RFID implementation in the footwear supply chain: From production line to retail store and back

Abstract

Although Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is one of the most promising technologies in recent years with the potential to radically improve the performance of supply chains, its adoption has been slower than anticipated in supply chain applications. This fact, led researchers to investigate the impediments and challenges of RFID implementations, as well as its critical success factors. Consequently, there is a need to understand how these challenges are being addressed during the implementation of RFID systems by organizations along the supply chain. This paper aims to fill this gap by investigating, by means of action research, and the solutions implemented in a footwear supply chain. The results of the study present the approaches developed to address six RFID implementation challenges, namely: forming the implementation team, selecting the RFID technology, and defining the RFID system infrastructure, overcoming technical problems, redesigning supply chain processes, integrating the RFID system with existent information systems, and measuring the RFID implementation performance.