E-commerce businesses now account for around 15% to 21% of all retail sales globally and this number will rise even further. Various e-commerce platforms have their in-house logistics services while many depend on outsourced logistics partners. One thing that affects all is bad logistics causing damages and delays. Delivering products in perfect condition is foundational to building trust and ensuring customer satisfaction. When shipments arrive defective, customers experience dissatisfaction. Discontent leads to complaints and returns. Customers also lose confidence in your brand. Over time, repeated negative experiences will progressively lead customers into competitors' arms. Ultimately, loyalty is lost, and your reputation deteriorates. Imagine an e-commerce platform losing a 1000$ smartphone or laptop to package misplacement or damages due to mishandling during the transportation.
This is just one example but ensuring damage free shipping and order fulfilment is crucial for all businesses that need to ship tons of items on daily basis and it is equally important for their logistics partner.
RFID, IoT sensors and other AIDC technologies can help you right product packaging, damage free product transportation and better control of product recalls and reverse logistics.
Why Damage-Free Shipments Are a Necessity?
Bad logistics resulting in product damages not only cause huge losses of the businesses but also adversely affect end customers. The key reasons for a damage free shipments include:
a. Customer Satisfaction: Intact shipments enable you to establish credibility and maintain your customers' satisfaction.
b. Brand Image: Damaged products harm your brand and can lead to negative reviews.
c. Cost Management: Assist you in managing costs and not having to bear the costs of returns, and replacement of damaged products.
d. Operational Efficiency: Minimize disruptive events in your supply chain and delivery delays.
e. Customer Loyalty: Repeat shipments will establish customer loyalty.
f. Competitive Advantage: A consistent record of damage-free shipments to your customers gives you a competitive advantage.
How RFID Helps with Ensuring Damage-Free Shipments?
Smart RFID tags available today include:
1.Sensing of impacts & shock
2. Sensing of tilt and vibration
3. Temperature/ humidity notifications
4. GPS or position location tracking
These RFID tags can be embedded within the packaging or mounted externally. As products move through the supply chain, the readers will gather real-time data on the conditions and will log and flag any event of a drop, exposure to heat, or over-vibration.
Best practices for damage-free and efficient product handling
To get products to customers in satisfactory condition requires technology, process rigour, and regard for product value.
a.RFID Tagging of Products: Use an RFID tag for every product so the products will be tracked in real-time tracking and monitored throughout the supply chain. RFID will also facilitate accurate capture of data at every stop in handling and enable a quick identification of any problems or damage.
b. Product Value Considerations: Understand the value and sensitivity of each product so you can plan how much protection, tracking and handling should be applied to each product. High-value or fragile items might require additional packaging, increased scan frequency, and some level of environmental sensors.
c. Proper Packaging: Use fitting packaging materials and methods that fit the fragility and value of the product. Packaging will prevent stunning shocks and vibrations and protect the surrounding environment.
d. Product Handling SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures): Develop and reinforce the handling of products. This handling includes all aspects of the operations - receiving, storage, picking, packing, and shipping. Train staff to follow handling procedures to limit mishandling or damage to products.
e. Accurate Data Capture at all Stages: RFID can enable you a fully automated way to record the movement, condition, or location of products at each hand-off stage. The ability to trace and be accountable for your Product's state at all stations means you can respond quickly to issues.
The Fragile Product Shipping Problem
The application of standard packaging and the use of "Handle with Care" labels have limited effect. Most often, companies discover that their fragile products have been broken by shipping either upon delivery (or worse yet, afterwards), causing customer complaints, product return, and in some instances, full product recall. All this results in lost sales revenue, and usually, some blow to brand image.
With RFID, it is possible to implement right product packaging and logistics SOPs. Integrating QR Code with RFID labels allows for more detailed instructions on how packages should be packed and handled throughout the logistics to the end customers.
How RFID Benefits Product Recall and Reverse Logistics?
If a shipment is deemed damaged:
a.The smart RFID tag helps with registering the exact event (for example: if it dropped 3 feet at checkpoint B).
b. An alert is sent to quality control or warehouse management immediately via RFID system/mobile app.
c. The implicated item(s) can be flagged or recirculated before they go to the customer.
In retrospect, if a damaged product ends up on the shelf, RFID data can:
a.Track the individual batch or lot that has been contaminated.
b. Preserve a genuine product recall rather than recalling every product.
c. Streamline reverse logistics by shipping defective items to repair stations or a disposal facility
The Future of Shipping Fragile Goods: Damage Free Shipping
With businesses transitioning to condition-based logistics, smart RFID tags are becoming essential. They can do much more than merely track; they serve as real-time quality inspectors and alert you to a problem before your customer even realizes there is one.
If you own a business that moves sensitive, fragile, or high-value products, you cannot operate in a reactive mode when it comes to shipping. Smart RFID technology now allows you to pick your products with planned damage control.
Real-world use cases for RFID Smart Tags in Fragile Goods Shipping
a.Electronics: RFID smart tags with impact sensors can provide logged information about shocks in real-time, enabling the manufacturer to identify potentially damaged products before they reach consumers.
b. Medical Devices: RFID tags with temperature and humidity sensors enable constant monitoring of environmental variables, ensuring the cold chain integrity.
c. Luxury Products: High-end items like handbags, watches, and cosmetics are extremely vulnerable to physical damage and tampering. After any tamper evidence breach is detected, logistic teams can trace and recall only those items, accelerate reverse logistics, and safeguard their reputation by providing only untouched products in retail outlets.
d. Fine Art & Antiques: Fine art and antiques must be specially cared for when in international transit. RFID smart tags can record an electronic history of every turn, tilt, or vibration the piece experiences while it is in movement.
To summarize, RFID smart tags aren't just a tracking tool- they can be your delicate cargo's first line of defense. Now, more and more industries demand greater accountability and condition monitoring and these small tags are proving to be a worthwhile investment in the logistics field.
Frequently Asked Questions on RFID in Logistics
1.How does RFID work in shipping?
In shipping, these tags are placed on fragile goods so that the location, handling conditions, and status can be tracked with a real-time monitor.
2. How do RFID smart tags enhance the security of fragile shipments?
RFID smart tags record and send live data about the goods, including location and environmental conditions.
3. How do RFID smart tags compare to barcodes or QR codes in logistics?
RFID smart tags can be read quickly when they are simultaneously identified, even where the RFID tag is hidden by packaging (no line of sight reading is required), resulting in the ability to manage inventory in real-time, much faster and more efficiently to track inventory for fragile and valuable shipments.
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