RFID
There are many applications for RFID within the supply chain
operations of today’s companies. Most of these applications
require item management information for tracking goods from
the component level, through manufacturing and on throughout
the supply chain.
With today’s market attitude of "I want it now"
or "I need it now", the demand for improved supply
chain visibility as well as the pressure to keep costs down
is driving the need for a combination of bar code and RFID system
in today’s businesses.
An RFID tag is embedded in a component item. The item tag can
then be read and written to during the manufacturing process
in order to gather and exchange Work-in-Process data. That same
tag could then be read or written to by shipping personnel at
the manufacturer’s shipping dock to release the original
manufacturer’s item from their inventory. Shipping information
could then be written to the item tag by the transportation
carrier as its transported from the manufacturing plant. That
item could now be on its way to the end user, the next add on
manufacturing site, or distribution center with complete item,
source, process, and ultimate destination information included.
Upon arrival at any of these locations the item tracking information
could be read automatically with a fixed or portable RFID interrogator.
Finally, that same individual item tag could be read and written
to at the retail store level, providing the retailer with additional
pricing, receipt date, inventory, and theft prevention information.
The following list includes Supply Chain applications where
RFID solutions are being used today:
Logistics: Item management for manufacturing
Raw materials
WIP tracking(Work In Progress)
Bulk containers
Pallets/boxes
Finished Goods
Retail: Item management
plus EAS/POS
Embedded price tags and labels
Track items from dock door to counter
Smart electronic article surveillance (EAS)
Automatic inventory control
Transportation Management
Electronic toll collection
Parking collection
Traffic management
Access control
Industrial: Warehouse Shipping/Receiving
Validation
Automates both shipping and receiving
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