1. Introduction The report highlights in detail the role and the importance of Supply Chain Management (SCM) in an organization with respect to Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and its growing impact in the industry and talks about the changing SCM trends keeping RFID as the focal point. Over the past few years, the increasing dynamism and competition in the business operating environment has led to a lot of changes in how the companies conduct themselves with respect to its customers. Customers being the focal point of revenue; manufacturers are increasingly taking interest in being focused on customer satisfaction by delivering the products and services on time. RFID has taken strides from being a far off solution to becoming a mainstream application that helps speed the handling of manufactured goods and materials. RFID is an identification and tracking tool for a product using radio waves. It uses a microchip and a printed antenna that can be then packaged in several different forms such as a label or embedded between layers of a carton. These labels are then used to identify the manufacturer, product category and the RFID enables this identification from a distance and unlike earlier bar-code technology, it does so without requiring a line of sight. (Finkelzeller) ‘Supply chain management integrates supply and demand management within and across companies. It encompasses the planning and management of all activities involved in sourcing and procurement, conversion, and all logistics management activities. Importantly, it also includes coordination and collaboration with channel partners, which can be suppliers, intermediaries, thir- party service providers, and customers’. (Web: Council for Supply Chain Management Pr... ... middle of paper ... ...same. 6. Conclusion This report has clearly in detail described the meaning, benefits as well as the need and challenges of the RFID in the supply chain system. While RFID comes with a larger magnitude of benefits than the bar code, it’s an expensive medium and comes at a price that may be prohibitive to many businesses. On the one hand, RFID is advantageous in different areas of the supply chain and does not require line-of-sight scanning; it helps in labor reduction, enhances visibility of products and processes , and helps in inventory management. On the other hand, RFID is an expensive solution, lacking benchmarks or standards, suffers from some adverse deployment issues, and suffers from major privacy concerns. However with the ultimate aim to see the establishment of item-level tracking which should act to revolutionize SCM practices, RFID is here to stay.
Scott and Westbrook (1991) and New and Payne (1995) describe supply chain management as the chain linking each element of the manufacturing and supply process from raw materials through to the end user, encompassing several organizational boundaries.
Today’s businesses are always looking for ways of making their workforce more efficient. With any vehicle fleet, fuel consumption is becoming a progressively larger cost to the business. And without accurate and real time data it’s very difficult to identify where they can make improvements, leaving their fleet operations without the tools they need to get the most from resources. Different types of GPS tracking and management systems gives you the tools you need to make positive changes, based upon accurate, up to date information. The transparency that GPS tracking and management systems make it possible for businesses to complete more jobs per week, reduce fuel costs, track scheduled maintenance, view proof of visit and time on site, optimize scheduling, routing, reduce administration and time sheets. There are multiple types of tracking systems all used for different types of businesses and workers, some of them are Radio Frequency Identification or RFID and Barcodes. Each one of these systems can hold information about a good or product. Also, businesses can figure out where they are wasting huge amounts of money and time where they should not be. This essay reviews RFID technology and its applications in today’s business world.
Traditionally, marketing, distribution, planning, manufacturing, and the purchasing organizations along the supply chain operated independently. The objectives of these organizational divisions are always different and conflict with each other’s objectives. . Marketing puts a higher emphasis on high customer service and maximum sales dollars conflict with manufacturing and distribution goals. Many manufacturing operations are designed to maximize throughput and lower costs with little consideration for the impact on inventory levels and distribution capabilities. Purchasing contracts are often negotiated with very little information beyond historical buying patterns. The result of these factors is that there is not a single, integrated plan for the organization---there were as many plans as businesses. Clearly, there is a need for a mechanism through which these different functions can be integrated together. Supply chain management is a strategy through which such an integration can be achieved.
RFID enables real-time tracking of items, safe monitoring and automation of warehouse operations, which can lead to increases in sales volumes and improved profitability for suppliers and retailers (Wong & Guo, 2014, pg.14). There are two main type of RFID currently in use: Active and Passive. Passive RFID tags are used for applications such as access control, file tracking, race timing, supply chain management, smart labels, and more (Smiley, 2016, pg.1). The implementation of RFID for CanIt Inc. will mostly be used for tracking physical goods and products, use of passive RFID will be the most suitable for this
Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a computerized ID innovation that uses radio recurrence waves to exchange information between an onlooker and things that have RFID gadgets, or tags, joined. The tags hold a microchip and receiving wire, and work at universally distinguished standard frequencies. Barcodes are much smaller, lighter and easier than RFID but RFID offers significant advantages. One major advantage of RFID is that the innovation doesn't oblige any observable pathway the tags could be perused as long as they are inside the range of the spectator, whereas in barcodes in order to read the barcode the barcode scanner should close around 10-15 fts. In RFID data, for example, part and serial numbers, assembling dates and support history is put away on the tags and catches which help in maintenance of equipments. RFID technology as high value for asset management and inventory systems
In all, supply chain operation management has helped many global companies in handling and distributing their products as it is a one-stop solution provider from one warehouse direct to end user. By building trust among the trading partners with effective communications would improve performance metrics both the company and the solutions provider.
