Dutch book seller unveils item-level RFID system

25.04.2006
Dutch book retailer Boekhandels Groep Nederland (BGN) Tuesday is launching an item-based radio frequency identification tag (RFID) tag system at a new store in Almere, Netherlands.

Eventually, BGN will deploy the system throughout its 42 stores, which carry about 2.2 million books on their collective shelves. Some 38,400 books have been tagged at the new store, and the company plans to expand the program next to a retail store set to open this October in Maastricht, Netherlands.

The US$650,000 passive RFID system creates a tightly integrated and efficient supply chain by using tags on every book sold, said Jan Vink, IT director at BGN. Each tag costs the bookseller about 12 cents, he said.

The software used for the project's transaction processing, data processing and integration requirements was licensed from Progress Software Corp. in Bedford, Mass.

Vink said the benefits of the item-based system include cutting the time it takes to fulfill orders and making it easier to locate books on store shelves.

BGN has been planning to create the item-based system since 2003, and work on the project began about six weeks ago, Vink said. The company waited until the latest generation of RFID technology was developed and could guarantee 100% reliability for tracking processes, he said.