Title: An RFID implementation study in inventory management

Authors: Xin Zeng, K.L. Choy, Harry K.H. Chow

Addresses: Operational Research Group, Department of Management, London School of Economics, Houghton St, London, WC2A 2AE, UK. ' Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. ' Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Abstract: In this paper, we compare three RFID implementation strategies in the inventory management of a retail store. The three strategies are: pallet-level tagging, which deals with fixing RFID tags on pallets only; case-level tagging, which is for fixing RFID tags on cases only; the combined tagging strategy, which is for fixing RFID tags onto both pallets and cases. The objective of this paper to perform a trade-off study between the investment resulting from implementing RFID tagging using these different strategies and the visibility of the inventory level, based on a simulation model. Through using the simulation model, we develop a better understanding of the conditions under which RFID implementation strategies are cost effective.

Keywords: RFID tags; tagging strategies; radio frequency identification; inventory management; simulation; RFID implementation; retail stores.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVCM.2008.019854

International Journal of Value Chain Management, 2008 Vol.2 No.4, pp.508 - 522

Published online: 10 Aug 2008 *

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