Active RFID tracks Jöbstl clothing to Charles Vögele stores

Jöbstl Warehousing & Fashion has successfully implemented a 2.4GHz active rfid system from Wherenet to track it's containers on their way to Charles Vögele stores. The architecture of the solution is nothing revolutionary, but seems to be working out very well for Jöbstl.

Basically, their ERP system will know where each container is at any given moment, give or take 2 minutes, and will pay particular attention when a container reaches a dock door. Wherenet designed the system using 3 readers in the warehouse and 25 dock door sensors, called exciters, to track about 35 containers a day.

This setup is simple but effective, and appears to do exactly what it was designed to do with no frills. It's the right approach to designing an rfid system, but also underlines the painful reality facing the industry: most projects don't have volume.

Wherenet, like Savi and RFCode, has mature, stable technology, and an impressive roster of success cases. But these companies have still recently sought venture capital to fund their growth and operations, suggesting that even they have not found the money in rfid yet.

RFID Journal writes:

"This was not a fast rollout, but it was a very positive one," says Florian Erber, director of sales and business development for WhereNet in Europe.

Clearly this was a major engagement for Wherenet and involved a significant investment of resources. It's also a success and the industry would benefit from more simple cases like this. But it's concerning that a retail chain with over 800 stores has been able to absorb only 3 readers, 25 exciters, and a few hundred tags for a project that took a long time to roll out.

Who's footing the bill?

re: RFID Journal, RFID pushes fashion forward