Presentations
Almost 200 attendees gathered at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City to attend the second annual RFID Journal—AAFA Apparel and Footwear Summit. Apparel and footwear companies in the United States, Europe and Asia are using RFID technologies to improve the way they manufacture, ship and sell apparel and footwear products.
Several end users offered presentations at the summit so others could benefit from their experiences. Those attending the presentations learned how to employ RFID technologies to boost sales and cut costs; as well as improve on-shelf availability; track work-in-process; improve shipping accuracy and delivery speed; and deter theft, diversion and counterfeiting of high-value apparel and footwear brands.
Access to RFID Journal-AAFA Apparel and Footwear Summit conference presentations:
If you attended the RFID Journal—AAFA 2007 Apparel and Footwear Summit you should have received an email with a username and password to access the presentationsTo view the presentations, simply click on the titles below (marked Red and Bold). You will be presented with a dialogue box. Please enter the username and password you were sent. Please note that speakers on some panels did not provide PowerPoint files, and that not all speakers have opted to have us post their materials. The speakers own the copyrights to these presentations, and no material should be used without their permission. As more presentations become available, we will add them as well.
We hope you found the event productive and informative and we look forward to seeing you at our event next year!
August 20, 2007
| 12:00 pm | Preconference Seminar: RFID UniversitySpeakers: |
| 3:30 pm | Leadership Forum (by invitation only) The forum opens with an in-depth presentation by a leading researcher or consultant who has studied or is studying the impact of RFID on the apparel and footwear industry. Speaker: |
| 4:15 pm | Open Discussion For the next hour, leaders discuss the potential benefits to using RFID and the obstacles to adoption. |
| 5:00 pm | RFID University Concludes |
| 5:30 pm | Leadership Forum Concludes |
August 21, 2007
| 8:00 am | Breakfast |
| 9:00 am | Welcome RemarksSpeakers: |
| 9:30 am | Dillard’s: Finding the ROI in RFID In an attempt to create better retail-supplier collaboration, Dillard’s has been testing several RFID pilots throughout its’ supply chain to gain insight on how to improve, among other things, the replenishment processes and product turn rates. In this session, hear what progress the major department store chain has made, what challenges they encountered, and where they see the retail company going with RFID implementation. Speaker: |
| 10:10 am | Leadership in Apparel A panel of thought leaders in the apparel and footwear sector will reveal what key issues were discussed and what conclusions were reached during the previous day’s leadership forum. This session will enlighten the audience about the obstacles to adoption, the work being done to overcome those obstacles, and the areas where early adopters are finding opportunities today. Panelists: Moderator: |
| 10:50 am | Refreshment Break |
| 11:20 am | The RFID-enabled Retail Store During this session the speaker will investigate and demonstrate how various RFID related technologies and standards can be implemented at the store level to provide a compelling platform for leveraging the current and future opportunities for RFID. A standard approach to deploying RFID can serve the multiple priorities, value propositions, regional differences in shopping behavior and varied store configurations to drive value in the apparel and footwear industries. Speaker: |
| 12:00 pm | Technology Panel: Solutions for Apparel and Footwear The apparel and footwear industry faces some unique challenges in deploying RFID including the need to tag unique items to get business benefits and the need to address theft, diversion and counterfeiting. This panel examines how RFID can and is being used to deliver real business benefits. Panelists: Moderator: |
| 12:40 pm | Lunch in Exhibit Hall |
| 2:00 pm | Esquel Leverages RFID from Manufacturing Through the Supply Chain Esquel, one of the world's leading producers of cotton shirts, is using RFID extensively in its operations, from cotton inventory management and garment production tracking to monitoring panel shipments between Hong Kong and China. Learn about the internal benefits Esquel is achieving as well as the results of its groundbreaking supply chain pilot with EPCglobal and supply chain partners. Speaker: |
| 2:40 pm | Using RFID to Improve Item-Level Visibility Falabella, one of the largest retailers in Latin America, has tested RFID’s ability to keep track of apparel items within stores to reduce shrinkage. The company will explain the approach to start using the technology at store and item-level, the results of this pilot—where RFID delivered several values, as the impact on shrinkage —and provide details on the lessons it has learned, the business case drivers for using RFID and its plans to moving forward. Speaker: |
