Title: Impacts of Radio Frequency Identification technology on logistics performance in agile supply chain

Authors: Liang-Chieh (Victor) Cheng

Addresses: Department of Information and Logistics Technology, College of Technology, 230A Technology Building, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204-6020, USA

Abstract: Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a latest breakthrough technology that can be applied to significantly enhance Supply Chain Management. Seeking to maximise its potential applicability, this paper examines in detail the implementation of RFID in intra-organisational logistics operations and how the formation of |RFID islands| can facilitate the incorporations of this new technology into a supply chain network system. This paper first examines how an automated RFID system allows firms to achieve high level of inventory visibility and information transparency which leads to system responsiveness and agility. Logistics efficiencies improved by RFID technology and necessary costs are then critically assessed. The research proceeds to develop a method to operationalise RFID|s Return on Investment (ROI), and then incorporates the ROI calculation into a RFID roadmap toward a large scale, Business-to-Business implementation. It concludes that substantial efficiencies, strong scale economies and strategic planning for the RFID systems can help firms to harvest competitiveness in innovative supply chain operations and logistics performance enhancement.

Keywords: inventory invisibility; logistics performance; radio frequency identification; RFID; return on investment; ROI; supply chain management; SCM; agile supply chains; agile systems; agility; B2B; business-to-business;scale economies; strategic planning.

DOI: 10.1504/IJASM.2007.015794

International Journal of Agile Systems and Management, 2007 Vol.2 No.3, pp.278 - 304

Published online: 18 Nov 2007 *

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