Active Shelf System

RFID Tracking for Retail Inventories

Could you increase sales if you knew the exact position of your retail inventory at all times? RCS' Active Shelf System is an affordable method of conducting continuous inventory counts in retail stores, stockrooms, pharmacies, libraries, and warehouses. A single RFID reader is combined with an array of antennas placed within the shelves to create inventory zones. Zones can be divided by racks, shelves, or segments within each shelf.  The zones are continuously monitored by the system so you know the actual status of your retail inventory at all times.

The RFID antennas within each zone monitor RFID signals from the tags that are placed on or embedded in your products. The antennas send identifying information through our patent-pending hybrid multiplexer which then transmits the data to a central RFID reader. This reader connects to your database through either a hard-wired connection or through a wireless infrastructure.  Inventory levels are then available to you via a web interface or an XML feed from the system.

Active Shelf can be connected to external devices at the edge of each shelf, such as a light or a sensor. These devices can be used to detect motion near a shelf and have the inventory level checked immediately, or if an item is found in the wrong location, a light can alert workers that something is out of place.

Active Shelf can read both High-Frequency (HF) and Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) RFID tags.  As RFID standards evolve, your investment in the system is protected because you can switch to different frequencies and tag formats.

Example Installation of Active Shelf

Retail clothing stores often have issues with items not being placed in their proper location. Misplaced items result in many hours of lost productivity each day when sales people have to look for product.  Even worse, you risk lost sales when customers cannot find a particular item in a certain size.  By implementing an Active Shelf system, each item is tracked, so your sales staff know if you have a shirt of a in a certain size somewhere in the store, and where it is. This will help turn-over your inventory more rapidly as well as improve customer service by allowing your staff to serve each customer more efficiently and help them find what they need in less time.

To learn more about the benefits of Active Shelf, please contact RCS