Supply chain management is basically refers to the fundamental supply chain analysis of the organization which predominantly describes functionalities from source to the delivery point. In this process of delivery, supply chain management framework divides in four categories: In Planning the products and suppliers evaluated and selected, Sourcing pull the information process including contracting, ordering and expediting, Moving is a physical process from suppliers to end user and Paying is the financial process including payment and performance measurement.
It is undeniable that Inventory Management is an important key to success at Walmart this paper will discuss the two main methods of Inventory Management used by Wal-Mart: Material Requirements Planning and Just-in Time. Next we write about the technical means of keeping track of inventories like RFID tags. We conclude with discussing how
Supply chain management has been defined as that process that involves the management of information, materials, and all the finances that are handled within and across the entire supply chain process (Christopher, 2016). The management is usually done through out the entire supply chain management from that moment when the suppliers are involved through all the manufacturing activities, different distribution activities, and the way that the products are served to the final product consumer (Turban, et al., 2002). The process also includes all the activities that different organizations offers to their customers as after sale services for purposes perfecting their services and products towards their highly valued customers (Christopher,
Over the past two decades there has been a rapid growth and need for individuals who specialize in Supply Chain Management (SCM). SCM is the central planning of all industrial work and is the logistical motor that keeps the manufacturing world running efficiently; keeping a company's goods and services in constant supply to their customers: “A fundamental element of any business strategy is the supply chain process or strategy to deliver goods and services to the consumer” (Thomas, 2010). SCM requires a disciplined understanding and the use of fields such as economics, computer systems information and marketing. There is a great difference between a company that has an efficient SCM system with one company that has an inefficient supply chain affecting a company's entire resources from labor productivity to consumer loyalty. According to Rhonda R. Lummus (1990) "Interest in supply chain management has steadily increased since the 1980s when firms saw the benefits of collaborative relationships within and beyond their own organization" (p.11). Supply chain management is the brain-trust of any business strategy and when an effective model is put in place the benefits are shared by consumer and producer alike.
In modern time, supply chain management has turned out to be more prominent with how supply is fabricated and disseminated through the cooperation effort of the countless investors. Supply management manages different partners working together on the most ideal approaches to disseminate supplies. Supply chain management joins clients, acquiring of supplies, generation, fabricating, stock, incorporation and dispersion of supply and management of supplies with countless individuals inside an association. Production network administration has been around as far back as documented history can tell.
In this regard, supply chain management is the actions that a company does to influence the way its supply chain is operated to maximize profits and cut costs, among other desirable effects (Buxmann et al. 2004). Traditionally, companies have considered activities, such as procurement, maintenance, distribution, and inventory control, as the most important elements in logistics. According to Buxmann et al. (2004), supply chain management not only takes into consideration traditional logistics, but also incorporates customer service, marketing, finance, and product development into the supply chain. Supply chain management views organizations, their products, and the supply chain, as one entity, and aims at understanding, managing, and controlling the various activities that enable the smooth flow of goods or services to the customer (Buxmann et al. 2004).
Rogers, D., & Leuschner, R. (2004). Supply chain management: Retrospective and prospective. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 12(4), 60-65
Supply chain management (SCM) is both art and science that helps to increase the productivity of the company, find the raw components it needs to make a product or service and deliver it to customers. SCM helps the companies compete with the dynamic international market. According to Christopher (1994), a supply chain is “a network of organizations that are involved, through upstream and downstream linkages, in the different processes and activities that produce value in the form of products and services in the hands of the ultimate customer.”
Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the management and control of the flow of goods. It includes the movement and the storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and also finished goods from the origin to the consumption. SCM has been defined as “design, planning, execution, control, and also monitoring of supply chain activities with the goal of creating net value, building a competitive site, leveraging global logistics, combining supply with demand and measuring performance universally” 1. As part of my task, I will discuss the topics of logistics, communication within the supply chain, such as, information systems and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), relationships with partners, the environment of SCM and the marketing channels and process. My objectives are to inform you how the process of SCM works, how it enables profitable growth and enhances customer satisfaction. SCM creates all positive outputs, according to the Journal of Operations and Supply Chain Management, results showed positive effects of SCM on all performance dimensions, backed-up by the resource-based and relational views of strategy 2.