Apparel Solutions Archives

How Does RFID Help Increase Inventory Accuracy?

RFID technology has many advantages. Among key benefits is the enabling of more accurate and more frequent inventory cycles while utilizing less labor. Traditionally, inventory counts have been performed in one of two ways: by manual counts with pen and paper or by barcode, scanning individual items. The traditional methods of inventory are labor intensive, inaccurate, and limit regular inventory cycles of more than once or twice per year. The first step to implement RFID inventory is to add a RFID label to each item. With [...]

By Brett Wilkerson Apparel Solutions, Distribution and Logistics, PortalTrack, RFID

How to Setup RFID Inventory Management Solution for Small and Medium Retailers

As we step into the future of retail, RFID inventory management systems have made it possible for a variety of large scale retailers to easily track all aspects of their inventory. Recently, the well-known firm, McKinsey & Co. created the “retail store of the future” to further explore the many ways in which RFID technology can be useful within the retail sector. The store is called Modern Retail Collective and the goal of the store is to evaluate newer technologies such as fit predictor software, [...]

By Brett Wilkerson Apparel Solutions, Retail

Modern Retail Collective | Retail Technology in Mall of America

McKinsey & Company Opens Its First Retail Store in Collaboration With Mall of America

Store Signals Brick-and-Mortar Is Critical to the Future of Retail MSM provides its EPC Printing and Encoding Solution to “Modern Retail Collective – Store of the Future.” This RFID solution enables tagged retail items to be detected, located, identified, and counted instantaneously without the need to manually scan each item. McKinsey & Company, in collaboration with Mall of America, today announced the launch of its first-ever retail concept — Modern Retail Collective, a live retail space in Mall of America. The space [...]

By Brett Wilkerson Apparel Solutions, Retail, RFID

Do Small Retailers Need Omnichannel | MSM Solutions

Do Small Retailers Need to Implement Omnichannel?

Growing numbers of small retailers and brand owners are leveraging item-level RFID solutions to support omnichannel processes, but is it a fad or something that’s becoming necessary for businesses in the industry? The short answer is: yes. Omnichannel models — and the technology to support them — are necessary for retailers that want to complete in 2018 and beyond. Retailers that don’t embrace the changing consumer models and understand that brick and mortar alone isn’t always enough won’t be able [...]

By Brett Wilkerson Apparel Solutions, Blog Posts, Omnichannel, Retail, RFID

What Is a Perpetual Inventory System?

Retail professionals know how vital inventory tracking is to staying profitable. It’s how you ensure that products are available when customers expect them to be. It’s how you prevent loss due to theft. It’s how you know when to order new product, how much product to order, and so much more. Nevertheless, inventory tracking is time-consuming and many retailers continue to use inefficient periodic inventory systems. With periodic inventory systems, you only know what’s going on at specific times, following [...]

By Brett Wilkerson Apparel Solutions, PortalTrack

Video: Top 4 Reasons Why Retailers Should Validate Their Electronic Product Code (EPC) Data

RFID technology coupled with Electronic Product Code (EPC) validation is the most efficient way to track products from the manufacturing facility to the showroom floor. RFID and EPC validation help retailers to: Confirm that a particular item is present Identify what type of product it is Count how many of a particular item is present Identify each specific item uniquely Determine where inventory items are located Understanding Electronic Product Codes EPCs are unique strings of numbers (not unlike the numbers represented by bar codes) that assign [...]

By Brett Wilkerson Apparel Solutions, Blog Posts, PortalTrack, RFID

How RFID in Retail Is Improving Customer Experience

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and omnichannel are not just the future of retail – they are the “now.” Retailers dealing with large inventories that have yet to take advantage of RFID technology and omnichannel are missing out on increased profit potential, loss prevention, cost savings, payroll savings and so much more. At the same time, a sometimes-overlooked benefit of RFID inventory management systems is perhaps the most important one of all: how it helps customers. Here are 3 ways to [...]

By Brett Wilkerson Apparel Solutions, RFID

Things Your Inventory Management System Should Be Doing for You

Retailers often fall into the unfortunate trap of not upgrading their “tried and true” inventory management system because it seems to be working fine. However, even it runs smoothly, an out-of-date system often cannot provide even the most basic features provided by modern RFID solutions. Sticking to methods such as manual inventories or older barcode systems can cause you to be less productive and miss out on a host of efficiency-boosting benefits, leading to your company being less competitive [...]

By Brett Wilkerson Apparel Solutions, PortalTrack

Are Duplicate Product Labels Eating Your Margins?

Today’s apparel manufacturers know all too well how globalization affects the economics of supply and demand. It seems that the world is getting smaller, and your product margins are shrinking right along with it. The competitive nature of apparel manufacturing leads to a constant balancing act between maintaining quality, increasing speed to market, and reducing costs. For one MSM Solutions customer, the key to tipping the scales in their favor was a simple process change that netted significant savings. Like many [...]

By Brett Wilkerson Apparel Solutions, PortalTrack