| 3:20 pm | Item-Level Business Case: Quantifying the Costs & Benefits A strong business case for item level RFID already exists in several apparel & footwear categories. Unfortunately, most companies have failed to invest the energy in conducting a proper business case analysis. In this session, global retail consulting firm Kurt Salmon Associates will provide two frameworks. One will help companies identify and quantify every source of ROI hiding under their roofs. The other will help companies estimate the cost of RFID deployments, so they can develop sensible RFID roadmaps. Speaker: |
| 4:00 pm | Case Study: Appealing to the Younger Masses with Socialized Shopping Industry Standard, a new urban couture clothing store in Columbus, OH, is looking beyond internal benefits as it uses RFID to create a socialized shopping experience for a younger customer base. Shoppers are enabled to seek advice from friends as strategically placed readers and cameras upload live images of the items being worn. In this session, hear how using RFID as a marketing concept can help escalate sales within the retail apparel and footwear industry. Speaker: |
| 4:40 pm | Day 1 Program Concludes and Networking Cocktail Reception in the Exhibit Hall begins |
| 6:00 pm | Networking Reception in Exhibit Hall Ends |
August 22, 2007
| 7:30 am | Breakfast |
| 8:30 am | Welcome Back RemarksSpeakers: |
| 8:45 am | Nick Tentis Increases Inventory Visibility and Enhances Customer Service and Experience Designer brand Nick Tentis has integrated RFID mirrors and several other cutting edge RFID applications into its new London store, providing customers with an interactive dressing room and an enhanced shopping experience. The technology is also used to track inventory. In this session, hear about the benefits that the high-end designer brand has achieved and in which direction the company will be moving with RFID in the future. Speaker: |
| 9:25 am | RFID & Footwear: A Perfect Fit RFID can offer unique advantages to the retail footwear industry. In this session, we will discuss how the technology can help increase sales, reduce labor and minimize shrinkage while ultimately improving the shopping experience for the consumer. Learn about the various solutions available and what can be implemented today to gain immediate benefits. Speaker: |
| 10:05 am | Refreshment Break in the Exhibit Hall |
| 10:45 am | Benefits Found in Item-Level Tagging Lead to Full Operations Implementation Last year, Lemmi Fashion, a German children’s-wear manufacturer, presented its findings based on their tagging of 100 percent of its products in 2004, now the company has moved towards UHF and EPC standards and implemented the technology within all of its operations and applications. In this interactive presentation, hear where the CIO has found benefits, the reasons why he decided to take the company towards full implementation, the challenges, and where he sees the company to be heading with the technology. Speakers: |
| 11:25 am | Are EPC Standards For Apparel Relevant? EPCglobal has been working with several apparel, accessories and footwear companies to develop data sharing, process and technical standards specifically for these industries. Learn what progress has been made, why these standards are relevant, how your company can get actively involved in developing them and how companies can use them to drive value across the apparel and footwear supply chains. Speaker: |
| 12:05 pm | Lunch in Exhibit Hall |
| 1:20 pm | New Balance Uses RFID with Existing Systems to Improve Receiving Process New Balance, a privately held running shoe and sports apparel company headquartered in Boston, conducted a trial focusing on integrating RFID tag data with existing business systems to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the apparel sales samples collection receiving process. In this session, hear the results of the initial pilot and how those results energized NB into a footwear-item level retail pilot in their corporate factory store. Speaker: |
| 2:00 pm | Overcoming Consumer Privacy Fears in the Industry RFID in the apparel and footwear sector has received a lot of negative attention from proponents of consumer privacy. Some companies are afraid to move forward with potentially beneficial projects because of fear of a PR problem. Mark Roberti has seen some companies handle the issue well and some handle it badly. He will explain the dos and don¹ts of dealing with the RFID privacy issue and how to handle questions from the media and privacy advocates. Speaker: |
| 2:40 pm | Closing RemarksSpeakers: |
| 3:00 pm | Conference Ends |
RFID Journal - AAFA Apparel & Footwear Summit is produced by RFID Journal, in partnership with the American Apparel & Footwear Association.
Who Should Attend