RFID Warehouse Case Study India

Case Study — Warehouse & Logistics

How Bharat Logistics Cut Inventory Count Time by 90% Using UHF RFID

90%

Faster Stock Count

99.2%

Inventory Accuracy

3 days

Down to 4 Hours

14 months

Payback Period

Company

Bharat Logistics Pvt. Ltd.

Location

Pune, Maharashtra

Industry

3PL Warehousing & Distribution

Warehouse Size

3 facilities, 120,000 sq ft total

SKUs Managed

18,000+ SKUs

Deployment Time

6 weeks

The Challenge

Bharat Logistics manages third-party inventory for 12 FMCG and electronics brands across three warehouses in the Pune Industrial Belt. Before RFID deployment, their biggest operational pain point was the monthly stock reconciliation — a mandatory requirement from their largest client.

The manual barcode-based counting process required 8 staff working across 3 consecutive days, causing significant warehouse disruptions. Despite this effort, accuracy hovered at 94–96%, resulting in monthly discrepancy disputes with clients and penalty deductions averaging INR 2.4 lakhs per quarter.

Monthly full inventory count took 3 full days (72 staff-hours)
Accuracy stuck at 94–96% — client SLA required 98.5%
INR 2.4 lakh average quarterly penalty for discrepancies
6–8 mis-shipments per month due to inventory record errors
Manual barcode scanning in tight racking aisles caused physical strain and errors

The Solution

Bharat Logistics worked with Identium to deploy a UHF RFID system across all three facilities. The solution used fixed overhead readers at dock doors combined with handheld readers for cycle counting.

Hardware Deployed

4x UHF Fixed Readers (dock doors)
6x Handheld UHF Readers (cycle counting)
18,000+ UHF RFID Labels (existing stock)
RFID label printer for new stock

Integration Points

Existing WMS (Increff WMS API)
Client reporting portal (REST API)
Automated inbound/outbound logging
Real-time dashboard on tablets

Implementation Timeline

Week 1–2: Site Survey & Tag Application

Identium engineers conducted RF site survey across all 3 facilities. RFID labels applied to all 18,000 SKUs during non-operational hours over two weekends.

Week 3–4: Hardware Installation

Fixed readers installed at all dock doors and high-traffic zone entry points. Handheld readers configured and tested. Cable management completed.

Week 5: WMS Integration & Testing

API integration with Increff WMS completed. Automated inventory update workflows tested with live shipments. Parallel run with barcode system for validation.

Week 6: Go-Live & Training

Full system go-live. Staff trained on handheld readers. First full RFID stock count completed in 4.5 hours — down from 3 days.

Results After 12 Months

4 hrs

Full stock count (was 3 days)

99.2%

Inventory accuracy (was 94.8%)

INR 0

Client penalties (was INR 9.6L/yr)

14 mo

Full ROI payback period

"We had been struggling with inventory accuracy for years. Within the first month of RFID, we passed our client audit with 99.2% accuracy — something we had never achieved before. The payback was faster than our financial team projected."
— Operations Director, Bharat Logistics Pvt. Ltd., Pune

Products Used in This Deployment

Product	Quantity	Application
UHF Fixed RFID Reader (4-port)	4 units	Dock door inbound/outbound tracking
UHF Handheld RFID Reader	6 units	Cycle counting, exception handling
UHF RFID Wet Inlay Labels (500 per roll)	40 rolls	Applied to all cartons and pallets
UHF RFID Desktop Printer	1 unit	New stock labelling at receiving dock

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Frequently Asked Questions

What problem did this warehouse deployment solve?

The customer was losing 2-3 full days per cycle count across three Pune warehouses, with recurring picking errors from stale stock data. RFID cut the count to a few hours and lifted inventory accuracy above 99%.

What hardware was used?

Fixed 4-port UHF readers with circular-polarized antennas at dock doors, handheld UHF readers for aisle counting, and UHF pallet and carton labels encoded on site with an RFID printer.

How long did the deployment take?

From site survey to full parallel-run validation, the project ran roughly eight weeks per site, with the first site taking longest because of RF tuning around metal racking.

What was the measured result?

Inventory count time dropped from about three days to four hours, and counted accuracy rose to 99.2%. Picking errors traced to stale inventory data fell sharply once counts moved from quarterly to weekly.

Can this be replicated at a smaller warehouse?

Yes. A single-site handheld-only pilot delivers most of the counting benefit at a fraction of the cost, and dock portals can be added later once tagging discipline is established.

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