RFID in Japan

About a year ago NEC introduced an RFID-based system at their personal computer factory in order to make the process of building PCs efficient. The productivity increased by 10%.

Now they are planning to expand the project. By the end of December, one of NEC's business institutions will use RFID tags for tracking manuals and CDs (those that come with PCs). The data captured through the RFID system is transmitted to their suppliers in real time. The suppliers will ship manuals and CDs based on the data they receive.

The company expects to reduce the stocks by 50% and reduce the space for keeping stocks (about 300 square meters).

via Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun, October 25

A new system developed by NEC.

At the clothing store, the shopper waves the smart tag in front of a special reader, and a computer in the store does the rest, accessing the Internet to get information about the wardrobe and displaying combinations on the screen that pair clothes in the store with clothes in the wardrobe.

Since the setup also assumes that each garment on display in the store has its own smart tag, the shopper can choose to view only specific garments, like the aforementioned jacket.

Stores can also use the system to suggest various products to
shoppers, based on clothes in his or her wardrobe.

via Nikkei Business Daily

thanks regine!

A company called Techno Wing developed so-called Mobile Bingo System that allows consumers to play a Bingo game while shopping at a retail store.

A customer first need to sign up for the service, then she receives a QR code from a server. After shopping, she can display the QR code on her mobile phone and show it to a reader device. Then, she receives an SMS message that notifies her about the points she earned. Now she can open her home page on her phone to check the current status of her ongoing bingo game.

Everytime she earns some points, she gets an additional symbol and when she gets three identical symbols in row, she is rewarded with coupons.

This system makes it easier for retailers to collect detailed data about consumers.

via Kawakitashinpo Sha < QR Code Blog

Media Seek announced that they started offering thier QR Code reader technology to Taiwan Mobile Co., Ltd. The technology is offered for Taiwan Mobile's latest mobile phones.

via QR Code Blog

Smart Mobs reports on Toyota Dream House

My new theory: the size of QR codes used in marketing campaigns is propotional to the size of the stuff companies sell :) ....Well if you remember the size of QR used in iPod nano sales campaign.

Take a look at Northwest Airlines' gigantic QR codes in Ginza. It encodes a URL for a website where people can play quizes about Japanese Senryu poems.

What? They don't sell aircrafts? Well, they should...

via QR Code Blog

Jinbo-cho is a district in Tokyo, which people call a "bookstore town." A new bookstore, whose books are all RFID-tagged, opened in Jinbo-Cho on October 12. Nikkei calls it a "Future Bookstore."

The actual name of the bookstore is Book House Jinbo-Cho and is operated by Showa-Tosho, who is a distributor of Shogakkan Group.

For the moment, the shop doesn't care so much about ROI etc. Sounds like they just want to test RFID in a real retail environment.

via Nikkei RFID Technology, October 12, 2005

A unique idea for advertisement using QR codes.

A large poster with many peel-able iPod nano mock-up cards recently appeared in Shibuya (at the Shibuya Station of Toukyu Toyoko line). On the back of each card is a QR code that can be read by a mobile phone. It will make the phone to connect to the iPod nano's product information page where people can download an iPod nano screen saver for mobile phones.

¡¡¡¡

Everytime a train arrives at the station, 70-80 cards are peeled off by passengers. When the station is very crowded, most cards are peeled off from the poster. So, someone is there to paste additional cards several times a day.

via iPod Information Center < QR Code Blog