Packaging
Checkpoint Systems Wins METRO Group Contract for RFID Portals
Friday 07. March 2008 - Checkpoint Systems, Inc. (NYSE:CKP), a leading manufacturer and marketer of identification, tracking, security and merchandising solutions for the retail industry and its supply chain, today announced it will provide RFID portals for 200 Real hypermarkets of METRO Group in Germany in 2008.
Under the terms of the first agreement, Checkpoint will equip another 200 Real hypermarkets across Germany with its RFID portals. This follows the successful deployment in 2007 of the portals at more than 100 Real hypermarkets. The portals at the stores will be used to track pallets as they arrive to improve supply chain efficiency. Subsequently the same portals will be used for case level tracking.
“As we move forward with our plans to deploy RFID technology across our operations, Checkpoint Systems has proven to be a valued and trusted partner,” said Dr. Gerd Wolfram, Managing Director of MGI METRO Group Information Technology. “Checkpoint’s advanced RFID knowledge and integration services continue to play a key role in our RFID implementation.”
METRO Group has been a pioneer in the use of RFID in the retail industry since 2004, when the company announced it would begin using RFID throughout its supply chain to improve inventory visibility to enhance the customer’s shopping experience. Checkpoint has been an important partner in that effort, providing technology for METRO Group’s Future Store Initiative, RFID pilot projects and deployments. In 2007, Checkpoint supplied systems integration services and a range of Checkpoint solutions for a groundbreaking item-level RFID pilot at METRO Group’s Galeria Kaufhof department store in Essen, Germany. Checkpoint also supplies RFID labels for the retailer’s “Tag It Easy!” pilot project to assist Asian suppliers with compliance.
“We are most pleased to be a part of METRO Group’s worldwide RFID efforts,” said Checkpoint Systems President and CEO Rob van der Merwe. “New installations of RFID technology, such as those at METRO Group’s Real hypermarkets in Germany, exemplify both the company’s commitment to the technology and the effectiveness of RFID for improving retail supply chain operations.”
“Checkpoint is committed to expanding the utility of RFID technology for retailers as they move forward,” van der Merwe continued. “For example, with the introduction of our new Evolve(tm) suite of next-generation shrink management products, Checkpoint is providing retailers with a new, state-of- the-art platform to improve shrink management, including the provision of an efficient transition route to RFID.”