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SAP RFID Rollout Signals Major Savings for Midsize Flag-Maker |
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Annin & Co. Gears up for Wal-Mart Requirement Within Three Months and Sets Cost-Cutting Course to Master Retail Market Challenges
SAP NetWeaver® Platform to Build RFID-Enabled, Real-World Aware Network
ATLANTA, Ga. - September 13, 2005 - SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced that Annin & Co., the world’s oldest and largest flag manufacturer, has implemented the radio frequency identification (RFID) technology within the SAP NetWeaver® platform to meet Wal-Mart’s RFID requirement for key vendors. Annin, a midsize enterprise that manufactures more than 10,000 different flags and flag accessories, implemented the pilot project within three months, which will allow the company to achieve Wal-Mart compliance by January 2006. Annin also anticipates that its investment in RFID technology from SAP will bring significant cost savings. The announcement was made at the EPCglobal U.S. Conference 2005, being held in Atlanta, Georgia, September 13 – 15.
“We analyzed the cost of the project and the RFID tags,” said Carter Beard, vice president of manufacturing and business systems, Annin. “The RFID capabilities provided by SAP NetWeaver will enable us to ship more accurately. As a result, we expect to reduce retailer charge backs for shortages by 50 percent when fully deployed. That alone will pay for our project. SAP RFID technology will enable us to reap these benefits.”
After a comprehensive evaluation, Annin chose SAP RFID technology to help the company meet retailer compliance timeline. A significant factor figuring in Annin’s decision to implement SAP was the ability to seamlessly integrate RFID with other SAP solutions already running at the company.
“The flexibility of the RFID technology allowed us to model our RFID processes while automating business processes with EPC information into our existing SAP platform,” said Beard. “We were also able to leverage existing investments and skill sets in SAP within our organization. It was a no-brainer.”
SAP NetWeaver provides companies with a powerful platform to manage, integrate and leverage RFID data within their SAP and non-SAP business applications. By integrating a combination of SAP NetWeaver components with core business applications, such as enterprise resource planning or supply chain management, customers can RFID-enable their business processes. The implementation of SAP RFID technology was facilitated by Annin’s implementation partner CIBER Novasoft.
The integration of SAP RFID technology and the pre-existing SAP IT infrastructure means information captured from the RFID tags for the more than 500,000 master cartons shipped annually can be accessed directly in the enterprise SAP system. Retailers can track and report on the movement of Annin’s inventory tagged with RFID through warehouses and stores. By creating this real-world aware network, Annin has laid the groundwork for shipping items using RFID and developing an integrated and scalable approach to the technology, providing benefits beyond merely meeting the Wal-Mart requirement.
“This is great example of how a manufacturer can create a real-world aware network with the help of SAP RFID technology,” said Amar Singh, senior vice president, RFID, SAP. “While fulfilling a key retail industry requirement, Annin & Co. gains real business value and demonstrates the broad possibilities of this technology for the consumer goods and retail industries.”
Next Major Events: SAP TechEd® ‘05 in Vienna, Boston, Bangalore and Tokyo
SAP customers, partners and technical community are convening at SAP TechEd ’05 to learn how to turn IT infrastructures into enablers of business change and growth. SAP’s largest SAP NetWeaver® education event of the year is being held in Vienna, Austria, Sept. 21 – 23; Boston, Massachusetts, Sept. 27 – 30; Bangalore, India, Oct. 5 – 7 and Tokyo, Japan, Oct. 26 – 27, 2005. To encourage SAP customers, partners and developers to bring their peers to SAP TechEd in 2005, SAP is offering companies that purchase three conference registrations an additional fourth registration at no additional charge. For more information, please visit www.sapteched.com.
About Annin & Co.
Annin & Co is the world’s oldest and largest flag manufacturer. Starting from a sail loft in downtown New York City making signal flags for sailing ships in the 1820’s, Annin incorporated in 1847 and has since grown to four manufacturing locations. Annin now has worldwide distribution. As the official flag manufacturer to the United Nations, Annin’s international flags are the standards for exactness, followed by the rest of the world.
About SAP
SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software solutions*. Today, more than 28,200 customers in over 120 countries run more than 96,400 installations of SAP® software—from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small and midsize enterprises to suite solutions for global organizations. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver® platform to drive innovation and enable business change, mySAP™ Business Suite solutions are helping enterprises around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. SAP industry solutions support the unique business processes of more than 25 industry segments, including high tech, retail, public sector and financial services. With subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol “SAP.”
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