About the Metro Group

Metro Cash and Carry founded by Otto Beisheim in 1964 as a wholesale business
In the 1970s, wholesaling operations in Europe were expanded and retailing was started
Company went public in 1996 and merged wholesale and retail operations under Metro Group

Metro operated in 2300 locations in 30 countries and had sales of 56.4bn Euros in 2005
CIO Meirdorf believed in importance of information technology to control the volumes in retail industry
N 1996, Meirdorf created MGI Metro Group Information Technology (MGI)
In 1999 Metro became a founding member of Global Commerce Initiative and identified potential benefits of RFID in retail

Solving Logistics Challenges in Retail through RFID

Shrink in the supply chain
Issue:
Shrink levels in retail approx. 2% of sales; inventory theft costs 1.3% of annual sales
Solution: RFID at case level can reduce shrink level by 25% & at item level by 40%
Out-of-stock impact on sales
Issue:

Out-of-stock rate approx. 6-10% in retail; has negative impact on sales, brand loyalty & consumer satisfaction
Caused by poor store execution , high levels of product variety, inability to shelve new merchandise at store
Solution: RFID could improve replenishment process from backrooms and reduce out-of-stocks
Improve accuracy of inventory data and provide stock visibility
Planogram and Promotion
Issue:
New product introductions, changes in planograms cause heavy workload; lack of resources for such events
Solution: RFID could provide data on location of products and improve planogram and promotion compliance
Productivity & Labor
Issue:
manual entry of items in store by scanning takes huge amount of time
Solution: RFID could achieve time and money savings by eliminating manual entries & bar code scanning

Improvement in process flow with implementation of RFID For Manufacturer

Current Process
Place
Cases
on
Pallets

Shrinkwrap
pallet
with
barcode

Move
pallet to
storage
area

Store
pallet

Scan &
pick
pallet,
take to
shipping
area

Assembl
e pallet
for
truckloa
ds

Store
pallet

Scan &
pick
pallet,
take to
shipping
area

Assemble
pallet for
truckload
s

Store
Pallet

Scan
Barcode
on Pallet

Load
Truck
ship to
Metro
DC

Store
Pallet

Scan
Barcode
on Pallet

Load
Truck
ship to
Metro DC

What RFID can Improve

Place
Cases on
Pallets

Shrinkwrap
pallet
with
barcode

Move
pallet to
storage
area

Improved Process
Place Cases
on Pallets

Shrink-wrap
pallet with
RFID tag

Move pallet
to storage
area

Store pallet

Assemble
pallet for
truckloads

Store Pallet

Load Truck
ship to Metro
DC

Improvement in process flow with implementation of RFID For Metro DC

Receiving and Storing Pallets
Current Process
Unload From
Truck

Scan Barcode

Count cases
on Pallet and
inspect
paper work

Forklift
Driver Scan
on Pallet

Transfer
Pallet to
storage

Scan Storage
Barcode to
verify
Location

Store Pallet

Count cases
on Pallet and
inspect
paper work

Forklift
Driver Scan
on Pallet

Transfer
Pallet to
storage

Scan Storage
Barcode to
verify
Location

Store Pallet

What RFID can Improve

Unload From
Truck

Scan Barcode

Improved Process

Unload From Truck

Count cases on
Pallet and inspect
paper work

Forklift Driver Scan

on Pallet

Transfer Pallet to
storage

Store Pallet

Improvement in process flow with implementation of RFID For Metro DC

Picking and Shipping Pallets
Current Process
Scan
barcode
on pallet

Transfer
pallet to
picking
area

Scanning
Pallet

Assemble
mixed
pallets
for store

Move
mixed
pallet to
SA

ShrinkWrap and
put the
barcode

Sample
Mixed
pallets
and
check for
accuracy

Scan
Barcode

Load to
Metro
Store

ShrinkWrap and
put the
barcode

Sample
Mixed
pallets
and
check for
accuracy

Scan
Barcode

Load to
Metro
Store

What RFID can Improve

Scan
barcode
on pallet

Transfer
pallet to
picking
area

Scanning
Pallet

Assemble
mixed
pallets
for store

Move
mixed
pallet to
SA

Improved Process

Transfer pallet
to picking area

Assemble mixed
pallets for store

Move mixed
pallet to SA

Shrink-Wrap
and put the
barcode

Sample Mixed
pallets and
check for
accuracy

Load to Metro
Store