Equally as important as knowing where your items are is knowing how many of them you actually have. Inventory counts based on yesterday’s data can easily result in missed shipments, lost sales, and, ultimately, unsatisfied customers.
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology revolutionizes this process by streamlining how businesses Identify, Track, Count, and Manage their inventory.
Let’s explore how RFID enables faster inventory counts with greater accuracy to answer the question, “How many do I have?”
How RFID Enhances Inventory Counting
RFID technology revolutionizes inventory management by providing real-time visibility and accuracy throughout the entire supply chain. By attaching RFID tags to items, cases, or pallets, you provide assets with a Digital DNA, enabling businesses to automatically and precisely track the movement and location of inventory as it enters, moves through, and exits their facilities. RFID readers placed at strategic points, such as loading docks, storage areas, and retail floors, continuously capture data from the tags, which is then integrated into inventory management systems. This seamless process reduces human error, enhances inventory accuracy, and enables quick and efficient cycle counts. Moreover, RFID helps in identifying discrepancies between physical inventory and recorded data, facilitating immediate corrective actions. This enhanced control over inventory levels leads to improved stock management, reduced carrying costs, and better fulfillment rates, ultimately contributing to higher customer satisfaction and streamlined operations.
What is Digital DNA and How Does It Work in Inventory Counting?
Digital DNA is much more than just an Electronic Product Code (EPC); it gives your items a true “Digital Voice,” enabling you to track virtually any piece of information associated with an RFID-tagged item. Using your item’s Digital DNA, RFID software like PortalTrack enables faster inventory counts with greater accuracy and can integrate and automatically update POS or accounting systems with accurate inventory counts. Read The Power of RFID for Asset Identification – Part One of a Series on RFID Software to learn more.
RFID Count Use Cases
Perpetual Inventory
Perpetual Inventory with RFID refers to an automated inventory management system that continuously updates stock levels in real-time by using RFID technology to track and record the movement of items, thereby eliminating the need for manual inventory counts and ensuring accurate, up-to-date inventory data.
Cycle Counting
Typically, cycle counting is done manually or by manually scanning barcodes. On average, it might take a worker about 1-2 minutes to scan and count each item, which includes locating the item, scanning the barcode, and recording the count. For a warehouse with thousands of items, this process can take multiple people and days to complete. In contrast, RFID technology can perform cycle counts in a fraction of this time, often completing in minutes what would take hours or days with barcode scanning.
Inbound/Outbound Order Validation
RFID order validation ensures the right products are shipped and received by automatically scanning and verifying items against order requirements during packing and receiving. This real-time verification process flags discrepancies immediately, reducing errors and ensuring accurate shipments and deliveries.
Case, Pallet, and Item Level Verification
RFID can count inventory at the case, pallet, or item level, with item-level Digital DNA providing the greatest visibility. At all levels, RFID significantly enhances accuracy, speed, and traceability, allowing for confident, real-time business decisions. Read The Power of RFID for Asset Tracking–Part Two of a Series on RFID Software to learn more about tracking different assets.
Who is Responsible for Inventory Count?
Warehouse managers, material handlers, stockers, and inventory control specialists are typically responsible for the inventory count process. With RFID technology, businesses can streamline these responsibilities and enhance accuracy, making the task faster and easier for the responsible personnel.
How MSM Solutions’ PortalTrack Enhances Inventory Counting
PortalTrack RFID Software is customized to integrate with each business’s existing processes and RFID hardware and systems, ensuring that the RFID solution enhances inventory management without disrupting established workflows.
You Make the Rules
MSM Solutions empowers businesses by allowing them to define how the RFID system works for them. “You make the rules, we don’t” encapsulates their philosophy of providing tools that adapt to your business, not the other way around.
Automatic Inventory Counting
PortalTrack can be used for “portals” like a dock door, receiving station, or smart shelf. When used with an RFID reader, PortalTrack will automatically count the items passing through the portal or station with a timestamp and location.
Handheld Inventory Counting
The simplest and lowest-cost method to inventory tracking is using a handheld RFID reader to count RFID-tagged items. MSM PortalTrack can operate on handheld RFID readers like the Zebra RFD 90 and store inventory counts to be integrated into existing inventory management and logistics systems.
Missing Inventory Counts
PortalTrack RFID Software excels in providing a complete inventory overview and facility mapping, capturing data on inventory to ensure it matches what is expected. This level of detail helps businesses understand what might be missing, what might need a recount, and fill the gaps in their inventory management.
Common Questions About RFID Inventory Counting
How many items can RFID count at once?
RFID systems can read and count hundreds to thousands of tags simultaneously, depending on the system’s configuration and the environment.
How does RFID handle different types of inventory?
RFID tags can be customized to work with various inventory types, from individual items to large pallets, ensuring accurate tracking across all categories.
What is the cost of implementing RFID for inventory counting?
The cost varies depending on the scale of implementation, including the number of tags, readers, and the integration with existing systems. However, the return on investment can be significant through increased accuracy and efficiency.
How do you prevent duplicate RFID tag counts?
PortalTrack RFID software uses sophisticated algorithms and timestamp data to ensure each tag is counted only once, even if it passes by the reader multiple times. Sometimes errors occur due to duplicate programming of the same Digital DNA on an RFID tag. To address this, you can examine the chip’s IC number to trace the source of the error. By identifying the specific IC number, you can pinpoint the manufacturing or programming stage where the duplication happened. Once identified, RFID tags can be reprogrammed with unique identifiers to correct the issue and ensure accurate inventory tracking.
Choosing the Right RFID Solution for Your Business
Selecting the right RFID solution is crucial for comprehensive inventory management. It’s important to choose a vendor that can provide a complete solution, from hardware to software and everything in between. MSM Solutions is unique in this regard, offering fully encoded and printed RFID tags, top-of-the-line RFID hardware from the best providers in the industry, expert RFID consulting and installation services, as well as their advanced PortalTrack RFID software. This end-to-end capability ensures seamless integration and operation of your RFID system, enhancing asset tracking, inventory accuracy, and overall operational efficiency.
Conclusion
RFID technology delivers inventory management solutions for more than just retail and apparel. Healthcare, manufacturing, automotive, and distribution have all seen RFID enhance operational efficiencies. Embrace RFID technology with MSM Solutions, and step into a future where every asset is just a scan away from revealing its comprehensive digital identity. Deployed globally, many of the world’s leading and most recognizable brands trust MSM Solutions and PortalTrack RFID software to monitor millions of events around the world every single day for them.
MSM Solutions recognizes that every business is different. Contact MSM Solutions today for a free consultation and we will provide you with straight answers on feasibility and cost.
