How widely is RFID used in the field of shoes and clothing?

The garment industry is a typical labor-intensive industry. The collection of product information from the off-line packaging of garment production to the entry into the warehouse, inventory, and exit from the warehouse is still in the stage of a lot of manual work. As technology development and scene applications continue to mature, RFID has been widely used in the clothing industry and has become an important technology to promote the digital transformation of the clothing industry.

The management system application of RFID technology in the field of clothing directly implements informationization in all aspects of production, processing, quality inspection, warehousing, logistics and transportation, distribution, sales, etc., providing accurate and real-time data to the clothing RFID system to improve clothing. The supply chain warehousing and distribution efficiency is 90%, saving labor costs.

Well-known brands such as Decathlon, Nike, Adidas, Zara, Uniqlo, Desu, and Heilan House have introduced RFID technology in the past few years and applied it in design and production, logistics supply, retail services and other aspects.

At first, the application of RFID in the field of shoes and clothing was biased towards data-based operations to achieve rapid inventory, logistics visualization, quick settlement, etc. of enterprises. Now, with the rapid development of technology and changes in the market, the innovative application fields of RFID are constantly expanding. Start from taking inventory of clothing and expand to a wider range of scenes and links.

01

What is RFID technology?

RFID is the abbreviation of Radio Frequency Identification. It is a non-contact automatic identification technology that emerged in the 1990s. It is actually what we often call electronic tags.

The principle is non-contact data communication between the reader and the tag. It is a non-contact automatic identification technology. It automatically identifies the target object through radio frequency signals and obtains relevant data. The identification work does not require manual intervention.

A complete RFID system is mainly composed of three parts: reader, electronic tag and application system software. Generally, middleware and application software are collectively referred to as application systems.

Among them, the reader realizes reading, writing and storing data of the tag, and is composed of a control unit, a high-frequency communication module and an antenna; the tag is mainly composed of an integrated circuit chip and an external antenna.

There are three main categories of tags:

According to power supply mode:

Active and passive

According to communication method:

active and passive

According to label chip:

Read-only tags, read-write tags and CPU tags

The basic working principle of the RFID system is not complicated. After the tag enters the reader, it receives the radio frequency signal from the reader and uses the energy obtained from the induced current to send out the product information Stored in the chip or the tag actively sends a certain frequency. After the signal is read and decoded by the reader/writer, it is sent to the central information system for relevant data processing.

Compared with barcode identification technology, IC card identification technology and other technologies, radio frequency identification technology has the following advantages: non-contact, fast information processing speed, able to identify multiple tags at the same time, high security, long identification distance, and low environmental requirements wait.

Similar radio frequency technologies are also common in daily life, such as NFC technology, various identification payment, ID Card recognition, etc. on our mobile phones. It's just that NFC belongs to high frequency, while RFID belongs to ultra-high frequency. NFC is only suitable for short-range communication, while RFID can be applied to a distance of 8-10m.

From a time perspective, China's RFID industry implementation has now entered the fourth stage of maturity, having roughly gone through the cultivation period before 2006, the start-up period from 2006 to 2010, and the rapid growth stage from 2011 to 2015.

Therefore, with the continuous development of RFID technology, radio frequency identification technology is widely used in many fields. Currently, RFID systems have achieved varying degrees of commercialization in the fields of financial payment, military, Asset MANAGEMENT, smart logistics, smart medical care, and smart security. Land.

02

Application of RFID technology in the field of shoes and clothing

Decathlon

With the help of RFID technology, Decathlon not only uses inventory counting, but also uses new retail logistics, marketing, cashier debit and credit fields, playing an important role in improving the competitiveness of modern retail enterprises.

Judging from the entire process of Decathlon's UHF RFID clothing management, Decathlon will first attach an UHF RFID clothing tag with a fixed code to each product during the production process. This tag will be unique. Represents this product and exists in Decathlon's backend database. When these RFID-tagged goods are transported from the factory to various distribution centers, the sorting lines and scanning channels equipped with UHF RFID reading equipment will help the system to deliver them to the correct place efficiently and accurately. place. In stores, RFID handheld devices will help store clerks complete inventory of goods efficiently and reliably, and similarly, RFID can also help cashiers make quick and easy checkouts.

The application of ultra-high frequency RFID clothing management technology makes Decathlon's logistics, retail and marketing simpler, including warehouse picking and inventory. Through the integration of RFID and goods-to-person technology, Decathlon has increased inventory counting efficiency by 5 times compared with the past, and the frequency of inventory counting has been increased by 2 times; the entry and exit of goods and picking efficiency have been greatly improved; upstream suppliers can Obtain visible inventory information and connect it to the in-store shelf automatic replenishment system to replenish goods in a timely manner to optimize inventory.

The accurate verification of RFID electronic tags has reduced the factory packaging error rate from 1.5% to 0.2%, a decrease of 87%; the product exception processing time has been reduced by 90%, and the total consumption cost has been reduced by more than 70%; the order delivery accuracy has reached More than 99.95%, the loss cost is reduced by 90%.

