Background to Marks & Spencer’s business trial of RFID in its clothing supply chain

Summary

• Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has the potential to improve stock control efficiency leading to full product availability for customers. Marks & Spencer conducted its RFID technology trial at item level on a selection of men's suits, shirts and ties at its High Wycombe store from 13 October 2003 to 7 November 2003.
• The technology proved effective in measuring stock availability in the High Wycombe store. However, to establish whether the predicted business and customer benefits really can result from the use of RFID, it is essential that a further trial, involving a number of stores, be undertaken.
• A business trial of RFID will take place in six stores from March/April 2004 until end June.

Introduction

• Marks & Spencer is trialling RFID within the supply chain as the next generation of barcode. In that application, RFID uses tags (a tag is a microchip combined with an antenna) to wirelessly transmit product item numbers. These item numbers are unique to each product (unlike barcodes, which only unique to the product type). The tags developed for the garment trial are contained within throwaway paper labels called Intelligent Labels.
• The RFID tags can be read over a short distance by a remote scanner. Traditional optical scanners, used with barcodes, require each barcode to be held a few centimetres from the scanner: with RFID Marks & Spencer is trialling scanners that can operate at a distance of up to approximately half a metre. The scanner can read the tags simultaneously, and at speed, allowing regular updating of stock information.
• The tags were first trialled to test their ability to enable Marks & Spencer to check stock deliveries, and count stock quickly in stores and depots. The scanned information was transmitted to the central stock database where an automatic comparison with the stock profile for store triggered a replenishment order.

The Business Trial

• The first trial tested the technology and customer acceptance. A more extensive, controlled multi-store trial is required to test the improvements made subsequently and to establish the business case for broader implementation
• The business trial will monitor the improvements to stock availability in the supply chain from supplier to store. Suppliers of men's suits will be attaching the RFID tags to the garments delivered to one designated distribution centre - Neasden.
• As a result of the volume of individual garments concerned, the tagged suits will be delivered to all stores served by Neasden that sell suits, starting in mid March.
• Mobile scanners with the capacity to read the tags will only be supplied to six of these stores: Aylesbury, Camberley, Ealing Broadway, High Wycombe, Kingston and Marble Arch. In effect, therefore, the trial will only take place in these stores.
• The scanning in each of the six stores included in the trial will start once they are fully stocked with tagged goods.
• The levels of product availability and sales in these stores will be compared with those in a statistically correlated group of stores.

Customer Information

• In response to customer research conducted during the High Wycombe trial an explanatory leaflet will be available in all the stores in which the tagged suits will be sold. In addition to describing the label's purpose, leaflet will also state that the Intelligent Label:
  • Does not contain a battery, is completely harmless and can be thrown away after purchase
  • Will not be scanned at the checkout and that therefore no link will be made between the garment information held by the tag and the customer's details
  • Will not need to be retained by the customer to obtain a refund or to return the garment
• The name of the throwaway label will be amended to say 'Intelligent Label for Stock Control' to avoid any confusion with the other garment labels provided for the customer's information.
• Customer research will be conducting during the trial in a selection of the stores and the findings will be made available in August/September.

The Scanner

• For the first trial two scanners were developed: a mobile scanner and a portal. During the business trial, only the mobile scanner will be used.
• The first (technology) trial established that the portal was useful in monitoring the accuracy of stock assembled for delivery to the store but was not essential to the data gathering process.
• The mobile scanner also showed itself to be more flexible and has therefore been modified to make it more robust and manoeuvrable. The mobile scanner will be taken onto the shop floor to read the stock remaining following trading. This information will be transmitted directly back to Marks & Spencer’s stock management system to ensure that accurate replenishment instructions are issued overnight to the distribution centre to enable the store to be fully stocked by the following day.
• The mobile scanner operates at 868 MHz as permitted for RFID radio signals in Europe and has an accurate read range of around 0.5 metre. It complies with the relevant safety standards, has been designed to operate using minimum power output and the test results have been independently approved by the Technology Innovation Centre at the University of Central England.

The RFID Tags

• The RFID tags contained within the throwaway Intelligent Labels contain nothing more than the number unique to each garment. All the tags used in the trial will be passive, with no battery or power to emit a signal. The tags will only release their unique identification number when a Marks & Spencer scanner is passed nearby scanner.
• The Intelligent Label will not be scanned at the till and therefore, irrespective of the method of payment, no association will be made between the information on the Intelligent Label and the purchaser's details.

For further information, please contact:
Bella Pagdin Corporate Press Office 020 7268 1967