Sam's Club With RFID Technology

Sam's Club is a premium membership shop owned by Walmart and has been in business for over 30 years since the first shop opened in April 1983 in Midwest City, Oklahoma, U.S.A. Entering the international market in the early 1990s, Sam's has more than 800 shops worldwide, making it one of the largest membership shops in the world.

Sam's Club represents this type of store display, called warehouse style, where the store is the warehouse and the goods are sold directly on the warehouse shelves, giving a strong sense of order. Humans are naturally drawn to straight lines and regular shapes, but also to complexity. The 'warehouse aesthetic', where a vast array of objects are placed in front of you in a strict order, satisfies our inner fascination with order. The architect Corbusier said: "Order is the true key to life. It is the search for order that sets human beings apart from other species."

Behind the aesthetics of Sam's member warehouses, of course, can not be separated from the support of RFID technology. In 2005, Sam's members will be related to RFID manufacturer SEIKO RFID TECHNOLOGY LTD signed a long-term contract, in 2008, Sam's suppliers to Wal-Mart delivery of goods on the pallet, are to add RFID tags, to 2010, Sam's member shops have achieved a single product RFID tags. Compared with "bar codes", RFID has many advantages. Firstly, RFID can be read on multiple objects at the same time, while bar codes can only be read one by one; secondly, RFID can read data through external materials, while bar codes must be scanned directly by laser; in addition, RFID can identify a single object, while bar codes can only identify a class of objects. Most importantly, RFID tags store a very large amount of information. It is not only able to record inherent information such as item name and packaging, but also the status of the item at any time, such as whether it is ex-factory, in transit, in the warehouse, on sale or even handed over to the customer after payment has been completed.

In addition to the client-side references, the logistics and warehousing side is also a large area of RFID application scenarios. RFID with the small size of the device, adapt to harsh environments, repeatedly available, the use of safe technical characteristics. Sam members with RFID technology, the logistics industry can achieve the management of all aspects of the logistics process, such as improving the retailer's inventory management, timely replenishment, effective tracking of transport and inventory, such as for the warehouse goods in and out of storage and inventory count above, RFID can reduce manpower, reduce the error rate and improve efficiency. By attaching electronic tags to shelves and pallets, the identification of station numbers and locations can be achieved, while the number and type of goods currently stored on the shelves can be recorded. The pallet tag can record the variety and quantity information of goods, and carry out real-time data exchange with the data centre, which facilitates warehouse management personnel to carry out regular inventory inspection and stocktaking. Warehouse personnel scan the goods in the fixed area through the reader, or scan the goods through the operator's RFID handheld device, and compare with the information in the database. The RFID information can also be scanned when the goods are moved and automatically passed to the system to update the inventory information synchronously.

The use of RFID by Sam's members is in line with today's world trend towards information technology, which has led to a period of information technology in the logistics management sector, simplifying the process, reducing labour and lowering costs. The increasing number of companies using RFID today has proven that the benefits it brings are in line with the expectations of entrepreneurs and shows that, unless a management technology with the same functionality and fewer drawbacks emerges, RFID will be with companies for many years to come. While we see the success of Wal Mart rfid, we must also pay attention to the reasons for its success, and only by keeping up with the pace of advanced international companies can Chinese companies develop faster and better.