Birds Eye Foods sees strong ROI from RFID, CEO says
Birds Eye Foods Inc., one of more than 125 suppliers to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. moving ahead with RFID technology to track shipments of cases and pallets, will reap large rewards from RFID over the next three years, chairman, president and CEO Dennis Mullen tells Internet Retailer. “There are very few technology breakthroughs I’ve come across that I consider as important as RFID,” he says. “We’re not doing this because Wal-Mart said so. We`re doing this because long-term it facilitates a win-win-win for the consumer, the retailer and the supplier.”
Mullen also says he expects to begin sharing RFID data over the web through the EPC Network within 18 months. RFID technology uses radio frequency technology to automatically read product information transmitted by tags placed on cases, pallets and eventually individual products, providing retail managers and suppliers real-time visibility into the shipment status of goods throughout the supply chain. The data will also be used to automatically update inventory records, providing visibility into overall stock levels to help retailers make better merchandising plans.
Although Mullen says it’s too soon to say how much it will cost Birds Eye to equip its warehouses and shipping materials with RFID tags and readers, he notes that he’s seen enough of how the technology works to determine that it will significantly increase the ability of Birds Eye and its retail clients to get the right products to the right stores in time to sell at the best price. He adds that he expects RFID tags to eventually also help Birds Eye monitor the quality of its frozen foods – for example, by recording the temperature of goods throughout shipment to assure it remained at accepted levels.
“I have embraced this technology because it will give us a competitive edge,” he says, adding that he’s made RFID the No. 1 priority among technology projects at Birds Eye. “I believe the ROI on this investment will be there in spades.”
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