In the right place at the right time

The route that goods take from manufacture to the customer often stretches over thousands of kilometers and encompasses numerous stops. In order to efficiently manage logistics processes, companies require reliable information. Warehouse management also poses large challenges, like keeping a constant overview over inventories and deliveries, as well as carrying out orders quickly and efficiently. RFID helps optimize complex processes in logistics and warehouse management.

After a number of wide-ranging pilot projects, METRO GROUP began the nationwide rollout of radio technology in 2007. The aim was to optimize goods supply. Around 180 sales brand and cross-divisional service company sites across Germany have already implemented RFID. More than 180 manufacturing partners attach transponders to their deliveries for Metro Cash & Carry, real,- and Galeria Kaufhof. The transponders' Electronic Product Codes (EPC) can be easily identified and connected to a host of process-related information in the retailer’s merchandise management system. Thanks to RFID, METRO GROUP can carry out its workflows more transparently, more efficiently and more cost-effectively.

The drinks manufacturer Gerolsteiner manages the shipping of its pallets with RFID. Transponders are imbedded in the concrete floor of the warehouse. If a staff member drives over a transponder with a forklift truck, the reader on the bottom of the vehicle reveals where the next boxes to be shipped are located and which truck they should be loaded into.

There is a scanner on the front of the forklift which records the pallet code when loading. The IT system then automatically registers the pallet as being shipped. This enables the company to precisely monitor which vendor received which pallet and easily trace products in case of recall.