFID inventory management system, American Apparel has been able to address their two key challenges:

 

Challenge 1—Ensure that 100% of the items in the store were available on the sales floor. To accomplish this, the sales floor inventory and the stockroom inventory had to be separate, accurate and instantly updated at the item level:

• With four RFID stations, item-level RFID tags and accompanying software, each store has a unique, easy to understand computer model that clearly identifies which items are missing from the sales floor
• RFID scanning verifies incoming shipments, avoiding concealed shortages and ensuring that incoming merchandise is accurately entered into inventory. The stockroom is divided into zones and the location of each piece of merchandise is part of the inventory data
• Because RFID tags do not require a line-of-sight to be read, a whole store inventory that once required 120 work-hours to complete can now be accomplished in 15 work-hours
• Inventory accuracy and visibility for the sales floor and the stockroom are routinely at 99%
  
  

Inventory accuracy and visibility for the sales floor and the stockroom are routinely at 99%.

 

Challenge 2—Stockroom associates required reliable and instantaneous information about items needed for the sales floor so that replenishment could occur within minutes of a sale:

• RFID scanning at the point of sale is used to generate a live replenishment list which is then transmitted to the stockroom
• By receiving merchandise into “zones” within the stockroom and storing that information by item, the live replenishment list can now guide associates quickly to the correct area to retrieve the needed item. To further drive efficiencies, items that are not available (out of stock) do not display on the replenishment list... so no time is spent looking for items unnecessarily
• If an item cannot be visually located, a quick scan of the assigned zone via a hand-held RFID reader will normally locate the stray item in seconds
• Items are removed from the live replenishment list only after they have been verified for accuracy and are physically present on the sales floor

Labor reductions of 20–30% in RFID-enabled stores.

 

Item Level RFID Tagging Identifies "Missing Inventroy"

Summary: American Apparel - An RFID Success Story

The Challenge: Reclaim the "Lost 10%" of Inventory

The Results: 99% Inventory Accuracy

Additional Benefits: Sales Up 14%. Inventory Down 15%

Want to Know More About What RFID Can Do For You?

Contact a Avery Dennison RFID specialist today.