A Strategic Approach to RFID

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A Strategic Approach to RFID
Terri Crawford, Business IT Manager,
Distribution, Publix Super Markets, Inc.
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Publix Super Markets, Inc.

• Largest employee owned supermarket chain in the
  US over 129,000 associates
• 2005 retail sales of 20.5 billion
• Over 850 supermarkets in the Southeast United
  States
• Eight distribution centers (22 warehouses)
  shipped over 640,000,000 cases in 2005
• Manufacturing Facilities
• 2 Bakery Plants,3 Dairy Plants, 3 Fresh Foods,
  Deli Kitchen and Printing services

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Publix RFID Initiative

• Member of EPCglobal in since June 2004,
  participating in the FMCG and HLS BAG
• Support the adoption of RFID and the EPC network
  within the supply chain
• Currently have a Strategy and Architecture
  project underway to define our RFID Roadmap

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Publix and the University of Florida

• Member of the Advisory Board to the UF/IFAS CFDR
• Committed to working with the Center in several
  research initiatives
• One of the many research initiatives we are
  interested in is RFID
• Beginning a joint research project with UF and 3
  of our produce suppliers V2 - Visibility
  Validated in the Perishable Supply Chain

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RFID Impact on Retail Industry

• Product tagging and tracking has implications to
  all Supply Chain processes
• The technology has the potential to
  revolutionize the supply chain
• All processes and technology systems associated
  with product information and movement are
  potentially impacted

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RFID Strategy and Architecture Project at Publix

• Correct approach is essential to achieve maximum
  benefit to our business processes
• Will use our Strategy and Architecture
  Methodology
• 3 5 year horizon
• Define the business processes, application, data
  and infrastructure as-is and to-be models
• Assess the readiness and timing for implementing
  RFID in identified processes
• Build the business case for implementation
• Develop Adoption Roadmap

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Scope of RFID SA

• Our SA project is focused on the EPC and EPC
  Network
• Includes all Supply Chain Processes from
  Suppliers and in-house manufacturing to retail
  stores
• Considering the applicability of Pallet, Case and
  Item tagging in each area
• Process benefit divided into direct benefit (i.e.
  labor savings, process or process step
  elimination) or visibility benefit (i.e. new or
  improved data availability, more accurate or
  timely data)

• Functional areas
• Manufacturing
• Distribution
• Retailing
• DSD
• In Store Production
• Purchasing and Procurement

• Facilities
• Manufacturing
• Distribution Warehouse
• Stores

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Approach for RFID SA Project
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RFID SA Project Iterative Approach
Iterative Phases
Areas
1. CPG Dry
Phase 2, Phase 3 and Phase 4 Quantify,
Survey-Validate Assumptions And Finalize Impleme
ntation Roadmap
2. CPG Cold Chain
Phase 1 Assess-Define
3. Pharmacy
Incorporate learning's, and Best Practices
4. Fresh
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Key Deliverables

• Future Solution State
• EPC-RFID Enabled, High-level Process Future State
• High-level application Future State updated
  supply chain application architecture
• High-level technical Future State
• Suggested approach with package software
  suppliers
• Implementation Roadmap and Strategy
• Business case for RFID implementation, including
  high-level cost and benefit estimates
• Key opportunities mapped against dependencies
• 3-5 year Adoption Roadmap to include
  pilot/rollout sequencing and triggers for project
  kickoff
• Publix positioning and focus at standards forum

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V2 Project Objectives

• Approached by UF to participate, jointly
  developed the vision and objectives of the
  project focus on business processes and the EPC
  Network
• To expand the research of the Center from a
  controlled lab environment to a production
  operations environment
• To prove the EPC network viability and validate
  the benefit of the additional visibility of
  product through the supply chain
• Gain knowledge of the technology and process
  issues that will be associated with implementing
  RFID

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V2 RFID Project with UF CFDR

• Testing with three produce suppliers Del Monte,
  Tanimura Antle, and Duda
• Contributors to the project include Alien,
  Franwell, Ingersoll Rand/Thermo King, RedTail,
  Symbol, VeriSign
• Produce suppliers are shipping designated loads
  to Publix with pallet and case level RFID tags
• 3 receiving door portals are installed at the
  Publix produce warehouse in Lakeland, Florida

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V2 Project, continued

• All information is posted to an EPCIS
• Developing a visibility dashboard to be used by
  all participants
• First Shipment with full visibility was completed
  on 1/18/06
• Each supplier and Publix have customized the
  dashboard for their individual business needs
  through specific parameters

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V2 Project, continued

• UF CFDR has a full view of each participants data
  and will aggregate appropriate information to be
  shared with all partners
• UF CFDR will evaluate and document the project
  results, benefits and opportunities
• Next phase will be determined based on the
  results of the first phase
• Expect to finish the first phase by May 2006

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Thank you