Outline
This paper primarily aims to give a better understanding of Radio Frequency Identification. RFID’s have spread their wings around the globe, and their benefits are numerous.
The paper first talks about how they have saved businesses money and time in managing their assets and inventory and how they have become dynamic substitutes to barcodes over the period.
Secondly, the paper talks about the vast impact RFID’s are having on companies and industries, how they are being used for various purposes in different industries and how these industries have benefited from them.
Lastly, the paper talks about the importance of integrated RFIDs. Since companies are now interlinked together and also work together to achieve common goals, RFID’s should be implemented across the supply chain to achieve the greatest efficiency and accuracy.
Based on your background readings, what makes RFID such a big deal in managing production and inventory?
Ans1. RFID is a major player in the field of production and inventory management. The systems based on RFID provide a piece of accurate information related to product and inventory levels at thousands of firms and retail outlets across the globe. Production and inventory systems start from the factory or supplier and end at the retailer. RFID provides an end-to-end supply chain through which every single product is monitored and controlled from production till it reaches the consumer.
RFID has become a dynamic substitute for bar codes in many places. All this hype has various reasons to it; RFID systems are powerful, compact, flexible, and can carry extensive amounts of information regarding products and inventories. The use of state-of-the-art wireless technologies is used to track products, inventory, and even equipment in a flawless manner. RFID provides a platform for businesses to engrain a fully automated data securing and analysis system that helps businesses keep track of their resources, whether it be inventory at a cell phone manufacturing company or a fleet of vehicles for a flower delivery firm. Where optically based systems lack, RFID provides logical solutions to various logistical problems. As compared to bar codes, RFID’s do not require a line of sight, have an extensive and portable database, tracking is conducted in real-time, and multiple tags can be read/wrote simultaneously.
Moreover, RFID technology, although being the latest, is still evolving and becoming more affordable. New innovations are also coming up, for e.g., a weather and traffic update system for truckers and delivery vehicles. This would enable them to avoid heavy traffic and re-route as per weather and traffic conditions. Therefore, RFID is a very effective and efficient system, and companies worldwide are using these systems to work towards their goals, including tracking and authenticating valuable assets, managing aviation baggage handling, manufacturing processes, etc.
What is the nature of the impact that RFID is having on industries and on individual companies within those industries?
Ans 2. RFID has a major impact on various industries and their respective individual companies in a variety of ways.
The benefits are reaped excessively by the retail industry, for e.g., the German retailer Metro which has thousands of different products, RFID tags are used to monitor inventory flows, deliveries, expiry, etc. The transport sector uses RFIDs to track vehicles, trucks, aircraft, etc. For e.g., the system enables cars to be tolled on various roads automatically using the transponders and receivers attached to the respective roads and vehicles. In agriculture, RFID is used to track the movement of animals, their health, age, and various other data. Almost all manufacturing industries ranging from pharmaceuticals to textiles are using the technology to streamline their processes, eliminate redundancies, control and monitor inventory, production, and also processes. RFID is also particularly important in the distribution sector; it provides visibility at all levels, eases registration processes, improves accuracy and authenticity. RFID is also swiftly entering the aviation, consumer applications, security, healthcare, and transport sectors.
All in all, RFID impacts all industries in a positive manner. It saves sales personnel expenses and the time to check inventory repeatedly by eighty percent, and it provides greater authenticity and accuracy complemented by reduced costs and operational productivity. It also provides emphasis on accurate and updated expiry dates, lot and batch tracking, and improved returns management infrastructure. At the operational level, operational productivity is enhanced, shipping is monitored and controlled, and receiving accuracy is also guaranteed. Moreover, product and consumer security and safety issues are also addressed. RFID supports anti-counterfeiting measures and theft or shrinkage management. As a result, the cost of goods sold is decreased considerably, and the improved asset and inventory utilization can have several beneficial results on company financial statements.
Given the current, rapidly changing logistics environment, to what extent do you think a company can afford to “go it alone” when making choices about managing its inventory and production?
Ans 3. As per the question, given the current, rapidly changing logistics environment with extensive collaboration between suppliers, distributors, and retailers in the form of networking and various other linkages, it would be unfeasible for a company to “go it alone” when making choices about managing its inventory and production.
Although many successful RFID pilots are used by single companies, with no collaboration with other supply-chain partners, the full benefits and returns can only be realized when all the different supply-chain partners work together. This is the primary reason why large retailers such as Wal-Mart are encouraging suppliers to implement RFID. Thus, RFID’s value is realized only when companies work together in the form of information sharing, analysis, and joint decision making.
References
- Lauren R Hartman. (2005). RFID in the consumer goods supply chain. Packaging Digest.
- Patrick M Bryne. (2002). Supply Chain RFID: Lessons from a leader. Logisitcs Management.
- Patrick M Bryne. (2002). RFID: Not just for Wal-Mart. Logisitcs Management.
- Shepard Steven. (2005). RFID Radio Frequency Identification. Illustrated. Mc-Graw Hill Professional.