RFID: ''Fresh'' Thinking By Bert Moore, AIM Global
•Article: Perishable Fashions
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RFID is increasingly being used to help ensure the freshness of goods in the supply chain. When we think of perishable products, we tend to think of fruits, vegetables, flowers and even meat. But...fabrics and fashions?
Yes, indeed. These can be just as perishable. And RFID is increasingly being seen as a way to ensure that an adequate supply of "fresh" fashions is on the racks at an affordable price.
Most people don't stop to think about what goes into making the clothes they wear but it's a complex process involving many suppliers who may be scattered around the globe.
After a design is approved, there's the matter of securing and dying the raw materials (natural or synthetic thread for weaving the fabric), possibly printing a pattern on the fabric, dying the sewing thread, setting up the looms to weave the fabric, ordering and producing matching (or appropriate) findings (zippers, buttons, etc.), cutting the patterns, and sewing the garment. Add to that the complexity of having to make multiple sizes for each garment. And, at every step along the way, there's shipping from supplier to manufacturer as well as to the retailer.
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