RFID in the Supply Chain: A Guide to Selection and Implementation

Giving organizations the ability to track, secure, and manage items from the time they are raw materials through the life-cycle of the product, radio frequency identification (RFID) makes internal processes more efficient and improves overall supply chain responsiveness. Helping you bring your organization into the future, RFID in the Supply Chain: A Guide to Selection and Implementation explains RFID technology, its applications in SCM, data storage and retrieval, business processes, operational and implementation problems, risks, security and privacy, facility layout, handling systems and methods, and transportation costs. In short, with its soup-to-nuts coverage, the book ensures that your RFID implementation is successful and that you get the most from your investment.

The book discusses the major paradigm shift in product traceability that began with transitioning to RFID technology from bar code technology. It examines the economic feasibility of rolling out RFID and the challenges in supply chain synchronization, customer privacy, security, operations and IT, logistics, program management, education and training, and implementation, as well as what lessons have been learned. The author addresses the RFID business processes needed to analyze and resolve problems the suppliers face when they deal with multiple customers, each with a different mandate, and with their own set of suppliers.

Going beyond the technology and how it has changed supply chain processes, the book includes selection guidelines and implementation examples, such as speed of tag reads versus quality of computer inputs and optimal tag location. The author discusses the implementation of a business process model and the separate but equal concerns that business and IT executives have about the implementation of RFID applications. The book also covers security, integrated control management linked to the corporate strategy, and laws and regulations.

Judith M. Myerson