OATSystems
and ADT Announce Promotions-on-Standards
Program to Ignite RFID ROI
Leaders
Rally Retailers and Suppliers to Validate
ROI in Standards-Based Real-time Promotions
Execution
WALTHAM,
Mass. - May 18, 2006 - OATSystems®,
Inc. and ADT, a unit of Tyco Fire & Security
[NYSE:TYC], today announced a proof
of ROI program designed to validate
the return on investment from standards-based
RFID-enabled promotions and ignite
the next phase of RFID deployments.
Together with Intel Corporation [NASDAQ:INTC],
the companies will provide RFID hardware,
software and services necessary for
a 10 store retail deployment to help
retailers track promotional products
and provide critical information back
to suppliers such as Procter & Gamble
[NYSE:PG] and Kimberly-Clark [NYSE:KMB].
To help validate the ROI, an independent
academic institution of the retailer's
choosing will establish the parameters
of the study, monitor control stores
and deliver a final report on the ROI.
"Excellent
promotional display execution is a 'win,
win, win' for the retailer, the manufacturer
and, most importantly, the shopper because
it meets the expectation of having the
right product in the right place at the
right time," said Milan Turk, Customer & Consumer
Leader, Procter & Gamble. "Improving
display execution is a cornerstone of
our EPC Advantaged Strategy that we initiated
earlier this year based on pilot experience
with our retail partners. N Those pilots
clearly demonstrated that the Electronic
Product Code enables work processes to
be fine tuned or revised to improve the
efficiency and timeliness of product
arriving on the store floor. Having that
product available when and where the
shopper expects it not only enhances
shopper satisfaction but also improves
sales."
Trade
promotion spending by manufacturers is
a massive budget item, representing 12%-15%
of sales for most companies. Unfortunately,
study after study and the day-to-day
experiences of manufacturers and retailers
show that the returns on trade promotions
are far less than satisfactory. Real-time
Promotion Execution (RPE) is a new, RFID-centric
business process that can help consumer
products manufacturers and retailers
to dramatically increase promotion effectiveness
which may result in increased promotional
sales, decreased execution costs, and
greater shopper satisfaction.
According
to Cheryl Perkins, senior vice president
and chief innovation officer for Kimberly-Clark,
RFID technology can be used as a business
tool to help deliver greater value to
K-C and its retail customers. "As
we continue to explore future uses of
RFID technology, we expect to gain valuable
insights on how to improve the effectiveness
of various business applications built
around scaleable standards, such as product
promotions. "This standards-based
approach will ensure we deliver the right
product solutions to the shopper at the
right time - increasing the success of
our product promotions."
RPE
uses RFID-tagged displays and promotion
product cases to measure in-store promotion
execution by tracking where and when
the displays and promotion inventory
are in the store. Manufacturers and retailers
can track when the items reach the store,
when they're moved to the sales floor,
and how long they are there - all in
near-real time. This information is then
integrated across many stores and manipulated
with powerful analytic tools. Illustrated
by the recently released MIT study on
RFID-based promotions, this enables a
new business process that is cost-effective
and dramatically increases promotion
sell-through, correction of poor in-store
execution and promotion intelligence,
and lowers the cost of promotions management.
"Improving
promotions management and execution represents
a significant supply chain opportunity
for the industry," said Bernie Hogan,
chief technology officer and senior vice
president, GS1 US. "A standardized
EPC approach offers the best solution
for retailers and suppliers by increasing
collaboration between trading partners
and providing unprecedented visibility
into the supply chain."
The
proof of ROI program will extend over
six months, involve ten stores at five
different retailers and five to 10 large
consumer products manufacturers. Once
the participants have been identified,
ADT will survey each retail site to determine
optimal placement of ADT's Intel-based
read points, antennas and portal frame.
OAT's OATxpress will capture, filter,
and manage RFID data from the edge to
enterprise applications throughout the
promotional events. OATaxiom will reside
on Intel® Itanium® 2 processor-based
servers at a corporate location providing
a robust analytics platform as well as
a supplier portal to share and evaluate
promotional programs between retailers
and suppliers. The research study will
track control groups against live implementations
and provide analysis at the end of the
six-month trial.
OAT
Foundation Suite 5.0 supports the following
software platforms: IBM RFID Premises
Server, SUN Solaris and Oracle, Red Hat
Linux and PostgreSQL, Microsoft Windows
and SQL Server.
Retailers
and suppliers interested in participating
in this program may speak with OAT representatives
at the Retail Systems 2006 Conference
and Expo, booth #525, or call OATSystems
or ADT.
More
information on the program and Real-time
Promotions Execution can be found at www.oatsystems.com.
About
Intel
Intel, the world leader in silicon innovation,
develops technologies, products and initiatives
to continually advance how people work
and live. Additional information about
Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.
About
ADT
Celebrating its 131st anniversary,
ADT Security Services, Inc., a unit
of Tyco Fire & Security, is the
largest provider of electronic security
services to nearly six million commercial,
government and residential customers
throughout the United States. ADT's
total security solutions include intrusion,
fire protection, closed circuit television,
access control, critical condition
monitoring, electronic article surveillance,
radio frequency identification and
integrated systems. ADT web-site address
is www.adt.com.
About
OAT
OATSystems, Inc. is the recognized RFID
framework leader with software that empowers
businesses to achieve competitive advantage
from radio-frequency identification (RFID).
As a pioneer in the development of RFID
technology, OAT has been setting the
standards in RFID for over half a decade
and is responsible for industry firsts
that include; the largest scale and largest
scope of deployments, as well as the
most innovative approaches to providing
enterprise-wide RFID solutions. OAT's
multinational client base consists of
over 50 customers in retail, CPG, consumer
electronics, manufacturing, life sciences,
aerospace and defense. Headquartered
in Waltham, MA, OAT has offices in Austin,
Chicago, London, and Bangalore and is
on the Web at www.oatsystems.com.
Contact:
Helen Stefan
OATSystems, Inc.
(781) 907-6100
[email protected]
Ann Lindstrom
ADT Security Services, Inc.
(561) 988-3258
[email protected]
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