Stichd, Nedap Collaborate to Create Fully Transparent Supply Chain

RFID adoption enables higher availability of products from brands like Levi’s, Puma and Tommy Hilfiger leading to increased profitability.

Nedap’s RFID-based inventory management software platform !D Cloud will allow for full item traceability from the stichd logistics warehouse in Tilburg, the Netherlands, to its customers’ online and offline retail channels.

Full item visibility enabled by RFID will lead to transparent, reliable, and actionable data for optimal replenishment. This ensures the availability of body and legwear items, boosting the profitability of both the retailer and stichd.

“For many years stichd made business effortless for our retail partners globally offering A-brands and products that consumers come back for," said Niels Hermsen, regional GM at stichd. "Our service proposition includes never out of stock products, value-added services, vendor managed inventory, electronic data interchange and marketing services. We now have decided to add RFID technology to our service offering.

"RFID enables us to serve even more retailers with optimal assortments, accurate inventory levels and an effortless order process. These additional services from stichd will provide our retailers with optimal cash flow from our products. Especially in the current market circumstances, we feel confident in being a full-service business partner for our retailers. We are convinced that our partnership with Nedap will be a great vehicle to further achieve this.”

For this project, stichd will leverage Levi’s source tagged items and merchandise from brands like Puma, Tommy Hilfiger and HEAD, which will be tagged at stichd’s logistics warehouse.

This ensures that all items enter the stores with a unique identifier (the EPC or Electronic Product Code) ready to be sold. The RFID hardware in this project is supplied by Zebra and the RFID labels are supplied by Avery Dennison.

"Our solution eliminates challenges around complex data integrations and limited end-user acceptance," said Mark Kasbergen, business developer of RFID at Nedap. "Both are especially relevant as stichd operates in retail channels that aren’t self-owned. We are delighted to team up with stichd with the common ambition to achieve full item visibility, leading to optimal availability for sales and satisfied consumers.”