Fast Retailing (2017), the Japanese fast fashion giant and the parent company of Uniqlo, announced that within one year, it will introduce RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) in 3,000 stores around the world, including 2,000 outlet Uniqlo stores. )Electronic tags.

Uniqlo is the first Japanese retailer to use electronic tags globally, applying the technology to intelligent equipment including RFID tags, RFID fitting mirrors, RFID shopping carts, and RFID self-checkout.

1. RFID tag

Compared with barcodes that require manual operation, electronic labels can automatically and wirelessly read information, further saving more labor and inventory costs. Electronic tags can also collect specific information such as volume, model and color in a timely and accurate manner.

Uniqlo's RFID tags are embedded with UHF RFID tags.

2. RFID Uniqlo’s smart store

When you come to the door of the store and see a dazzling array of clothes but have no idea where to start, trying on the clothes one by one makes you exhausted and hesitant. At this time, the magic mirror placed in the store will help you try on the clothes.

1. RFID smart shopping guide

Just stand in front of the screen and swipe gently to help customers choose clothes, try on clothes, and recommend various combinations. If the store is too small to display all the products, the cloud shelf can simultaneously present a large number of undisplayed products for you to choose from. Select the product and scan the QR code to place an order with one click, and it will be shipped to the customer as soon as the same day. The role played by rfid electronic tags cannot be underestimated.

At the same time, customers can place their hands on their heads to view buyer reviews to help them judge the cost-effectiveness of the clothes.

Uniqlo’s sister brand GU also innovated an RFID shopping cart, which is also a pretty cool thing.

After the customer selects the clothes they are interested in, they can place the RFID tag of the clothes on the RFID device in the shopping cart, and the device will immediately display the color, stock status, and other sizes of the product.

For GU and Uniqlo, this also greatly reduces the cost burden of shopping guides.

2. RFID self-checkout

In addition, Uniqlo also launched an RFID self-checkout station. After the customer completes their shopping, they place the clothes on the shopping cart on the RFID Library-self-service-borrowing-and-returning-machine-source-manufacturer-UHF-touch-screen-borrowing-and-returning-machine.html target='_blank'>self-service checkout machine. The self-service checkout machine will scan and issue the bill at one time. At that time, the consumer can pay by swiping the code, and the entire process is self-service and manual-free. Using the RFID self-checkout system can not only save time on payment and inventory management, but also ensure that the company can quickly increase the production of hot-selling products. And it can shorten checkout times, ensure items are in stock and provide other benefits.

Many Uniqlo fans express their support and approval for the self-service checkout counter, believing that this settlement method greatly reduces their shopping time and improves shopping efficiency. For Uniqlo, this application reduces cashier labor costs and improves the accuracy of sales data. It really kills two birds with one stone.

In addition to reducing the manual burden on shopping guides, cashiers and settlements, RFID also reduces the burden on Uniqlo's warehousing and data levels.

3. Uniqlo’s RFID warehousing

Under the trend of fast fashion, whether fashion can really become "fast" depends on the efficiency of logistics and warehousing operations. Especially for chain companies, once the efficiency of the logistics system declines, the entire company's operations will be affected by risks. Inventory backlog is a common problem in the Retail Industry. Ordinary stores solve this problem by offering discounts and promotions. However, using RFID information technology (predicting demand), data analysis can be used to provide products that consumers really need, from the source. solve this problem.

RFID electronic tags can automatically and infinitely transmit information, saving labor costs in inventory management, and more accurately obtain specific information about transaction volume, model, color, size, etc., to achieve real-time updates to the inventory system.

For example, if a certain product is sold out, a decision can be made quickly to restock or reproduce it. The time required to inspect products with electronic tags is only 10% of the inventory management system currently used in the industry.

Uniqlo also considered this point when it introduced RFID tags in the early stages. Currently, Uniqlo has applied RFID to its warehousing.

It is understood that Uniqlo affixed RFID tags to all products and combined them with automated material handling equipment. After establishing an automated warehouse, the number of warehouse personnel was reduced from approximately 100 to 10, saving 90% of labor costs. At the same time, Uniqlo's production efficiency has increased by 80 times, shipping productivity has increased by 19 times, storage efficiency has increased by 3 times, personnel training costs have been reduced by 80%, and RFID automatic detection accuracy has been 100%.

Adidas, Under Armor

Many brand clothing retail stores such as "Adidas" and "Under Armor" have successively installed their own RFID smart fitting rooms. With the automatic identification technology of RFID electronic tags, human body sensing technology, network and digital display technology are perfectly combined.

When the customer stands in front of the virtual fitting mirror, the device will automatically display a three-dimensional image of the new clothes after trying on them. The specific method of use is very simple. Enter body data, height, chest circumference, waist circumference, and arm length, and you will see a three-dimensional rendering of the human body appear on the screen. Next, you can "wear" the clothes you like to see if they fit you. You can also "turn around" by moving the mouse to see if the shoulders are narrower, if the hem is longer, and where the sleeves are, which greatly improves the consumer's shopping experience.

As the shoe and apparel industry continues to deepen the application of RFID technology, I believe that in the future RFID will be integrated with more new technologies such as cloud computing, big data, and automation to empower enterprises and create more value.