A book seller in the Netherlands has launched a new inventory device–microchips in books. Here’s a bit from the Shelf Awareness newsletter.
The new technology is radio frequency identification (RFID), which is being used already by a handful of libraries in the U.S. As applied to the Almere project, CB puts RDIF tags on each book it supplies to Selexyz Almere; every tag has a unique number that identifies and applies only to that copy of the book. On leaving the warehouse, books for the store are packed in boxes that go through an RFID “tunnel.” The complete contents are identified in seconds regardless of the placement of the books in the boxes; CB then generates an electronic advance shipping notice to Selexyz Almere. On arrival at the store, the boxes are read in a similarly quick and accurate way. By contrast, at other BGN stores and like most traditional stores, the process of checking shipments against packing slips and ASNs takes a minimum of five to six minutes.
This allows the book seller to process 35,000 books in three days instead of two weeks, and only two employees to inventory the entire store in just two days. A major time and money savings over thier old technique which required closing the store.
Here’s another benefit…
RFID lets the bookseller keep track of books much more accurately, particularly in the cases of those that “walk” from their original places on shelves or are stolen. The store inventory is available to customers on four kiosks, which can tell them exactly where the books are. (The tags are deactivated when the book is sold.)
So, the book is sending out its radio signal from where ever it is in the store–even if it is shoved under a book shelf somewhere or tucked in somone’s shopping bag. Pretty cool, don’t you think?
The bookseller estimates its sales ar 6 to 8% higher using this system because it helps them stock better (they actually know what is on their shelves) and frees up time for employees to work with customers.
