LCWaikiki Of Turkey Implements Alien RFID Solution For Garment Tracking At Its Flagship Store
August 6, 2008 — Alien Technology Corporation, an industry leader for Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) products and services, in partnership with STS, recently implemented a retail level garment tracking system with LCWaikiki in Istanbul, Turkey. With more than 190 stores nationwide, LCWaikiki is one of Turkey's fastest growing apparel retailers. As a result of the STS/Alien RFID garment tagging project, LCWaikiki has been able to markedly improve efficiency in stocktaking and stock transfer and improve ROI.
STS Technology, a leading RFID systems integrator in Turkey and a member of Alien Technology(r)'s Value Added Solutions Provider (VASP) channel partner network, installed a STS/Alien RFID garment tagging project at LCWaikiki's flagship store in downtown Istanbul. STS used an RFID/EAS combo hard tag to tag each of the twenty-four thousand articles of clothing LCWaikiki sells for men, women and children.
"We have noticed that using different vendors for tags and readers can lead to a lack of accountability in the application's success. It was very important to us that one vendor guarantee the complete solution by providing both readers and tags," said Levent Yalcinkaya, Technopark Director for STS. "We chose the Alien solution because Alien's hardware out-performs all other readers and tags in the marketplace today."
Every unique article of clothing at LCWaikiki's flagship store is tagged with a single hard tag that encases both an EAS (electronic article surveillance) anti-theft sensor and an Alien UHF/EPC compliant Gen 2 Squiggle-Short inlay. The RFID portion of the tag enables LCWaikiki to track all processes from stock receipts, stockroom/sales replenishment, inventory management, product detection, customer returns, stocktaking and store-to-store transfers.
As a result of its RFID deployment, LCWaikiki has seen a 60 percent time reduction in stocktaking and a 70 percent time savings in the transfer of stock from the storeroom to the sales area. This improved efficiency translates into significant cost savings for LCWaikiki, and helps the company maintain its very competitive price points.
"A typical RFID installation addresses the automation or streamlining of a particular process, but the LCWaikiki deployment is unique in that Alien's RFID solutions are being used as the central data capture method for storing all retail data," said Stephen Crocker, director of channel sales for EMEA and India for Alien Technology. "The LCWaikiki project represents one of Europe's first full-scale RFID installations in a retail environment, and is a highly effective application that addresses LCWaikiki's business needs and provides measurable return on investment."
The next phase in the project involves rolling out the solution to all 190 of LCWaikiki's stores.
About STS Technology
STS Technology, which was founded in 2005, provides UHF Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) solutions and services to customers in the retail, textile, jewelry, consumer goods, manufacturing, defense, transportation and logistics, pharmaceuticals and other industries. At STS Technology, the goal is to ensure 100% customer satisfaction. STS realizes cost-effective solutions by using Alien products of UHF (866 MHz) Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) EPC-compliant solutions throughout Turkey. More information about STS is available at www.sts-rfid.com
About LCWaikiki/Taha Group
Taha Group, which controls LCWaikiki, is a vertically integrated full-service apparel manufacturing company which is proud of its international reputation as a manufacturer of top quality fabrics and garments. We produce more than 20 million fashion garments a year, destined for the markets of Western Europe and North America. We provide services ranging from product development through to logistics arrangements. The Group is today a major supplier for some of the most famous brands. Taha Group, has a vast amount of experience and know-how in different manufacturing technologies as well as product development and design. They work very closely with customers to provide developments of various fabric qualities, garment designs, embellishment or garment washing techniques.
About Alien Technology
Founded in 1994, Alien Technology is a leading technology and product provider of UHF Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Integrated Circuits (IC), tags, readers and professional services. Alien Gen 2 products, along with software solutions from partners, help solve business problems for customers to improve productivity, processes, security and asset tracking for closed-loop and supply chain systems. These solutions are currently implemented in industries such as consumer packaged goods, retail, manufacturing, transportation, airports and cargo logistics, government and defense, and more. Alien's patented Fluidic Self Assembly (FSA(r)) technology and related proprietary manufacturing processes are designed to enable the manufacture of high volume, low-cost RFID tags. Quatrotec, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Alien Technology, is a specialized professional services and technology firm that provides complete solutions to meet the
sophisticated requirements of the transportation industry. Alien's facilities include corporate headquarters in Morgan Hill, CA; RFID tag manufacturing facility in Fargo, ND; the Alien RFID Solutions Center in Dayton, OH; Quatrotec's offices at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO); and sales offices in the US, Europe and Asia. Alien is a member of EPCglobal. For more information please visit www.alientechnology.com