RFID has taken another giant leap into large-scale production in what is thought to be one of the biggest clothing tagging projects in the world.

Manchester based Intellident has won the contract to supply its new generation RFID tracking technology to tag 350M Marks & Spencer garments. This follows last year’s implementation of Intellident RFID tagging on 3.5M produce delivery trays in the M & S food supply chain.

The project will enable M & S to manage its stock more effectively throughout its distribution chain and in store, providing a step-change in garment availability.

M & S will be the first UK company to use Intellident’s new generation UHF (ultra high frequency tags).

UHF is said to offer faster data transfer speeds and longer read ranges than the high frequency tags adopted in the M & S food logistics chain. This makes them suitable for applications in which fast moving individual items need to be read in close proximity to each other.

Commenting on the agreement Adrian Segens, Intellident business development manager, said: “This application of RFID technology is highly significant as it represents the first large-scale use of RFID in store. I have no doubt that over the coming years RFID tags at an individual item level will become as familiar to us as barcodes are today.”

The first RFID pilot for M & S clothing division will begin in the Autumn.