Leading Chinese jeweller Chow Tai Fook has recently won recognition for its innovations in technology at both the production and retail levels, bagging honours at the 2016 Hong Kong Awards for Industries (HKAI) and the Asia Pacific ICT Alliance Awards 2016 (APICTA) held recently at Hong Kong and Taiwan respectively, the Company announced in a statement yesterday.

The jeweller said it was awarded the "Productivity and Quality Grand Award" at HKAI, a programme championed by the HKSAR Government, for two entries, the Automated Logistics and Distribution Centre (ALDC) located in Shunde and the ICS (Inventory Control System) RFID-Technology Deployment Project.

At the AIPCTA, Chow Tai Fook was awarded the Merit prize in Retail and Supply Chain Management, the Company reported. The APICTA Awards is a prestigious international ICT competition that is open for entry from winners of similar award programmes in 16 member-economies. This year, the winners were selected among 236 entries and judged by 66 technical professionals.

Chow Tai Fook Managing Director, Kent Wong, said, "We are very delighted to garner two accolades in recognition of our relentless effort in developing and applying innovation and technology in the jewellery industry. Our investment in innovation and technology is not only vital to the sustainable development of Chow Tai Fook, but also to the betterment of the whole jewellery industry."

Giving details of its innovations in technology, Chow Tai Fook said that the ALDC supports inventory replenishment for the Group's POS in Mainland China. Equipped with the Automated Storage and Retrieval System and RFID-enabled devices, the Centre extensively deploys item-level RFID scanning technology which substantially enhances the traceability of products.

"The Centre not only enables efficient inventory control and accurate tracking of stock movement, but also facilitates automated distribution. Processes like storage and shelving, sorting, packing and delivery are streamlined through this automation, and real time surveillance becomes possible which greatly enhances our precision in management," said Patrick Tsang, Deputy General Manager of the Group and Head of Information & Communication Centre.

The other awarded project, the ICS RFID-Technology Deployment Project, is applied in logistics management, stock-taking and sales operations< Chow Tai Fook said. It utilises mHands to detect products attached with RFID tags, lessening the time for stock take for front-line staff. While serving customers, the staff can also use the patented Smart Trays to access product information promptly and collect customer preference data for further analysis via the Group's self-developed Business Intelligence System. In terms of logistics management enhancement, product distribution to POS can now be streamlined through the use of Logistics Trays, in which logistics throughput and efficiency are further enhanced.