The Benefits of RFID in the Cold Storage Warehouse

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology can provide measureable benefits in the cold storage and refrigerated warehousing industry. If RFID is integrated with a warehouse management system, the system will indicate if product requires crossdock movement. RFID can be used to help manage the flow of goods into the warehouse, improve throughput speed of product at the receiving dock and enable greater efficiencies in conveyor systems. When RFID is used, there is no need to place product and pallets in specific assigned locations. RFID minimizes “honeycombing” and helps create a more flexible storage environment. Using RFID with a WMS can help measure productivity in the warehouse, facilitate the return process of damaged or unsellable goods, and improve dock utilization and putaway rates. In addition RFID can enhance fulfillment accuracy, worker productivity and accuracy of the shipping process. RFID can also be used to eliminate the need for physical inventory counts and can reduce cycle counts. Using RFID in the cold storage warehouse reduces the chance of an out-of-stock situation due to misplaced inventory. Cold storage and refrigerated warehouses also benefit from using RFID through reduced employee thefts and errors in shipment placements. In cold storage warehouse operations, it is common to use a two-step putaway process. RFID portals positioned in locations within the warehouse such as at the entry to freezers and an RFID interrogator positioned in the aisle to capture inventory movement helps improve labor productivity, errors due to misplaced inventory and greater operational efficiency. Datex has developed middleware, software that reads RFID tags and relays data to the warehouse management system including the tag location, time and date stamp on entry to the WMS.