Tyco Retail Solutions wins Annual VICS Collaborative Commerce Achievement Award for Best VILRI Solution Provider

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: Tyco Retail Solutions wins Annual VICS Collaborative Commerce Achievement Award for Best VILRI Solution Provider.

Tyco Retail Solutions, the provider of retail performance and security solutions sold through ADT and authorised business partners worldwide, has been awarded a 2012 VICS Collaborative Commerce Achievement Award for 'Best VILRI Solution Provider'. The award recognises Tyco Retail Solutions' successful partnership with Macy's to spearhead a multi-year item level RFID project to enable frequent inventory cycle counts, provide improved data capture and item file accuracy throughout all Macy's and Bloomingdale's stores. The pilot implementation and initial roll-out plan, successfully executed in 2011, helped establish Macy's as an RFID item level pioneer and Tyco Retail Solutions as a valued provider, trusted with this important and strategic implementation.

Macy's, among the first retailers to implement RFID on a broad national scale, needed a solution that would meet their strategic objectives, scale beyond the pilot project and deliver a continued measurable return on investment (ROI). In addition, Macy's required a solution provider dedicated to a collaborative relationship to successfully drive the new RFID technology forward in a chain-wide rollout plan. Macy's chose Tyco Retail Solutions, the only vendor to provide enterprise class capability and use case functionality to support Macy's program. Unlike anything else on the market, Tyco's TrueVUE software stack offered:

• Comprehensive RFID based inventory management solution
• Extraordinary flexibility and configurability, from reports to work flows, allowing the user to define activities and data in their own context
• Support for virtually all of the leading third-party RFID devices
• Session based cycle counting allowing for end users to employ cycle counting strategies that maximise both effectiveness and efficiency of cycle counting
• Support for both out-of-box workflows and custom workflows that take advantage of Tyco's industry standard API integration framework
• Complete enterprise data management framework from store to enterprise to archival
• Automated software deployment and upgrade capability
• Disaster recovery capability for various architectures and deployment models
• Comprehensive set of capabilities supporting network, data and user security

Macy's realised an immediate ROI with Phase I and incremental returns throughout each phase of the implementation cycle. By leveraging Tyco's relevant knowledge, deep retail store expertise, unmatched professional services, innovative tools and proven methodology, Macy's successfully rolled out the extensive RFID project, on time and on budget to achieve its stated business objectives.

In addition to providing world class RFID powered solutions, Tyco continues to serve as an avid supporter of industry organisations, dedicated to educating the market on the value of RFID to create supply chain efficiencies. An active member of the VICS Item Level RFID Initiative (VILRI) since 2007, Tyco recognised that increased market interest and activity in Item Level RFID would require additional resources. Tyco Retail Solutions responded by helping to create meaningful agendas for VICS sponsored programmes, aided in creating and developing the VILRI Solution Provider Programme concept, generated support for the Solution Program Sponsorship program, helped evangelize Phase 2 of the VILRI through webinar participation, and continues to actively recruit new members to the VILRI.

"We are honored to be recognised by VICS for our strategic relationship with Macy's, helping to demonstrate the immediate value RFID can add in today's retail landscape," said Robert Locke, Vice President & General Manager of Store Performance Solutions for Tyco Retail Solutions. "This achievement underscores our continued commitment to providing world class RFID powered solutions to retailers worldwide and our commitment to the VICS organization to help evangelize the role of RFID in improving global supply chain effectiveness and efficiency."