Siemens 2005 Annual Report Download - page 55

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Complete transparency all the way
to the shopping cart
this was reason enough for the paper producer to enter
into a partnership with us – a full-range provider of
RFID technology and consulting services.
SCA is benefiting from our expertise in more ways
than one. Not only is a single-source RFID solution that
incorporates transponders with invariably high rates
of read accuracy being deployed at the company. With
this innovative technology, SCA can also considerably
shorten the time required to move pallets from back-
room storage to the retailer’s sales floor – thanks in
no small measure to the complete transparency of the
company’s entire value chain. In addition, the RFID
system makes it possible to improve the accuracy of
deliveries, streamline the overall delivery process and
trace products following customer inquiries. In short,
SCA’s partnership with Siemens will position the com-
pany to expand its leading market position through
the use of innovative RFID solutions.
SCA is a global paper manufacturing and processing
company that produces absorbent hygiene products
such as paper towels and tissues, packaging solutions
and printing paper. The company develops customized
products for consumers, healthcare facilities, industry
and the retail trade.
As part of a pilot project launched in early 2005, SCA is
leveraging our expertise in RFID solutions to help opti-
mize its production of hygiene products and its deliv-
ery of goods to the METRO Group. For SCA, the aim
of the project is to promote transparency all along its
value chain by increasing process efficiency. This, in
turn, will reduce SCA’s storage and transportation
costs across the board – from production to delivery.
High rate of read accuracy
In the initial phase of the pilot project, SCA’s team and
our experts analyzed and tested the feasibility, cost-
efficiency and applicability of RFID technology in SCA’s
logistics operations, completing this task in just seven
weeks. The next phase involved integrating an RFID
solution into the Swedish paper producer’s day-to-day
processes. In February 2005, an RFID system went into
operation at SCA’s warehouse and delivery center for
hygiene products in Mannheim, Germany.
About 200 trucks loaded with pallets leave the SCA
facility every day. This level of activity places high
demands on the integration of RFID technology into
the company’s processes and on the read accuracy of
the ultra-high frequency transponders. When the sys-
tem was first put into service, the read accuracy of
the RFID tags, which are directly attached to the pallets,
was nearly 100 percent (99.7 percent). When, as part of
the pilot project, deliveries are made to METRO stores
in the German towns of Neuss and Mülheim/Ruhr,
radio tags are used not only for hygiene products but
for all SCA products included in the delivery. These
tags automatically trigger the entry of data registering
the goods’ receipt. SCA considers it especially impor-
tant to leverage cutting-edge technology and efficiency-
enhancing processes in its logistics operations. And
Group Presidents Megatrends
RFID
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