Provider of work clothing, occupational safety products and safety shoes – Engelbert Strauss – wants to optimize the availability of goods in its branches by using RFID technology. Until a few months ago, the replenishment of goods and the processes in the branches , such as inventory management, were still largely manual.
However, a mobile RFID robot has been taking over the ongoing inventory recording in the Germany-based HQ branch. The robot records every single product in the range and locates incorrectly placed items. Its main task is to compare the inventory data he records with the actual inventory of the branch, which is stored in Strauss’ in-house system. To improve theft prevention, items also get additional RFID tags not directly visible to customers and attached to different positions on the products.
According to Michelle Trageser – the company’s Retail Solution Architect –the use of the RFID robot leads to a significant time saving when taking inventory. The solution can be used both as a key-date-related main annual inventory and for permanent inventory and meets all legal requirements.
In the future, the robot will also be used to collect goods in the store and provide images as a basis for in-store navigation and to create a daily updated virtual store.
