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Intel And Leading European Retailers - Carrefour, METRO Group And Tesco - Help Improve Supply Chain VisibilitySANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 12, 2004 - Working together to further improve supply chain efficiencies and customer loyalty, Carrefour, Intel Corporation, METRO Group and Tesco have formed a European working group to accelerate the adoption of Electronic Product Code (EPC) technology. The technology will help improve inventory control, which will lead to reduced operating costs and increased margins. The supply chain is becoming increasingly global and complex with products passing through distribution centers, warehouses, and store sales floors. Companies are looking to navigate these complexities, address business process issues and choose the right technologies to better manage inventory and lower operating costs. Members of the group are actively piloting EPC, the next generation bar code, and radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies in their supply chains. The working group, called the EPC Retail Users Group of Europe, will complement the efforts of current standards bodies, such as EPC Global, by providing a forum for European retailers to identify and share best methods for implementing EPC-based technologies, such as RFID readers, and business processes. The group will develop documents and white papers on successful implementations, technologies and usage models and share them with the retail industry in Europe. "This industry group will help enable a transformation in retail," said John Davies, vice president, sales and marketing group, Intel. "Intel is working with other technology leaders, retailers, consumer packaged goods companies and researchers around the world to drive solutions from Intel® Itanium® 2 architecture running back-end databases, to end user devices based on Intel® Centrino™ Mobile Technology or Intel® XScale® technology. These technologies will provide the underpinnings for this transformation and will lower inventory and supply chain management costs and drive customer loyalty through a new personalized shopping experience." "Carrefour is participating in this initiative in order to ensure that this exciting new technology is implemented globally in an efficient way for suppliers and retailers so that consumers can get better availability of products with better value," said Jeremy Hollows, director of business to business, Carrefour. "In April of 2003 the METRO Group started testing RFID under real conditions," said Dr. Gerd Wolfram, project manager of METRO Group's Future Store. "In this new working group we will drive forward international best methods for the EPC. This will be a cornerstone for the future of RFID in retailing." "We recognize the importance of implementing an efficient supply chain and the benefits EPC and RFID could bring," said Colin Cobain, IT director, Tesco in the UK. "We are currently trialing radio bar codes within our distribution network and have already seen some benefits. We hope to be able to roll this out soon." About Carrefour About Intel About METRO Group About Tesco Intel, Centrino, Itanium and Intel XScale are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. * Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others. |
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