Midmarket Player Schiff Nutrition Embarks on RFID Pilot

February 28, 2007 - Schiff Nutrition International, a U.S.-based manufacturer of vitamins and nutritional supplements, embarks on a radio frequency identification (RFID) pilot to better anticipate current and future customer needs and improve efficiency. After researching RFID technology, Schiff turned to IBM and OATSystems for the initial design, testing and implementation of the RFID infrastructure. OATSystems' tag@source solution, OATxpress, and IBM's WebSphere RFID Premises Server form the foundation of a flexible and scalable end-to-end architecture.

To begin, IBM Global Business Services conducted an RFID Solution Development Workshop to educate Schiff's staff on the technology and customize its solution to align with current business processes. To ensure smooth running of Schiff's order-fulfillment operations, IBM Global Services will continue to deliver services through 2007. Schiff also had full access to IBM's RFID testing facility in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Business Partner network to address any issues of physics and to achieve the highest read rates. There, Schiff tested out which combinations of tags and readers worked best for its products, and perfected the use of RFID on mixed pallets, while spinning them in a pallet wrapper. This enables the seamless continuation of the supply chain, without slowing it down to read the tags, a critical requirement for Schiff. Schiff is able to read mixed pallets, spinning in a pallet wrapper, 100 percent of the time and gets read rates of 97 percent at the retailer, much higher than the industry average.

"We turned to IBM for their RFID testing facilities, expertise in software and data integration and extensive partner network -- they could deliver the whole package, and did, on time and below budget," says Rod Farrimond, manager business analysis, Schiff Nutrition. "Access to IBM's testing labs was a major differentiator for us when deciding on an RFID technology partner."

Upon completion of the program, Schiff expects to gain competitive advantage in the market and illustrate that RFID is sustainable for small- and medium-sized businesses.