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For many retail stores there are two key factors that contribute to the loss of revenue, which are inventory tracking and theft. These two factors also play their role within a medium-sized business called On Target, a newer sporting goods store. For smaller businesses, lost revenues are harder to recover and deal a larger monetary blow compared to larger businesses that have more avenues to protect themselves. Digital Fortress has been asked to manage a project that would produce a solution that would minimize lost revenue from inventory errors and theft tracking, and this project team has formulated its recommended solution in the form of this report. The recommendation is to add Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags to the entire inventory in the store, which will increase inventory tracking speed and better tracking of inventory lost due to theft.
RFID tagging utilizes microchips that can send radio frequencies that are received by an RFID receiver, which tell the receiver what ever information needed to be received, such as price, location, or type of item. These micro-sized chips are small enough to be placed on an item without detracting from its appearance, and are powered by antenna placed within a slim sticker-like film for easy discrete application.
The time it takes to implement this system can be seen in the following project plan. From the time Digital Fortress receives the project until the system is initiated and completed, it would take approximately 95 days to fully become an RFID system store. This detailed plan describes the various steps taken to insure a successful transition and minimize mistakes that may occur. First, the needs of the customers have to be determined, such as how long the RFID tags remain active. Next comes the installation of the RFID hardware into the store, which leads to the training of the employees of the system. Once the training of the employees has been completed, then brining the system on-line is the last step. Once the system is on-line, one extra step is recommended: the evaluation of the system. This allows for fine tuning, like buying more or less tags, more scanners or more training.
With an initial $25,000 investment that will cover the RFID tags, one scanner, software license and vendor fee, On-Target will be able to initialize the RFID system. Once implemented, the return of investment would cover the initial $25,000 in just over two years.
Implementing the RFID system would greatly reduce inventory tacking issues. On main problem with inventory tracking is with error making, as in an employee miss-counting the amount of a product on arrival and inputting it into the system. The time it takes to correct the error if it is even discovered) is a loss of labor cost, since this time is allotted for other store functions. Not having a correct count of store inventory only adds to the risk of a missed sale or a product expiring before sale. The RFID system greatly reduces these risks by providing real-time inventory and accurate quantity tracking. The RFID tags are tracked by the system upon entering into the store, where all tags are read and entered into the system as inventory. This helps to eliminate the error of miss-counting the items, which also eliminates the need to go back and correct the mistake.
Once the inventory is placed on the shelves, the RFID system also tracks the location of the items. This allows the ease of a single employee to walk down an isle and scan all the products located on the shelves and discover any product out of place. The employee then can replace the item on the spot instead of waiting until the store is closed and walking the whole store hoping to spot an item out of place. This helps customers who wish to purchase an item and not be led to