RFID and supply chain management: An assessment of its economic, technical, and productive viability in global operations

Abstract

The integration of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems within a company's supply chain offers an abundance of economic and productive capabilities. RFIDs permit an organization's supply chain to have increased product visibility, reduction of stock, trim warehouse costs, eliminate stock errors, reduce theft and shrinkage and allow them to update their logistics and inventory databases with real-time information. The technical capabilities and limitations of RFIDs are examined. Suppliers and retailers must create solid alliances to build an RFID network, which must support both technical and operational information needs. This is a necessary and sufficient condition for integrating RFID within their respective supply chains. While cost is identified as the predominant factor inhibiting progress in RFID tagging at the product unit level, the future remains very promising for rapid gains in RFID development as long as technology continues to advance through increased research and development initiatives.