Spar stocks up on automatic identification

Convenience chain to examine RFID and voice technologies

RFID is one of the technologies Spar will examine

Convenience retailer Spar has appointed Zetes as its preferred supplier for automatic identification and voice technology, following successful trials in Northern Ireland.

The Henderson Group, which operates the chain of corner shops in Northern Ireland, recently implemented Zetes’ 3iV voice recognition technology to improve accuracy in distribution and streamline its order picking processes.

It reported a reduced error margin of 0.01 per cent, down from 4.5 per cent, improved warehouse productivity of five per cent and reduced training time for new staff from 13 weeks to between four and six weeks.

Spar operates in more than 30 countries and the parent company is responsible for co-ordinating the introduction of new technologies.

It will work with Zetes to examine automatic identification technologies to improve efficiencies, such as radio frequency identification (RFID), voice and scanning.

Zetes has developed a number of Competence Centres to demonstrate best practice, experiences and technologies.